Description
Swaddling
My name is Evgenia. I am from Ukraine, but I live in Denmark. My massage is a sacred ritual called “Swaddling” or “Closing of the Seven Locks.” It is an ancient Slavic ritual. Each procedure is highly individual, depending on where I perform it, the personality of the woman, and her specific needs. However, the general principles are as follows:
1) Deep warming of the body from the inside (using herbal teas and infusions), accompanied by a conversation about childbirth or the woman setting her intention for the ritual. During the tea ceremony, the woman talks about the difficult moments of pregnancy and childbirth and may cry them out if she wishes.
2) Bodywork – warming the body from the outside (with bath procedures or hot stone massage). During the hot stone massage, we oil the body, work on the muscles and fascia, and address the energetic meridians.
2) Working on the hip joint area on the warmed body. During childbirth, the pelvic bones make many movements—counter-nutation, rotation, nutation. This happens to facilitate the baby’s head passing through. Therefore, the pelvic bones are also out of place after childbirth. Many women suffer from these problems for a long time—pain in the sacroiliac joints, pubic symphysis separation. These issues are resolved through pelvis binding/tightening.
3) Abdominal massage (using herbal pouches and ancient visceral techniques). In my massage room, the client and I choose the herbs together (some of which I gather myself) and make a herbal pouch for the compress.
4) Wrapping in a sheet provides a sense of care and safety. It is also an opportunity to rest: the woman enters a space where she can reconnect with herself and “return” to her body.
5) Wrapping the seven areas of the mother’s body (forehead, shoulders, under the chest, pelvic bones, mid-thighs, calves, and feet). Each area is wrapped with a long scarf, tightly binding the body on both sides and holding it in this position for a while. The seven locks correspond to the seven main joint centers of the body. Myofascial release is achieved through the tension of the fabric. During the binding of these seven zones, we close the seven main energy centers to prevent energy leakage.
The Swaddling procedure aims to release the tension accumulated in a woman’s body during pregnancy and childbirth, to process the fears and pain of childbirth, and to transition from a pregnant state to motherhood. The Slavic technique of closing childbirth has no expiration date. It is recommended for all women who still have fears or unresolved feelings related to pregnancy and childbirth, even if they occurred several decades ago.
The procedure is intended to address specific postpartum issues such as lochia retention, early-stage endometritis, pubic symphysis separation, lactostasis, childbirth-induced hemorrhoids, constipation, difficulty urinating, back pain, and many other problems.
I hope you find the ancient Slavic technique of Swaddling interesting
