Closing The Bones

Also known simply as the Mexican Postpartum Ritual, Closing The Bones is a four-part ritual performed to deeply nourish, cleanse and honour a new mother.

It is an ancient practice, performed by traditional Mexican midwives within the first ten days postpartum and beyond.

Whilst there are many versions of Closing Ceremonies practiced throughout the world, the ritual that I perform is the traditional, 4-5 hour ceremony taught to me by traditional Mexican midwife, Naoli Vinaver.

It is a privilege to have been able to receive this knowledge first hand from Naoli and to be able to offer this ritual to my community.

The experience of birth can often be described by mothers as an open, out-of-body, sometimes psychadelic experience and in those first few days, weeks or months with their newborns, many mothers will have a sense that they still ‘floating’ or ‘between worlds.’

They are experiencing a huge time of transformation and expansion. Their bodies are very open and cold, not just physically but emotionally and energetically, as well.

Closing The Bones, honours this rite of passage for the mother while deeply grounding her and gently closing off the physical and emotional bodies.

The ritual has four parts and takes around 4-5 hours to perform.

It includes:

  • Full-body, herbal oil massage to deeply relax the mother

  • An enclosed ritual bath, infused with healing herbs to replicate the traditional Mexican ‘temazcal’

  • Deep rest under thick blankets to encourage sweating and detoxification

  • The final wrapping and unwrapping of the body in traditional Mexican rebozo’s

It is important to note that this ritual will not only benefit those women in their immediate postpartum but in any life stage.

You may benefit from receiving this ritual to honour many other times of transition such as pregnancy loss, weaning, significant birthdays, to mark the end of your baby years, even divorce.

You are welcome to invite other people to take part in the ritual. This may be your mother, your best friend or those who were present at your birth, such as your doula or midwife.

In order for the mother to be able to fully surrender into the ritual it is also essential that there is someone present to care for the baby.

Investment: $600

(20% deposit required to secure your booking)