Sauna Rituals in the Sun Sauna

Have you heard about the ritual of hair shedding for newborns? Now this special ritual can also be experienced in the Sun Sauna under the guidance of an experienced doula. The rituals are an ancient tradition during which the mother and baby are truly separated from each other. Although physically the baby has already been born and separated from the mother, during the ritual this happens on a higher energetic level, not just physically. And the woman can finally feel not only like a home for a little person, not just as a mom, but again as a woman – lovable, cherished.

The process of hair removal is a component of the sauna ritual, during which a gentle massage with mother's milk is performed on the newborn in a warm sauna at approximately 40 degrees Celsius. During this gentle, caressing massage, small hairs, similar to bristles, emerge from the baby's skin, and after a short time, they fall off. As mentioned in the book by doula Linda Rozenbaha „Waiting and Giving Birth with Joy”, „the hairs are most likely sebaceous glands that envelop the baby while living in the mother's womb – this helps the skin not to become waterlogged. However, when the baby is born, these glands are no longer needed, so they die off and rub off with the old layer of skin. Beliefs say that those little babies who have not shed their hairs are more nervous, fidget in their cribs because their backs itch, and they do not want to sleep.”

Usually, the ritual involves the newborn's mother, father, doula, and sometimes the mother invites her sisters, mother, or older children.
One of the components of the sauna ritual is bathing the baby in an infusion of various herbs, where good words are spoken to the baby, and often folk songs are sung, which, as the ancient Latvians believed, will protect the baby and help in its future life. When the baby's hairs are shed, it's time to pamper the new mothers with a pleasant, gentle massage and warmth in the sauna.

In the Sun Sauna, sauna rituals for newborns are offered:

Kristīne Bērziņa

SAUNA RITUALS – This is a celebration of childbirth, or a ritual of love, acceptance, and well-being, when the baby is lovingly separated from the mother and accepted into the family as a little person, a baby, a brother, a sister, or just as themselves, while the mother simultaneously receives a love-filled special postpartum massage, as well as a strengthening and supportive conversation.

How it will be in your family, in your homeland – we will see. Let the traditions continue.

On the day of the ritual, there should be no rush... It should be a calm day when nothing else is more important.

Hello. My name is Kristīne. I am a certified, practicing Doula. I support mothers during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. I provide breastfeeding consultations and perform Sauna Rituals – a special ritual for the mother and baby.

I provide mothers with emotional and practical support, listening to the needs and wishes of each woman.
In the sauna rituals – I bathe the baby, possibly in their life's most special – herbal bath and massage their body with mother's milk. When the baby is massaged, the hairs are shed, and they sweetly fall asleep, followed by pampering the mother.
For the mother – in the sauna, during a strengthening and supportive conversation, we discuss the experiences of pregnancy and childbirth. Next follows pampering the mother's body – gentle whipping with linden or birch branches, and a full body massage with an aromatic natural scrub. In conclusion, we thank the body with an aromatic oil massage.
I would gladly share my experience, listen, and support the expecting and new family.

Līga Giniborga

I am Līga Giniborga – a practicing doula, breastfeeding consultant, midwife, mother of 2 children, and wife of Jānis. Sauna rituals are a logical conclusion to the early postpartum period, a celebration of childbirth, honoring the mother and child, and welcoming the baby into the family with good wishes.

Let, Laimiņa, me have a lifetime:
Light, light, fluffy, fluffy,
The lightness of the Apenīša,
The fluffiness of the birch twigs.

In the sauna rituals, I not only massage the newborn with mother's milk but also pamper the new mother with a body scrub, healing postpartum abdominal massage, body wrapping with a linen towel, and gentle whipping from the mother. In the sauna, the childbirth experience is often discussed, recognizing the woman's own resources, what went well, thanking herself, loved ones, and other supporters – friends, relatives, angels, and God. During the sauna rituals, folk songs have also come to me. They warm, heal, and nourish the souls of new mothers.

 Do not laugh, you folks,
I did not come for laughter.
I came for a little fire
With bare feet.
I kindled the little fire
From nine twigs,
God warms, dear Laima,
My life’s little maker.

I wish every mother to look at her body, spirit, and soul with love, respect, and gratitude, so that she may blossom in her essence!

Linda Lielvārde

I am a change consultant and family researcher, a practicing doula in training, and a Reiki practitioner. My main tools in the sauna rituals are unconditional love, words, and hands. Sauna rituals, in my opinion, are a very intimate and deep meeting, a leisurely day spent in love and bright moods. They are honoring celebrations when for the first time in a ritual way the baby gains their I – with all the attention, wishes, and caresses dedicated only to them – for their special life path. They are celebrations of gratitude when for the first time after childbirth, the mother feels her I in a ritual way – with attention, conversation, and caresses dedicated only to her.

Before the sauna rituals, I contact the parents to co-create the atmosphere of the sauna ritual that is suitable for that specific family and baby. When we meet, we start with a calm conversation, discussing the baby's journey to their family. Then we decorate the bath together and prepare a special herbal and spice infusion, bathing the baby in good wishes and then gently and carefully performing hair shedding. When the baby is pampered and sweetly dozed off, we pamper the mother with a jointly prepared scrub of herbs, honey, and essential oils. Then it’s time for gentle whipping with twigs and releasing the body’s energy centers from accumulated tensions. In conclusion, I perform a tightening postpartum massage, combined with gentle butterfly touches, acupressure, and Reiki practice.
www.spekavieta.lv

Linda Rozenbaha

I am a practicing doula, a mother of three children, and the author of the book “Waiting and Giving Birth with Joy”.
Often, mothers say after the sauna rituals – “I became calmer” (and thus the baby has also become more balanced), “it felt like a stone fell from my heart”, “I feel like I was reborn”, “I finally closed the chapter on my pregnancy”. Meanwhile, the life partners of women tend to notice the woman's shining eyes after the sauna rituals. And the family gains new resources to give to the baby and to each other.

My inner feeling after the sauna rituals is that the physical part of the sauna ritual strengthens the awareness of the experiences expressed by the woman and the family.
A significant resource in the sauna rituals I lead is a supportive conversation with the mother and the couple. This is followed by a lovely bath for the baby with symbolic items and wishes, and hair removal for the baby. Next is honoring the mother.

Here you can choose several pampering options for the mother:

  • Full body scrubbing in the sauna with a natural scrub I prepared
  • Gentle whipping with twigs prepared by me or the sauna master with linden or birch twigs in the sauna
  • A full body caressing in the sauna with natural oil (usually sesame or almond), concluding with a special closing massage for the abdomen.
  • A relaxing full body massage on the massage table, concluding with a closing massage for the abdomen.
  • Closing massage with scarves (technique from Mexico), performed by one person
  • Closing massage with scarves (a technique from Mexico), which I can perform together with one of your companions (there must be another person to look after the baby!)
  • Relaxation “Flight”, recommended to be done together with one of the companions

Sauna rituals last 4-6 hours
More about how I see and perform sauna rituals can be read here:
http://gaidibas.lv/joomla/en/dula-raksta/151-pirtizas-specinosa-pecdzemdibu-atjaunosanas-maminai-berninam-gimenei

Gunita Jansone

Peace, a gentle passage of time, soft warmth, the scent of herbal teas, the reflection of candle flames, the confidence that everything else is outside, trust, surrender, touch, caress, the fragrance of essential oils, story, smile, acceptance, wish, undivided attention, lullaby, the sound of water bubbling, giving, taking, hand in hand, close, being close, gratitude to oneself, gratitude to the body, gratitude to all the good, a bath broom cared for by benevolent hands, something gone and something in its place, folk song, cradle, celebration, festivity, gentle bath strokes, joy, harmony, heart upliftment, inhalation, exhalation, silence, care, trust, pleasure, kindness, love.

All of this reflects my sense of being in the bathhouse, as we celebrate the holiday of Life, Body, Love in gratitude!

I am a practicing doula, masseuse, cosmetologist, herbalist in the making.

I will be happy to be together!

Liene Grigāne

I am a mother of 2 daughters, a physiotherapist, a doula (in training), and a breastfeeding consultant.
The arrival of new life in the family is a beautiful and very significant event. In my view, the bathhouse is a way for us to give value to this moment by celebrating it. Bathhouse day is a holiday when we honor the miracle of creation, take a break from the great rush of everyday life, and in gratitude and love, the new family has the opportunity to enjoy a leisurely and fulfilling togetherness.
Before the bathhouse, I invite you to get in touch so we can discuss together how exactly you envision the bathhouse and what is especially important to you about it.
On bathhouse day, we decorate the space and the bath, prepare water for the bath, which can be made from special herbs we have gathered ourselves. We place the baby in the bath with loving thoughts and wishes. When the baby is bathed, there is an opportunity to massage the little one. After that, the baby is dressed and handed over to the caring hands of dad (or another beloved family member). Then comes the time to honor and thank the woman for the great work done – with words, with gentle strokes of the broom, with a gentle full-body massage, with Rebozo shawls.,
And what is especially important, amidst all this, is the opportunity to talk about what is on the heart regarding the waiting time for this baby, childbirth, and togetherness.
kristīne-Bērziņa.

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foto-Viesturam
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mazulis izvannots, tad ir iespēja izmasēt sariņus. Pēc tam bērniņš tiek saģērbts un nodots
tēta (vai kāda cita mīļa ģimenes locekļa) gādīgajās rokās. Seko laiks godināt un pateikties
sievietei par lielo darbu, kas paveikts – ar vārdiem, ar slotiņu glāstiem, visa ķermeņa maigu
masāžu, ar Rebozo lakatiem.

Un kas īpaši svarīgi, tam visam pa vidu ievīta iespēja izrunāt to, kas uz sirds par šī bērniņa
gaidīšanas laiku, dzemdībām un kopā būšanu.

I wish everyone happiness!