What Is a Closing of the Bones Ceremony?

By Kayla Brookins | Sacred Openings Doula | Brattleboro, VT

There is a moment, sometime in the weeks after birth, when a new parent begins to feel the weight of everything they have moved through. The body is still finding its way back. The emotions are layered and sometimes surprising. And the world around them has largely moved on, as if nothing extraordinary has happened.

The Closing of the Bones ceremony is a response to that moment. It is a way of saying: what happened here was significant. Your body deserves to be acknowledged, held, and gently brought back to itself.

Where Does This Ceremony Come From?

The Closing of the Bones is an ancient practice with roots in the indigenous communities of Mesoamerica and South America, particularly in Mexico and Ecuador. In Spanish, it is sometimes called Cerrar la Cadera, meaning the closing of the hips, or simply La Cerrada, a closing.

In these traditions, the postpartum period was understood as a sacred and protected time. The body had done something immense — had opened, physically and energetically, to bring a new life into the world. The community understood that this opening needed to be honored, and eventually, lovingly closed.

Versions of this practice appear across many cultures and lineages, including traditions in Morocco, Russia, and among various Indigenous peoples of the Americas. While the specific forms differ, the underlying understanding is the same: the postpartum body needs ceremony, not just recovery.

What Actually Happens During a Closing of the Bones?

The ceremony is offered to the birthing parent, usually within the first six weeks after birth, though it can be received months or even years later. Many people find it meaningful long after the immediate postpartum period has passed, particularly when processing a complex or unresolved birth experience.

The ceremony typically unfolds over one to two hours and includes:

• A ceremonial herbal bath or foot bath, using warming, restorative plants to begin softening and opening the body

• Abdominal and pelvic massage with a warming herbal oil, supporting the physical process of the body returning to itself

• Rebozo work — the use of a traditional woven shawl to gently rock and cradle the body, from the head down through the hips and feet, in a slow, rhythmic closing motion

• Ceremonial wrapping, in which the rebozo is used to wrap and hold different areas of the body, offering a physical sense of being gathered back together

• Space for rest, presence, and any words or feelings that want to be expressed

At Sacred Openings, I bring my herbal background into this ceremony as well. The oils and preparations I use are handcrafted specifically for postpartum recovery, and the bath blends are made with intention and care.

What Does It Feel Like?

People describe the experience in many ways. Some feel a deep physical relief, a settling of the body that they had not realized they were waiting for. Some feel an emotional release, tears arriving not from sadness exactly but from being held. Some find that something they had been carrying — a fear from labor, a grief, an unprocessed moment — moves through them and lightens.

What is consistent is a feeling of being complete. Of a cycle having been honored and gently closed. Many clients describe it as one of the most meaningful experiences of their entire postpartum time.

Is This Ceremony Only for Uncomplicated Births?

Not at all. The Closing of the Bones is offered for all births — vaginal and cesarean, home and hospital, straightforward and complicated. It is also offered for parents who have experienced pregnancy loss: miscarriage, stillbirth, or termination. The body opens in grief as well as in birth, and deserves to be closed with the same tenderness.

If there is any question about whether the ceremony is appropriate given a particular physical recovery, it is always worth discussing. I am glad to talk through what modifications or timing might be most supportive for each individual situation.

When Is the Right Time?

Traditionally, the ceremony was offered within the first forty days after birth, while the body is still in its most sensitive and open state. That said, many people receive it later — sometimes much later — and find it deeply meaningful regardless of how much time has passed.

If the postpartum period felt rushed, unsupported, or incomplete in some way, this ceremony can offer a sense of closure that the body has been waiting for, even years down the line.

Closing of the Bones at Sacred Openings

This ceremony is included complimentary in my Complete Package, and is available as a standalone offering for families who are seeking this specific support. It can also be incorporated into postpartum doula visits.

For families in Brattleboro and throughout Windham County, Windsor County, Bennington County, and Rutland County, I would be honored to hold this ceremony for you. More information is available at sacredopeningsdoula.com.

Keywords: closing of the bones ceremony Vermont, postpartum healing ceremony, rebozo ceremony, cerrar la cadera, postpartum recovery ritual, ceremonial doula Brattleboro, holistic postpartum support, fourth trimester healing