Closing the Bones
Postnatal Massage and Ceremony
 Rebozo sifting
'Closing the Bones' or 'hipping' is a traditional healing and nurturing ritual and massage for the postpartum period. In Ecuador, mothers are given this massage within hours of the birth and receive it many times during the first 40 days postpartum (a time held sacred in many cultures). I was fortunate to learn this ceremony from Rocío Alarcón, an ethno-botanist from Ecuador who was trained in traditional midwifery, shamanism and herbalism by her mother and grandmother. This ceremony combines abdominal massage and rocking and binding of the mother's hips with a rebozo to encourage the new mother's energy to return to her centre, something that sadly often doesn't happen in our culture. I combine this ceremony with elements of Womb / Fertility Massage to bring deep healing to your womb and back to shorten the recovery time after birth.
This massage is believed to stimulate blood flow to help cleanse and renew the mother's body as well as toning muscle and tissue to bring the hips back into a state of strength and stability after their work of carrying extra weight and opening in pregnancy and birth. It is believed that if a woman's bones are not 'closed' then she will suffer from many hip issues, pelvic instability and depletion of energy. In many cultures around the world there is/was a tradition of postnatal care that included massage and wrapping/binding the hips to help 'close' the mother after giving birth. Midwives in the UK used to wrap new mother's belly and hips with a bedsheet up until relatively recently. To grow and birth a baby women have to 'open' their bodies significantly; Rocio taught me that if they don't get 'closed back down' afterwards this can contribute to health concerns such as loss of vitality, pelvic floor problems, back pain etc. Closing the bones includes rebozo work (a rebozo is a long scarf traditionally worn by women in Mexico and Ecuador) to rock the mother and gently wrap her pelvis and body at various points (feet, knees, shoulders etc), as well as an oil massage around the belly, pubic bones and hips (I also include the lower back and buttocks). Women often experience these treatments as deeply nourishing, relaxing and supportive as this ceremony creates a safe and nurturing space for them to release emotions associated with birth and motherhood. |
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I am grateful to bring this traditional knowledge to the women I work with in the UK and will tithe 10% of my earnings from Closing the Bones to indigenous communities in Ecuador.
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Rocio demonstrating Hipping on me
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Rebozos
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Wrapping
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Single Closing the Bones Massage & Ceremony - bringing the hips back together and balancing the mother after birth with a traditional massage from Ecuador.
The investment for an individual Closing the Bones massage is £99. |
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Series of Closing the Bones Massages & Ceremony - a deeply nourishing traditional ceremony and series of massages to help honour the new mother.
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The investment for a course of Closing the Bones massages and Closing Ceremony is £400 - these must be taken within the space of ten weeks, at any time after birth (it is recommended to wait 6 weeks or more after a caesarean birth to give the body time to heal), even years later. It's never too late to bring healing to your body! |
Massage & Rebozo
Well Woman Massage - bringing healing to your womb
Massage
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Rebozo
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© 2016 Fiona Willis, all rights reserved
