I have been practicing henna since I was 15 years old.  That was 20 years ago!!  It is one of my favorite thanks to do and I have a side business called Mothersun Henna.  Now that I am a mama and most of my friends and colleagues are having babies, I mostly do pregnancy henna jobs.  Normally, I get hired to henna a belly for a Blessing Way or Baby Shower.  I also recommend doing it around your due date so that when you go into labor you have your Warrior Paint on! 

Henna paste is 100% natural and its been around for centuries.  It originated in India, Africa, and the Middle East.  Cleopatra used to henna her hands.  In Hindu marriages, henna is adorned to ensure a long lasting and healthy marriage.  Henna is a plant mostly grown in the tropical places and its leaves contain a powerful staining agent in them (this is a great article from My Modern Met if you want to learn more about henna).  The leaves are crushed into a bright lime green powder.  Then you add essential oils and lemon juice to create the paste.  The henna paste dyes your skin a deep reddish brown pigment.  So, all in all, henna is completely safe for the skin.  So, it is absolutely safe to bless bellies with it!  I have been using Henna by Henna Caravan for 20 years now, so if you want to try it out yourself, this is where I recommend to buy your henna paste from.  There are alot of products on their site, so, to make it simple for you, this is what I buy.  Then all you need to get is their applicator.  You just have to know that henna becomes stale after about a week and will no longer stain skin unless you freeze it.  So I buy fresh and use it right away and if there is  leftover I freeze it immediately.  

In my own spiritual way, when I henna women's bellies, I make it a sacred ceremony to ensure safe labor for Woman and child.  Either I get to be alone with the pregnant woman, or I am in the middle of all her closest females as they gather around her at her Blessing Way.  It is so special for me to be a witness to it.  I always start my Blessing with prayer work as I pray silently with my hands on her belly, deeply connecting with the baby.  I give thanks first, for allowing me to be with them, and I discuss with the baby that when he/she is ready, and when mommy and daddy are ready, in that cosmic moment, the baby will make its way into this new world safely and swiftly for everyone, and that we are all so excited to meet her/him.    Then we spend the next 2 or so hours together as I adorn her belly with the cooling and aromatic henna paste and as we talk about birth and pregnancy and sacred feminine things.  And when I am done, she ismore ready for birth than she was before.

If you are in the Santa Barbara area, feel free to email me if you would like to make a henna appointment with me.  Below is a little portfolio of some of the bellies I have blessed in the last two years.