Closing the Bones Ceremony
Closing the Bones (CtB) is a deeply nurturing treatment that supports physical, emotional, and spiritual healing. Rooted in traditional postnatal care, it focuses on abdominal and full-body massage while creating a sacred space for rest, reflection, and renewal.
During the ceremony, we use Rebozo massage techniques—gentle rhythmic movements using woven scarves—to support the abdomen, shoulders, torso, back, hips, arms, and legs. The session concludes with a deeply restorative wrapping of the body in eight Rebozos, creating a sense of containment, grounding, and safety.
This practice helps to stimulate lymphatic drainage, improve blood flow, and support hormonal balance. Beyond the physical benefits, the ceremony offers a safe and sacred space to release stored emotions and reconnect with your body and life journey.
Although traditionally offered as a postnatal healing ritual, Closing the Bones can support anyone—women, men, or children—during times of transition, loss, or transformation.
When is Closing the Bones Offered?
The ceremony can be profoundly healing and supportive:
- During the postpartum period (even many years after birth)
- After baby loss, miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion
- When facing or recovering from a hysterectomy
- With fertility challenges or breastfeeding difficulties
- To mark the end of a breastfeeding journey or honour milestones (e.g. one year post-birth)
- To celebrate the menarche (a girl’s first period) or support menopause transitions
- During times of grief, anxiety, or major life changes such as divorce or job loss
- To support those with ADD, autism, or sensory overwhelm
- To help with conditions such as endometriosis, PCOS, painful periods, prolapse, or diastasis recti
- For healing after physical, sexual, or emotional trauma, including domestic abuse or FGM
- For releasing ancestral or trans-generational trauma
- For terminally ill individuals, offering a meaningful way to say goodbye and create a rite of passage
What to Expect
Each Closing the Bones ceremony is a deeply personal and nurturing experience, tailored to your individual needs. The session unfolds in five gentle stages:
Stage One – Opening Ritual
We begin with a calming conversation to set intentions for your session. This is a time to reflect on what you’d like to release, invite, or leave behind, creating the emotional foundation for your healing journey.
Stage Two – Abdominal and Full-Body Massage
A soothing massage focuses on the abdomen and the rest of the body, helping to restore balance and support circulation. We also use
moxa, a Japanese herb known for its warming and nourishing properties, to further relax and replenish your body.
Stage Three – Fascia and Rebozo Work
Through gentle, rhythmic
Rebozo massage techniques using woven scarves, we support and release tension from the abdomen, shoulders, torso, back, hips, arms, and legs—encouraging softness and flow throughout the body.
Stage Four – The Closing
You are lovingly wrapped in
eight Rebozos, swaddled in warmth and stillness. This creates a profound sense of containment, grounding, and safety—symbolically “closing” the physical and energetic spaces that have been opened during your journey.
Stage Five – Integration and Nourishment
We end the ceremony with a short, centering meditation and a cup of rich, nourishing
herbal tea, giving you time to rest, reflect, and gently return to the present moment.
Availability
Closing the Bones ceremonies are offered at The Happy Body Project in Wilstead.
- For more information and to hear from the practitioner who inspired this work, please explore the podcasts linked below.
