The Sacred art of Henna on Expecting Mothers.

I was recently asked to henna the bellies of these beautiful mamas to be.  I birthed with a local midwife and her team of midwives now opperate the Phoenix Birth Center in downtown Phoenix.  They are a community based birth center with lots of love for their mamas.  They host monthly circles for the mamas due that month to give them henna, love, advice and create a space for dialog between expecting moms.  

Since this mama had already birthed her sweet baby boy we thought adorning her chest and home of her son's nourishment would be appropriate.  I love that henna is a form of body art that can adorn each phase of our lives.  Many religions and cultures use it for marriage but here in the west we often use it for bellies, from everything I've learned of this shared art form, there is no right or wrong, it's all about forming a sacred connection between the plant, the people and the story they are sharing.

This mama's belly was calling for a mandala, her perfectly round belly just needed something big and bold so I opted for a clean design with little shading or fill (I was on a time constraint of about 30 minutes per mama).  I made sure to use thick bold lines so this would stain well.  When I was done she showed me her shoulder tattoo of a mandala, and I love that when we just let the medium, in this case henna, speal and we don't get in the way of that or over think it, the connections are so interesting!

I am happiest when surrounded by strong women and grateful hearts.  Henna is a connective + diving plant and it brings together cultures and stories.  It only makes perfect sense to adorn a mother-to be on her sacred journey as she prepares to 'leave her body' to gather her baby and bring him/her into the world.  To protect her, to complement her beauty, to tie her to the earth.  A primitive art for a primal experience.  I'm so honored each time I witness this practice and contribute to their experiences.

I'll be honest sometimes my inspiration for a design comes from the clients clothes, this mama's bright beautiful floral leggings begged for a floral design on her beautiful belly.

For the final belly of the night I was deep in focus.  Her stones and energy screamed for sacred geometry so I opted for the flower of life to fill in this tear drop design.

Sometimes when moms share about their previous births there can be a lot of emotions and I wanted to do something special for this mama because I felt like she needed something powerful to remind her how strong she is and the energy of this place is, and I hope baby felt a bit of that too.  I don't know if she's had her baby yet, but I hope when she does it's every bit as magical as she wants it to be.

I'm forever grateful to the midwives who trust me and my ingredients on the bellies of their most trusting clients.  I'm honored to be a part of their end of pregnancy circles.  I love listening to their knowledge and wisdom passing between these women.  I look forward to the next round of bellies each month.