Closing of the Bones

Group Ceremony:

A Postpartum Integration

Experience for All Stages

Our 2026 Seasonal Group Offering

In this group ceremony, participants can expect the benefit of full immersion including giving as well as receiving. Participants should expect hands on lifting using rebozos with a partner, as well as sitting on the ground, bending to give manual massage, use of essential oils & smudging (smoke) for 3 other participants as well as receiving the nurturing benefit of the same. Nursing mothers are excluded from lifting and individual needs are accommodated when we are notified beforehand before registering, on the prep call or privately.

California Central Coast - San Luis Obispo

September 13th Sunday 9am to 5pm — 3 spots available

If you are interested in a private group ceremony (up to 4 people) or a 1:1 please reach out.

The form below helps us understand the level of interest from the community each season and share about opportunities or create new ones if there is a large enough group gathered and eager to participate. Please text or call Victoria at (805) 459-6752 with any questions or wonderings in advance or we will reach out to you with your contact information provided.

Intake Form

FAQs

BIRTHING IS A THRESHOLD THAT NEEDS HONORING.
A RITE OF PASSAGE INTEGRATING HER REBIRTH.
This traditional ritual is a cross cultural healing modality typically done in the postpartum period after a pregnancy to honor the person for their right of passage they have gone through, be it a birth(s) or a loss(es). At its’ core, it involves massage and wrapping of the body in cloths. The tradition has been traced in many different parts of the world including but not limited to: Mexico, Central and South America, Russia, Morocco, and Europe.
This time span, be it at the end of the fourth trimester to decades after pregnancy, deserves a pause, to be honored, with reverence, support and gentle care.
A postpartum ceremony can look many different ways, and we have chosen to design this as a group rite of passage. To witness and contribute to each other and foster the reciprocity that is community. These group gatherings are rich and full of wisdom from all the different paths lived.
Due to the seasonality of each gathering and who chooses their ceremony when as well as the unique stories each women carries, no two ceremonies are the same.
Shared with a mother after she has stopped bleeding postpartum but can be done at any time on a mother’s journey, even years or decades after the birth.
Trust the timing for you, you will know when it is time for you to honor, heal from, and or acknowledge this transformation of self.
The day long ceremony is 9am-5pm in San Luis Obispo, California.
All ceremonies include prep call and integration gathering, elemental reverence, altar creation, mindfulness and movement, women's circle sharing, breathwork, qoya, song, music and drumming, wrapping and massaging with closing of the bones, herbal teas or broth or cacao, refreshments and feasting.
Preparation & Integration meetings before and after the ceremony day support your process and designed to tend to the self and the whole.
A prep call is scheduled for the whole group and individual follow ups can be had if desired. An integration gathering with a potluck is held in person where children are welcome.
For the ceremony day, we keep the space exclusively women only with exception of nursing babies. Prior arrangements can be made for best time to unite mother and baby. An assistant like a grandmother or auntie may be present for very small children.
Day long ceremonies are $444 with a $100 non refundable deposit upon registering to secure your spot.
Full cost of each gathering will be needed one week prior to your ceremony day. You may get payment to Victoria via VenMo, PayPal, in person, or check mailed.
Consider asking for this as a postpartum gift from your community and save as a baby shower item to fund for you or a loved one.
Trade options may be considered. Please reach out for further discussion.
Payment plans are an option too. We realize this is an investment in yourself and want to be mindful of folks’ cash flow at the same time valuing ourselves.
Community reciprocity is at the core of this group ceremony. A giving and receiving. Deep listening is happening from others for you and you are also holding space for others. Although the wrapping and massage with rebozos is led by the facilitators, there is room given for women’s wisdom to support in other’s wrapping as well. There is a vastness of emotions. We do not need to be fixed, as we are whole beings. We can use this space to honor our endings, reclaim ourselves and rejoice in this transformation we are leaning into. What is possible when we are able to deeply look at the layers of ourselves— that is to witness others in their process, honor the grief and celebrate what is becoming in ourselves? The ripple effect of this work, seeing each other as medicine, is transformative and expands to the way we parent, connect with our partners, work life, and creative center.
Yes! If there is a private group you would like to call in for an individual ceremony for yourself or a group wanting to do a ceremony together, we can support the facilitation and design of it at your place of choosing. Additional fees for traveling and unique add ons may apply.
We have seen the benefits of both group and solo ceremonies. In some traditions, a person may go through a closing of the bones ceremony 6x after pregnancy to help restore them postnatally and into many years down the road postpartum. Imagine that!

Tawny Day Sterios

Mother - Yoga Teacher & Teacher Trainer, Birth & Postpartum Doula, Circle Guide, Qoya Dancer, and Nature Enthusiast.
For 18 years, Tawny has been teaching movement classes, leading women’s circles, and hosting retreats in the US and internationally. A 500hr yoga teacher, she started her yoga practice in 1990, and in 2009, opened mBODY - a movement studio she co-owned for 8 years in San Luis Obispo, California. Her passion for wellness led her to India 6 times, where she fell more in love with herbal medicine, Ayurveda, sacred movement, temple spaces, and mythology. She currently leads online and in-person classes, circles and courses from her home in San Luis Obispo California.
Tawny is certified in Kundalini, Hatha, and Prenatal/Postpartum Yoga, a certified Doula, and a certified wholistic sex educator. She taught on the faculty of LEVITYoGA’s Teacher Trainings, Esalen Institute’s Movement Program, and was invited to teach yoga at the White House for Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity initiatives.
When Qoya arrived in her life, it was an opening - a dance with an old friend - and a space of homecoming. Tawny loves being a part of the Qoya community, and the opportunity it gives us to trust our innate intelligence and befriend the wisdom within our bodies. She invites others into movement lineages that honor body, spirit, and the power that can be found when they merge.
Tawny is a certified CAPPA birth doula, as well as a 500-hour certified yoga teacher. She has been teaching pre-and post-natal yoga continuously since 2007. Out of deep respect for the transformation she witnessed in her students, as well as her own experiences with the arrival of her daughter Athena, she embarked on the journey of becoming a doula and has been supporting families since 2015. With years in the wellness world of yoga, nutrition counseling, hosting retreats, meditations, women’s circles, embodied movement class, and more - she believes in the body’s innate wisdom to birth, and find wholeness. Tawny guides women into connection and care of their bodies using various modalities that integrate the mind, body, and spirit. She has witnessed again and again the sacred and initiatory path that is birth and is honored to support families through it.
www.TawnySterios.com
Follow @tawnysterios to connect more
Wendy Shaw Dahl

Wendy Shaw Dahl is a Physical Therapist who became a mother. As a P.T. she rehabilitated hundreds of patients in hospitals and in out-patient private practice. As a mother Wendy helped friends, family and herself avoid pain and injuries during pregnancy and after their babies were born. Combining knowledge and experience, Wendy began catering physical therapy to pre and post natal moms in 2005. Mamamorphosis™, her practice, was created as a haven just for moms to be nurtured; by people who are happy to help when you’re pregnant and after your child is born. Combining knowledge and experience to guide you through the unknown. And to help when you have an issue including healthcare, fitness, social and emotional support, and pampering.
Services include:
Physical Therapy for busy and tired Moms
Prenatal Fitness for an optimal pregnancy and easier labor & delivery
Postpartum Recovery including appropriate exercises when you need them
C-section Recovery for Moms who need a little extra TLC
"Baby" Body Mechanics - hot tips to save your back with the baby (and all baby's equipment)
Safe, gentle techniques that get rid of your pain plus how to keep it away
Always one-on-one with Wendy, no Aides or Assistants
http://www.mamamorphosis.com/
Victoria Rose Carranza

Victoria has been working with youth and families all her adult life. Her professional background is in Environmental & Community Planning. This has transcended to her work supporting the mothers. She sees them as bioindicators of the health of our communities and environment. Some of her past works involved: park ranging and interpretive education leading front country backpacking experiences and hikes for probation department programs, garden education, managing school gardens and nurseries leading classes from Kindergarten to High School as well as leading teacher trainings in the outdoor classrooms, permaculture design and community garden construction with neighborhoods and governmental agencies.
A “lactivist”, she coaches and empowers families in their lactation journeys. A mother of three and breastfed her olders 2+ years each. She has trained as a birth doula with experience in hospitals and homebirths. Postpartum care is where she focuses on with mother centered care in support groups outdoors.
Her mentors and trainers in Closing of the Bones are Rachelle Garcia Seliga of Innate Traditions and Sophie Messager.
You can find Victoria at the Play Grove, One Cool Earth’s headquarters, facilitating village style prenatal and postnatal gatherings. There is a richness that can be found when pregnant folks and postnatal folks witness, validate, and support each other. All in the outdoors and held by the ultimate mother, Earth.
She seeks to deconstruct the term “postpartum” as it is often seen as a mood disorder or finite state after pregnancy. It is forever. Symptoms may arise that are ultimately deeper and more complex. Community is at the foundation of us being whole. We are each on our own journey and are separate yet in this together.
Follow @thegardeningdoula to connect more