Closing the bones is a sacred ceremony honoring the new mother's journey through birth and early postpartum. To birth a baby requires a great deal of opening for a woman on many levels, as the mother is a portal for new life to come to earth. There aren't many rites of passage in our culture and the passage from maiden to mother is one of the biggest changes in a woman's life.
Closing of the bones can provide grounding, settling, warming and tends to the openness that is the birth portal. It pulls the expanded energy back to a central point in a gentle and nourishing way, helping the mother be more centered and grounded into her body. It helps the new mother feel where her body is now, after all the changes of pregnancy, postpartum and birth.
It is a cross cultural practice performed in Asia, Russia, Mexico and the Middle East. Every culture does it a little differently: changing the amount of scarves and method for wrapping or tying them. In the Ayurvedic tradition, postpartum is a Vata time, meaning more air, windy energy, anxiety and depression may be present. This method brings more Kapha which is earthy, grounded, slow and quiet... more of what is helpful in postpartum.
Often done around 40 days postpartum, closing the bones is performed by one or more women and involves snuggly wrapping the postpartum woman with long woven scarves. It takes about an hour as the new mother is listened to, warmed, sang to and physically and energetically held. I encourage mother's to invite their close friends or family to join the ceremony, to help love on and hold space for the mother and to help with the baby if needed.
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