The Closing the Bones ceremony is a traditional ritual common in Ecuador and other parts of Central and South America after women have given birth. The mother’s pelvis is rocked, bound, and closed, supporting the postnatal recovery of the mother.
The benefits are both physical, emotional, and spiritual; it provides the mother with time to feel nurtured and release emotions associated with giving birth and motherhood.
But the ritual is more than just binding the pelvis; it is a whole-hearted way to nurture the mother. The ritual has four parts: massage, an herb bath, sweating, and closing with the rebozo to contain the mother’s body so she feels held and is one with herself.
Physically, the ritual literally helps to close the mother’s body, which opens in so many ways, both in preparation for and during the birth itself. The aura of a newborn mother is usually very wide and not very connected to herself.
The intention is to bring the mother to herself, her body, and her temple.
The touch of the massage gives the mother a sense of her body limits while deeply relaxing her. The herb bath is medicinal in a way that the herbs chosen will support the mother’s healing. The sweating is for her body, mind, and soul to release whatever substances are not needed anymore. The wrapping is a metaphorical way to make the mother reborn; she is in her cocoon and steps outside as a new mother.
The ritual is perfect to do whenever someone needs to close a chapter of their lives and wants to ritualize or celebrate it in a holistic, deep, and kind way.
Although this ritual is not only meant for postpartum, it is the perfect ritual to make postpartum. Not just to celebrate the mother, who was a portal to bring life and to cherish the new beginnings she is having, but to nourish the body and the energy of the mother by her sisters.
If you want to know more about this ritual, talk to us, it will be a pleasure to enlighten you on this topic that is so important to me and so present in the Tree of Life.
