What is Sobada Womb massage? Ancient abdominal healing for women in Sydney
If you've never heard of Sobada, you're not alone—it's one of those ancient practices that somehow got left out of the mainstream conversation about women's health. And the beautiful thing is that it hasn't been westernised.
The women who practice it—sobadoras—are trained by indigenous or medicine women from South American and Mesoamerican cultures. I was trained by an Argentinian medicine woman, and years later I went on to initiate and teach women in NYC, medicine women who felt the call to this medicine and were working across different modalities: herbalism, doula work, shamanism, coaching.
By staying true to the roots, an indigenous lineage is preserved. This isn't about modernising a practice, it's about respecting the tradition, honouring my teachers, and following the path they walked before me.
What is Sobada womb massage?
Sobada is a traditional therapeutic womb massage rooted in Curanderismo, the healing wisdom of Mesoamerican cultures including Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and surrounding regions. The word comes from the Spanish sobar, meaning "to knead or rub." It is a sacred touch practice that works with the physical and energetic body at the same time.
It's not a spa treatment. It’s not an energy healing session. It's not a procedure. It's something in between—and beyond both.
Through gentle, intentional touch on the lower abdomen, sacrum, and lower back, Sobada invites the womb to soften, release, and come back into flow.
Think of it as abdominal massage for women, but one that also holds space for what the body has been carrying emotionally and energetically—sometimes for years.
When you receive Sobada, you are not just receiving a massage technique. You are receiving a living lineage. Because when I learnt this medicine, I didn't only acquire skills, I changed energetically.
I carry within me the ancestral wisdom of the women who created this practice, and I channel the energy of the earth they honoured.
When I moved to Sydney, I knew I needed to bring this medicine with me. And that's exactly why I offer it.
The roots of this practice
Curanderismo is one of the oldest healing traditions in the Americas. For generations, curanderas (traditional healers) used Sobada as part of their work with women, supporting menstrual health, fertility, postpartum recovery as a Cerrada de Cadera (Closing of the Bones), and emotional wellbeing long before any of those were clinical categories.
In these traditions, the womb is understood as a woman's centre and our second heart—not just physically, but spiritually. When the womb is out of balance, so is she. When she is nurtured, everything else begins to flow.
This isn't very different to what shamanic traditions across the world have always known about the body as a vessel of memory, ancestral energy, and life force. It's wisdom that was never meant to disappear, it was just waiting to be remembered.
What Sobada can support
This is where I want to be real with you: Sobada is not a cure, and I won't make promises that belong to your GP. But what I can tell you is that women have been receiving this work for generations and there are good reasons why.
Physically, Sobada womb massage may help with:
Painful or irregular periods
Heavy menstrual bleeding
Endometriosis and associated tension
PMOS (polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome) and ovarian cysts
Fertility support (alongside your existing care)
Bloating, constipation, and digestive issues
Menopausal and perimenopausal symptoms
Postpartum recovery (after your body is ready)
Pelvic floor tension and lower back pain
Lymphatic stagnation and poor circulation in the pelvic area
Energetically and emotionally, it can support:
Releasing stored emotional imprints and tension held in the womb
Letting go of energy from past relationships
Reconnecting with your feminine creative energy
Ancestral healing (patterns passed down through the female line)
A deeper sense of body trust and self-connection
Awakening your intuition and inner flow
Reconnecting with your feminine energy and flow
As I write in my Womb Keeper post, the womb holds the echoes of our lineage—our mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers. Sobada is one of the most direct ways to begin working with that stored energy through the body (earth element), not just the mind (air element).
What a session looks like
Sobada is typically received across three sessions timed around your menstrual cycle—starting about two days after your bleed ends, and ideally completing before your next period begins. This gives us a working window of about three weeks, one session per week.
Why three sessions?
Because deep healing happens in layers. One session can be profoundly nurturing; three sessions within a cycle allow your body and womb to gradually open, release, and realign rather than just receiving a one-off treatment and moving on. I’ll be honest, that is simply not enough.
During each session you will:
Begin lying face up on a massage table, then turn face down for the second part of the session
Remove clothing from the waist down, or keep your underwear on if that feels more comfortable (you choose what feels right for your body)
Have your lower abdomen accessible for the massage; I will keep you covered from your pubic bone down to your feet
Receive gentle, intentional massage of the lower abdomen, sacrum, and lower back
Be held in a warm, safe, ceremonial space
Receive the massage using organic sesame seed oil infused with Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris)—a plant ally with a long history of supporting women's reproductive health
Receive sound healing and energy work woven through the session
Sessions are available in Sydney. You can book here.
When not to receive a womb massage
Sobada is a gentle but powerful practice, and there are times when it's not appropriate to receive it:
During pregnancy
During menstruation or the days just before bleeding begins
Within 6 weeks after a vaginal birth
Within 3 months after a C-section or abdominal surgery
If you have an IUD the massage may affect its placement
If you're unsure whether Sobada is right for you right now, get in touch and we can have a chat before you book.
Who is this for?
Honestly? Any woman who feels called to it.
You don't need a diagnosis. You don't need to be trying to conceive. You don't need to have been through something traumatic. Sometimes the call is simply: I want to reconnect with this part of myself that I've been ignoring.
That said, Sobada tends to deeply resonate with women who:
Experience painful, heavy, or irregular periods
Are on a fertility journey (natural or assisted)
Are navigating ancestral healing or womb work
Are moving through perimenopause or menopause
Are postpartum and ready to tend to their body
Feel creatively blocked, emotionally flat, or disconnected from their body
Feel always rushing, never resting and deep down know need to slow down
Are curious about womb healing and feminine wisdom but don't know where to start
Want an embodied complement to their energy healing or spiritual practice
If you've landed here, something in you already knows. That's usually enough. 🌹
Book a session in Sydney
I offer Sobada womb massage in Sydney as a set of three sessions across your menstrual cycle, or as a single session for those who want to begin gently.
This is a rare practice in Australia rooted in authentic Curanderismo tradition, woven with energy and shamanic understanding of the womb as sacred.
Or if you're not quite ready to book, start with the self-paced Reconnect with your Feminine online course, a gentle introduction to womb awareness, self-womb massage, and feminine energy from home.
