Frequently Asked Questions

People who want to access closing the bones and women who want to offer it to them.

The main goal of this site is to raise awareness of the Closing the Bones ritual, so that women have heard about this nurturing postnatal ceremony and desire and expect to receive it after their birth, and so that they can easily find someone to close their bones.

We expect members of this website to work togther in a spirit of community and cooperation. This is an essential value we believe in. We aim to stand together, learn together, support each other in an open and sharing spirit and refer clients to each other. By working like this we support circles of women and families and our communitoes better. We believe in empowering each other to replace old paradigms of competition with a new spirit of sisterhood.

We hope that members work together and openly share and support other bone closers. This could be by working together as a pair for women who need extra support, or by mentoring a newer bone closer in becoming more confident and proficient. Perhaps you could also refer clients to other practitioners if you cannot accommodate them or it feels more appropriate.

There is a simple listing search facility on this site. If you can't find someone in your area, do feel free to contact us and we can spread the word - not everyone we have trained or who has learned Closing the Bones elsewhere is listed on this site.

No. There is no evidence of any therapeutic effect. It is not a recognised therapy and we make no claims that this ritual is curative. It is a relaxing ceremony that women find restorative, meditative and warming. An experienced osteopath attests that Closing the Bones is gentle and safe.

I haven't yet had children?
Yes. Apparently in traditional societies in South America, young girls are rocked and massage in this way so they discover how nice it is and know to ask for it after they have their babies

If I've had a cesarean?
Yes. But the practitioner will want to know that your wound has healed and will be totally led by you. All women are different and everyone will take more, or less, time to find that area acceptable to touch. Be open and honest with what you do and do not want or like.

If it's a long time since I had children?
Yes, totally! It doesn't matter how long ago you had your babies, this technique is something that almost everyone enjoys and feels benefit from

If I have a bad back or other illnesses?
Your Bone Closer will expect you to tell them if you are suffering from any illnesses. It is generally accepted that cancer sufferers and other serious ailments are not times to be massaged. If you find it difficult to lie flat on your back for any length of time, you might find things difficult.

There are many other wonderful women who know how to do this. We wouldn’t claim for a minute that we know better, or more, than others. However, we have spent years practicing and learning humbly from the women we serve. Crucially, we are teachers -we have many years of teaching experience between us and therefore understand how people learn and how to support that learning.

You can take our workshop. Workshop dates, locations and prices are listed on this site.

No. Just because we have built a website and offer workshops does not mean we think CTB belongs to us. We are gathering together as a community for friendship, solidarity and mutual support. We want to help bone closers offer this service and we want women to be able to find bone closers in their local area. We are not an official organisation of any kind, but we do have an ethics statement that we ask members to adhere to. We hope in this way to all work together to ensure closing the bones is always offered with integrity and love.