How Plant Essences Help Restore Your Chakra System by Jo Shipley

Over the past few months, I’ve been running a series of workshops as part of the chakra course. They are really good, basic introductions to each chakra – how they work, how they impact our mind, body, and spirit, and how important it is to have a fully aligned, open chakra system to receive positive life force from the universe.

In the process of setting up the workshops, I’ve been very diligent about actually practising what I preach. I knew it was important to work with my chakras using the techniques that I was explaining to my clients – not to prove that they worked (because I knew they did) but to experience the benefits of doing the practises for myself. They were very basic practises, using a lot of plant energetics and crystal medicine from the homeopathy centre where I work in Canberra. I used crystals, herbs, Australian Bush Flowers, tinctures, essences, essential oils, and all these marvellous mixes of potions, creams, and foods that are on the shelves – products that people have lovingly put together to support healing and chakra work.

I must say that the results have been profound. Having completed the root and sacral chakras so far (with the rest to follow), I have found the process so far to be transformational.

My root chakra work took place during the post-Christmas holidays, and it was the perfect way to ground my energy back into myself in preparation for the beginning of the year. With all the changes that happened at New Year, the astro and planetary alignments, eclipse season, and the start of the Fire Horse year, taking time to simply stand on the earth and ground my energy was the simplest, most basic, yet fundamentally profound transformational practise to support my body’s energy.

When I work with clients and look at the body’s energetic system, just that one practise of grounding energy can make a huge shift. By moving energy from our upper chakras into the earth, into our root, we feel safe and secure and are able to bring energy through the body and into form.

The practises of using black, energy-absorbing obsidians and earthy jaspers in your meditation, along with chocolate, cinnamon, and clove herbs to ground your energy, are a perfect way of doing this. It has now become a fundamental part of all my practises going forward.

The next step was to work with the sacral chakra, and I approached this with a little more trepidation. I find that a lot of my clients, and women particularly, tend to bypass their sacral work because of the fear of what they may find. People stuff so many emotions in this energy centre – and many don’t want to open that Pandora’s box. We don’t want to see the pain, trauma, and wounding that we’ve protected ourselves from. The energetic blocks that occur in our midriff, in the reproductive and gynaecological areas, carry a lot of physical and emotional weight for us.

It became clear that the best way to work with the sacral chakra was to approach it with softness and compassion. It wasn’t about ripping anything open or tearing off the band-aid. It was about softening and gently opening, so that creativity, sensuality, and joy could find its way to the surface.

I decided to try Australian Bush Flower remedies in this sacral work. I allowed a few weeks of lead-up for this, as bush flower essences are best used over a period of time. They offer a beautiful range of women’s potions, essences, and roll-ons, specially formulated with the right plant energetics to support the softening of emotions, the gentle release of stuck trauma, sexual suppression, and emotional holding. With plant medicine, the shift happens gently in a beautiful, natural way.

Every morning, I applied my oils and rubbed the women’s essence cream into my sacral chakra, all over my tummy, and allowed myself time to appreciate the beauty, joy, and creativity around me. I spent intentional moments in appreciation, breathing into the energy of the plant medicine.

As I reflect on the progress, I feel I have melted away heavy, stuck energy, and it has brought about a beautiful softening and deeper awareness of my emotionality and sensuality. I feel I have embraced more of my divine feminine aspects, and when I look at my relationships, I can see and feel the change.

Next month, we’re moving on to the solar plexus chakra workshop in the autumn, which focuses on our will and self-worth. I can’t wait to work with this one. I will definitely be using Australian Bush Flower remedies to expand my solar plexus and truly ignite that power centre and inner drive going forward.

If you’d like support shifting your energy using crystals and vibrational energy-healing practices, I would love to work with you in my Canberra therapy rooms.

You’re also invited to join me in person for my upcoming Crystal Chakra Workshop series in Canberra, ACT, throughout 2026 at The H Dispensary, Griffith, ACT. Dates online— bookings via What’s On at The H Dispensary.

Enjoying this content? Tune into my Wellness Valley Podcast, where I speak to inspirational healers and share stories of hope, wellbeing and personal growth (available on Spotify, Amazon and my website).

Find Jo Shipley, Sixth Sense Healing –  online, on Instagram and at The H Dispensary.