Rebozo massage
and closing ritual course
(closing the bones)

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Life’s major transitions live in the body. Yet bodywork remains the most neglected part of how we move through them.

Throughout history and across cultures, communities recognized that during profound life transitions – birth, coming of age, menopause, loss, major life changes – people needed to be held, nurtured, and supported through specific rituals and bodywork.

Everywhere around the world, there used to be practices where a woman experiencing transition was taken care of completely. The community would provide social support, ensure rest, offer nourishing foods, and give specific bodywork suited to the transition. This was ubiquitous across every continent (and still is in many parts of the world today). This used to be part of Western culture too.

I published my book, Why postnatal recovery matters, to encourage a movement towards returning to a nurturing postpartum, and the principles also apply to other life transitions.

Nurturing through transition comes down to 4 pillars: social support, rest, nourishment, and bodywork. Bodywork is the most neglected.

One of the most profound forms of transitional bodywork I know is the rebozo wrapping and closing ceremony. Originally a postpartum practice, I have adapted this ritual to support women through all kinds of life transitions – menopause, empty nest, loss, illness, career changes, and any threshold crossing moment.

Learning this practice was instrumental in my own journey from scientist to holistic practitioner. I have given this ceremony to hundreds of women and trained several hundred professionals. These experiences have shown me that women desperately need physical nurture during times of change. The wrapping and ceremony helps women feel held and witnessed, supports physical and emotional release, helps process what needs to be let go, and marks the transition from one phase of life to another.

I believe that by allowing more women to experience this type of nurturing ritual during life’s transitions, we can transform how women navigate change – making it something they expect to receive support through, rather than something to push through alone.

I created this course to share this important knowledge and to spread it to as many people as possible.

The course teaches you how to give a full body rebozo massage and closing ceremony for women in transition

What does the course contain:

• Introduction
• History
• Advantages of giving this ritual (physical/emotional/spiritual)
• Preparing (the person/the space)
• Rebozo Massage sequence (with video tutorials)
• Rebozo wrapping sequence (with video tutorials)
• Creating a ceremony and adding ritualistic elements to the massage
• Post massage care (for recipient/yourself, including energetic aspects)
• Q&A
• Conclusion

Creating ceremony, ritual and sacred space is one of the most beautiful and important aspects of the rebozo massage and closing ritual. This is something I’ve been doing for over ten years but this will be the first time that I am teaching this aspect in such depth. You will learn how to be attuned to your intuition to hold space and allow whatever needs to be expressed. This is a creative and sacred process that adds much to the experience for both you and the mother.

What is the course format?

• A set of modules that you can explore at your own pace
• Text and video tutorials
• Access to a Facebook group for ongoing support
• No time limit
• Option to submit case studies and videos to certify

Who is this course for?

• This course is for anyone who supports women through life transitions:
• Therapists and counselors
• Bodyworkers and massage therapists
• Menopause practitioners
• Doulas and perinatal professionals
• Life coaches and transition guides
• Anyone called to hold sacred space for women
• While the practice originated in postpartum care, this training teaches you to adapt it for any woman navigating change.

What makes this course special?

I have a unique blend of scientific, theoretical and practical experience. I was a biology research scientist for 25 years prior to reconverting to being a doula and perinatal educator for over ten years, and now working as a women life transition mentor. I offer a blend of scientific, traditional, and practical knowledge.

Rather than following one specific cultural tradition, I have extracted the universal principles behind transition rituals across cultures and adapted them for today’s world. This means you can make it work for you and your clients’ unique circumstances.

As well as history and science, in the class I share real stories from my clients, from mothers and birth professionals, which help illustrate each topic and bring it to life, as well as give you plenty of practical ideas to make it work.

The course was co-created with the feedback and support of 115 early adopters.

What students say

“I enjoyed every minute of doing this course. Everything was so well explained and clear I’ve already recommended it to others. It’s actually the best online course I’ve ever done. Thank you so much.”

Sharon Montoute, midwife

“I have completely loved every bit of Sophie’s Rebozo massage & closing ritual course. I have already had so much interest & am so excited to offer this beautiful ritual. The way that the course is delivered is manageable within a busy lifestyle but so full of guidance while being authentic & respectful to the sacredness of these teachings. Sophie has such a calm, nurturing energy; I feel very grateful to have found her courses and will no doubt enrol in her other ones.”

Lana Bock, doula

“This course provided a thorough explanation and practice that I was immediately able to implement successfully in my existing massage practice. I look forward to taking more courses and learning from Sophie, as she has a wealth of knowledge and a beautiful way of sharing information.”

Jena Weeks, massage therapist

“This course touched me so deeply because there are many levels you are teaching about, from purely physical to the highest, spiritual ones. Thanks for creating it! The part that I find very special is on shamanic drumming. Your scientific approach to it is stunning!”

Milica Subaric, doula and aromatherapist

“I really enjoyed Sophie’s Closing ritual course. She teaches from her heart and you can feel the passion and knowledge she has from many years of experience of giving this massage and ceremony to women. The course content is very detailed and clearly taught with lots of explanation from an Osteopath as to why the particular movement helps. The learning is very accessible and as it’s online there isn’t a time frame in which you need to finish it, so you can do it when the moment is right for you.”

Romy Secker, doula

“The course is detailed with bitesized videos all presented in a clear way. You have a huge depth of knowledge and understanding gained by your own experiences and learning from different teachers. Teachers and lineages are acknowledged and respected. You give clear instructions with plenty of room for each practitioner’s creativity to develop their own ritual.”

Julia Platt, pregnancy yoga instructor

“I LOVE this course. I love how your voice comes through as if you’re really teaching face-to-face. I love how much you share of your own work and experience to contextualise the teaching. I love that it includes ceremony and incorporates baby loss. I also deeply appreciate the magical blend of ancient culture and ritual and a sound evidence base.”

Samantha Leggett

“I found this course to be a fascinating insight into the traditional nurturing rituals for postpartum women that is somewhat neglected in our Western culture. Excellent step by step instruction on how to deliver a sensitive and nurturing closing the bones ritual. Well prepared and excellent delivery. Thank you.”

Lou Slater, doula

Read more reviews

“The closing the bones training from Sophie Messager is very well explained, with lots of videos of each sequence, so I learned very easily how to do it, and it gives a deep understanding around its benefits and meaning. I loved every moment of this course!”

Patricia Hertkorn, doula

“Sophie’s course is wonderful. I feel confident and excited to start offering this to my clients. The videos are well done and it is easy to learn. Highly recommend it!”

Sabine Baker, doula

“I loved the course so much and the self massage with rebozo has been a revelation. I’ve been practising it nightly and it’s really helping with tension from feeding, carrying & co-sleeping with my baby! Thanks so much for sharing all your knowledge, it’s all so brilliantly simple yet so effective.”

Ceri Elms

“Have just completed the course. Thank you so much for the learning! I absolutely loved your teaching style, videos, resources (poems and songs) and passion that came through when observing your practices with the woman who was within your demonstrations.”

Kylie Coad, doula

“This course is very well explained and organised. It is easy to follow step by step through the videos that Sophie has made. What I especially appreciate is that Sophie encourages us to offer this ritual in our own way. It is a beautiful massage where we mother the mother, rocking her and wrapping her in rebozos. Thank you Sophie for sharing your knowledge.”

Pineda, doula

What is the investment required?

• The course costs £165.

If you would like to to find out more about the thought process and history behind the creation of this course, read the Blog post about why I created this course.

Here is a video of what this massage ritual looks like.