Rebozo Self-Massage & Self-Wrapping (aka self-Closing the Bones) (Online or In-Person)

During the 2020 lockdowns I created a Self-Massage & Self-Wrapping variation of Closing the Bones work where I lead you through Rebozo Self-Massage & Self-Wrapping work to get a very similar effect as a Closing the Bones would give. This can be done in-person, on Zoom or Skype, and will teach you fabulous self-care techniques that you could use daily, weekly, or at any regularity you’d like. And if you have no access to a Closing the Bones practitioner near you, an online session like this can be very helpful as a substitute.

This work can also be done as e.g. part of a women’s circle, both online or in-person. (I have offered around 20 group sessions of this work in Women’s Circles over the past 2 years, but we have no new ones planned.)

In a session that lasts around 2 hours & 45 minutes to 3 hours I will teach you how to wrap & close your own hips at home (and how you can keep wearing the rebozo even while going about your day), how to do parts of the Closing the Bones abdominal massage as self-massage, and how you can self-massage your entire body with a rebozo and wrap your head, shoulders ribcage and abdomen. These techniques are amazing and can release a lot of tension from the body. I always wrap myself when I’m menstruating, and I couldn’t imagine not doing so anymore.

In this work I will be introducing you to the Rebozo or Manta, a shawl traditionally used in Closing the Bones or Cerrada-ceremonies. Traditionally offered during the postpartum (or to heal a miscarriage, stillbirth, abortion, loss), Rebozo-work as offered in Closing the Bones is also used to support us when menstruating, to mark major transitions in a woman’s life, such as the menarche, marriage, divorce, job or home changes, (peri)menopause, hysterectomy, … , to help with fertility problems, as well as for treatment of anxiety, shock, trauma, PTSD, ADD, autism, or sensory over-stimulation. There is nearly no end to its applications.

For me, the humble Rebozo or Manta symbolizes both the fabric and the tight weave of Sisterhood: it provides support, comfort, softness, the feeling of being held, and a chrysalis-like space for the many transformations we as women go through. Being wrapped in a Rebozo helps a woman to find her own self and center again, and seals up any energy leakages.

I will teach you to nourish yourself with beautiful Rebozo massage techniques for the entire body from head to feet, with a tender womb-space massage and with Rebozo wrapping on yourself, holding space for stagnated energy and stuck emotions to be released gently but powerfully.

In the Rebozo massage work, we will pay particular attention to the Bladder meridian which runs all across the back of the body. This meridian is intimately related to the autonomous nervous system – it is the only meridian that flows through our brain and along the entire back and directly affects our nervous system as well as our emotional memory storage. The branches of the Bladder meridian directly influence the sympathetic & parasympathetic trunks of the autonomous nervous system, which regulates our fight-flight(-hide) response, and, in turn, all the body’s basic vital functions.

In the pressures of modern life many people suffer from an overly-activated sympathetic nervous system, causing a constant state of apprehension, fear, or worse. This can be accompanied by tension and pain along the spine and its periphery. Over time, it crystallizes into a fixed pattern of fear which can inhibit the decision-making capability and manifest as chronic high blood pressure, ADHD, bi-polar disorder, heart disease, panic attacks, and low libido.

Back tension and pain can be relieved by stimulating the energy flow along the spinal branches of the bladder meridian. Such stimulation induces total relaxation by switching the autonomous nervous system over to the restful, restorative, parasympathetic mode – which is exactly what we will do while massaging ourselves with a rebozo.

The Bladder meridian really ‘rules the back of the body’. With some 80 meridian points in 4 lines running down the back, the back is a fertile field for the storage of old wounds that can later become organ imbalances (e.g. kidneys), almost literally bearing the burden of the past. Feelings held here can include guilt, feelings of duty, but also feelings about sexuality, self-control, self-support and stability. Releasing the tension in the back and stimulating the bladder meridian will automatically release the stored psychic tension, thus resolving many physical and psychological problems.

We will further work on the fascia (connective tissue), massage targeted muscles, work on the lymph system (and emotions such as shame and guilt that get trapped there), on the vagus nerve, on the entire rest of the meridian system as we also massage the full front of the body, on the uterine and pelvic ligaments (to realign the uterus and learn to enjoy pain-free periods!), on adrenaline deposits on the hips, on the fluids in the body; we massage and wrap all body parts on ourselves, we feel, we release, we allow things to heal…

I’ll show you several ways in which you can massage your entire body with a Rebozo (and even use it for stretches in your yoga practice), teach you to wrap your own head, torso, abdomen and hips, and show you some hands-on massage techniques for the abdomen and hips, helping to release tension from the abdominal fascia as well as adrenaline deposits on the hip bones.

We will open and close with some beautiful meditations.

For whom is this work?

For…

Women trying to conceive.
Women having recently given birth to their baby and the mother inside them.
Women having recently miscarried.
Women who have had a hysterectomy and believe they have lost the essence of their womanhood, while in fact 80% of that womb space energy is still present in them.
Girls crossing the threshold of the menarche.
Women who have experienced loss.
Women who have experienced abuse.
Women grieving.
Women finding their feet in a new family.
Women crossing the perimenopause and entering the stage of the Wise Crone that is so undervalued by our society, where women in this stage often feel themselves becoming invisible…
Women celebrating their shared womanhood.
Women learning how to wrap and massage themselves when they are menstruating to enjoy pain-free periods – which can now become moments of gorgeous rest in the busy lives we lead.
Women learning tools to help with IBS.
Women finding themselves again.
Women falling in love with themselves again.
Women honouring themselves again.
Women rising up.
Women diving deep into their pain, and coming back out on the other side, transformed, empowered, having realized their depth.
Women being vulnerable and real.

For this work, you’d just need one or two rebozos – either some you already have, or you can get some on my webshop –  click on Rebozos/Mantas as category. Ideally you’d use a 2m open weave for massaging and a 2m-2.8m close weave for wrapping. You also want to have some oil ready for the womb-massage and small towel, and if possible a wooden tightening stick (which I also sell) or wooden spoon/rolling pin.

Testimonials about these sessions:

• “Thank you for a magical morning. I enjoyed every minute.”
• “Thank you for such a brilliant session. Wonderful way to start the day!”
• “I feel whole and I feel complete, thank you for this”
• “Thank You for this, feeling really goooodd… Just want to get myself ready for bed now and feel how I feel when I wake up… 💓💓💓”
• “I loved how you have developed the whole sequence into a self-rebozo-massage. And when you teach it’s very obvious to me that your teaching is grounded in a lot of experience (experience not just in rebozo work).”
• “Thank you Japjeet. I had a lot of emotional and physical release. Grounding. I realise how much I should wrap myself regularly, bringing me back to myself, my center, in a safe space, containing and closing. With work and family and friends as a woman I give a lot, being open. This wrapping and selfcare just gives such an important counterbalance.”
• “Thank you – I loved it just as much this second time – great using my new rebozo.”
• “Thank you so much, it was brilliant and very helpful!  Thank you Japjeet, you are fab.”
• “Thanks a lot! It was really interesting to do these techniques on myself. Definitely want do this more often … Was lovely connecting xx”
• “Thank you Japjeet! You’re perfect holding the space.”
• “I really enjoyed the beautiful session this morning. It’s so beautiful and amazing to be in touch with what our ancestors have to offer and I’m so grateful to be able to learn more.”
• “Really enjoyed the session again today & was amazed with what came up for me this time. Felt a deeper connection, thank you xx”
• “I was really surprised that it feels so relaxing to massage myself with a rebozo. Definitely to be repeated, thank you!”
• “The session today was inspirational. I am post-menopausal and feel really connected to share this information with other older women who may feel they have lost their youth and have not yet come to terms with their wisdom as older women. I don’t always feel society nourishes these women and they become invisible. Their wealth of experience and their depth of wisdom is so important and it feels as if the skills you taught me could be the nourishment that is so needed. I feel very inspired and want to thank you so much.”
• “Japjeet! You wouldn’t believe how much of a release I had afterwards, I cried so intensely…”
• ” It’s the first time my womb has felt secure and centred since the birth! Thank you x”
• “This is my new favourite self-care technology.”
• “I loved the way it made my body feel, and was feeling irritated at the start, that’s gone. thank you never thought to use cloth in this way, though have had a massage like this but I never knew much about it, but it felt so good.”
• “This makes me feel like I’ve been reborn. I’ve been trying to come to my true self through Kundalini Yoga too and I finally do feel with this work like I have found myself as a young woman.”
• “The wrapping really resonates with me in terms of pregnancy and labour – I felt like I absorbed so much societal rubbish about my body and that it hasn’t had anywhere to go – I think what we call postnatal depression might just be that there’s so much [good and bad] that’s been absorbed by the pregnant and labouring body but very little space to release it, culturally, in the fourth trimester…”
• “All very healing and soothing. thank you 🙏”
• “Thank you for such an informative and nurturing session.”
• “For me, beforehand I felt unloved & yearning for the love of something/ someone. It was wonderful to love myself for a short time. Feeling held & accepted.”
• “I loved it, thanks so much – really learnt a lot, thank you Japjeet it was gorgeous.”
• “The feeling of being held was for me very strong and nurturing! Loved the connection to my heart while being wrapped!”
• “I’ve so enjoyed this – it’s been so provocative and fulfilling.”
• “This is powerful, beautiful and enlightening… I feel empowered, thank you Japjeet ji always.”