Western culture is funny when it comes to respecting the new role of motherhood. It was apparent that my community here lacked support for mothers, so I decided to take all of my training and knowledge and apply it to helping moms in their postpartum period. Though there’s plenty of room for the practical side of celebrating the fourth trimester, I like my life with a bit of “woo woo” sprinkled in.
Back in March I had the pleasure of attending a holistic postpartum doula training. I learned how to do many things, but our focus was based on the mother roasting traditions around the world.
Mother roasting is a universal practice that is meant to keep moms warm after giving birth. In some cultures, pregnancy is a warm period in the mother’s life. Giving birth expels all that heat and mother roasting is meant to bring back balance to the mother through healing and nourishment. In some cultures mothers are given warm beverages daily, hot oil massages, or hot sauna treatments following birth.
We covered several modalities including the use of herbs postpartum, Bengkung Belly Binding, womb health and vaginal steaming, and breastfeeding support. Sealing ceremonies were discussed at great length and I can not wait to include them in my practice.
I volunteered for our demonstration, so those are my retired khaki pants above. In a mother roasting sealing ceremony, the mother is wearing less clothing and she is given a gentle rub down to soothing music. Starting at the feet, a heat pack is placed on the joints and encouraging words are spoken in the form of a poem as the area is wrapped. This “seals” in the energy and heat. The mother is left to meditate and reflect (or nap) on her new role. She is unveiled a stronger, more balanced being.
I included this sealing ceremony as part of a package that starts with a floral bath and a cup of tea and concludes with the reading of my Mother’s Wisdom inspiration deck.
My husband laughs at the “woo woo” here, but this deck hit me hard during my training. It’s meant to inspire, empower, and guide those of us with the role as “mother” tucked in our yoga pants. My card was spot on, and our little card session left everyone with lots of tears and insight into what steps we needed to take to better fill our duties. It was intense.
I also plan to include a serving of Root Soup to each of my mother roasting clients. It’s made with sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, ginger and all things earthly and delicious. I was surprised my family was not a fan because it’s probably my new favorite soup (pushing my zuppa toscana ripoff to second place… what?!).
If you are in the Tampa Bay area and are interested in being a postpartum client for my new mother roasting ceremony, please check out my business page Mothercraft Postpartum on Facebook or visit MothercraftTampa.com.
