Birthing Hands of DC Presents

“Closing of the Body, Opening of the Heart”
A Rite of Passage Ceremony

Instructor: Sonija Parson, Doula (CBI)
International Midwife

Saturday, September 27, 2008
3:00 p. m. - 5:30 p.m.

Emergence Community Arts Collective
733 Euclid Street, NW
(Near Howard Univ. and Benjamin Banneker High School)
Washington, DC 20001

www.ecacollective.org

Who Should Attend?
Class will be of special interest to doulas, midwife birth assistants, massage therapists, other Obstetric and Gynecology health care service professionals, healers, and women who practice self healing.

What Will Be Covered?
Class will cover a Mayan traditional way to physically and emotionally close the cycle of pregnancy and birth, and open a new chapter with a new baby. It is also used as a rite of passage ceremony for women entering various stages of their woman-ness.

Description:
Class will teach the physical and therapeutic closure of the women's body, post partum, with a technique traditionally used by many indigenous midwives that literally, as well as metaphorically, closes the women's body. Often, new mothers feel like their body is “left wide open” their ribs and hips are literally pushed outward to accommodate their body's growth. They can also feel more susceptible to illness or emotional crisis. “Closing of the Body” allows the new mother to come to the end of her birth experience, celebrate it, and let her body close while allowing her heart to open for the next chapter in her life with her new baby and family. Many women find this experience to be an opportunity to acknowledge and resolve emotions that have surfaced during labor and birth. The class will be interactive with hands-on demonstrations.

In this class emphasis will also be placed on the use of this ceremony as a rite of passage for women of all ages as they close one stage of their woman-ness and enter another; particularly for women who are entering or have completed menopause or had a hysterectomy.

Sonija T. Parson is the senior doula and midwife birth assistant with BirthingHands with extensive experience providing birthing services in the United States and internationally. She recently returned to Washington, DC from Cuernavaca, Morelos Mexico where she serves as a traditional midwife. She practices this healing art in Mexico and Washington DC.

Registration Fee: $40.00

Click here for printable PDF flyer.

Space is Limited. Early Registration Recommended.

A Certificate of Attendance will be presented for use
with ALACE and ICTC CEUs