Birth Blessing Ceremony
When you teach pregnancy yoga and get to watch mama’s grow throughout their pregnancy it is such a privilege. Often times I do not think we as teachers know or realize the impact we are having on whole families and these unborn children. Our classes often hold the only sacred space these women have in their lives. Most things and events that revolve around pregnancy have to do the cuteness of the baby or material things and celebrations like baby showers. Khalsa Way classes offer a different connection to the mother and child, something with far more depth and meaning. A vibration that will be with them for the lifetime.
This is why it is such a gift to give your mama’s a beautiful sendoff ceremony when they come to what they think might be their last class before their babies are due.
Here is a simple idea and way to make that last class ceremonial for your mama. It also gives the other women a chance to witness the passage that is in their future and a opportunity to bless and love on their fellow pregnant sister.
Step 1
Invite the mama to the center of the space and ask the other mamas to form a circle around her. If you can adorn the classroom with some special flowers and/or candles to make the space feel beautiful then do!
Step 2
Have the pregnant student ether lay down comfortably or be on a throne of pillows, however she can be most comfortable. Have the other women get close enough to ether have one hand on the mama or connect to her through another women whose hand is on her. The idea is that the whole class is connected to her.
Step 3
Sitting in this way, invite all the women to chant a mantra for a few minutes. Setting a beautiful vibration. I love to use the Adi Shakti mantra but it can be any mantra of your choose. Try to choose a mantra that the women know from class so they can really participate.
Step 4
After a few minutes of chanting turn the music down and one by one ask the women to say a word that they want to offer the pregnant mama to give her strength and wisdom as she goes towards labor. Whatever word comes to them, they just speak out loud so she can hear.
Step 5
End the ceremony with this reading (Or a reading of your choice)
My dear sister,
You are embarking on an indescribable journey. In a short time, you will leave the harbor you have called home for so long and find yourself on a shamanic journey like no other. You will go to depths I cannot tell you about, for they will be yours. You will experience highs I cannot imagine, for they will be yours, tethered to the soul you have been holding space for and will continue to hold space for a soul whose face you will come to know so very well.
When you look in the mirror in several months you will see a very different woman. Your heart will be raw from all that loving and all the waves that await you on the unfathomable sea of this journey. Your body will ache from the weight of the love in you arms. You will be reborn in a way only motherhood can mysteriously make possible.
I have come to believe that there is no other initiation more radical in its reshaping of a women than this process of Conceiving, Growing, Birthing, Shepherding Consciousness onto the earthen floor of this very planet.
Blood of our blood.
Bone of our bone.
Veins like vines, within our garden,
Forever turning, ever evolving,
We deliver renewal with the fierce grace of our babies entrance.
You must remember in the ancient weave of your soul the ways in which we let go and so let in.
I’ve come to believe that when we are emptied and flute is emptied by the skilled creator: carved out, hallowed, notched and whittled away, With sacred intention from raw material, the music of our lives makes sense.
The phenomena of the most beautiful notes can be heard with clarity, and there is a resonance that heals not only the naked vessel but all those who hear our song.
So do not resist the sacred hollowing that approaches.
Welcome the hands of the master craftsman who has already begun to work on you.
Maiden to Mother
Mother to Music
We are the ones who sing the song of tomorrow, through the sacred mundane of the every today, guiding, loving, listening, calling in the heavens and bringing them here to earth.
I bless you, oh graceful one.
May your passage thorough the ring of fire be infused with trust, love, surrender, and beauty.
May your child’s journey to earth be a marvelous adventure, a sacred dance, with a gentle landing… and may the love that will be ignited within your new family ripple across time and space, informing us all.
-Writer Unknown
Step 6
Close the circle with the “Long Time Sun” song and seve tea and fruit if possible. Giving the women a chance to sit and be together over food provides a wonderful opportunity for friendship and community.