How Pleasure Powers Creativity and Your Sacral Chakra by Jo Shipley

For a long time, the idea of working with the sacral chakra made me pause with a definite I’m not sure about that. It carried a reputation that felt risky – it sounded much too sexual, too emotional, too exposing. And like many women in midlife, I had learned to cope by staying productive, contained, and capable. Opening something that lived deep in the body, especially around pleasure, felt very vulnerable and like it might unsettle more than it helped.

Through my healer’s personal process work with the Barbara Brennan School of Healing (which teaches how to work energetically with the body’s chakra system and bio-field), I began to notice how deeply conditioned my relationship with pleasure had become. Pleasure felt indulgent, distracting, and something to be earned after family and work responsibilities had been met. Especially as women, we’re often taught to be careful with pleasure – don’t want too much, don’t receive too easily, don’t have ‘too much of a good time’, be appropriate. Receiving becomes uncomfortable, and enjoyment carries a trace of guilt.

What changed for me was realising that sacral chakra healing didn’t begin with intensity – it began with safety. I did not have to start with sexual expression or dramatic emotional release, but could find the smallest, most ordinary forms of pleasure. The warmth of fire in winter, music that moves through the body and lifts the heart, standing in awe of natural beauty and allowing myself to feel expanded by it, without analysing or justifying the experience. These pleasurable moments might seem small, but they send a powerful message to the nervous system: it is safe to be here, and from that place of safety, something begins to open and relax.

As pleasure becomes nourishment rather than indulgence, the body responds. Breath deepens, emotions move more freely without overwhelm, and I noticed I didn’t have to work so hard to hold myself together. Creativity returned in quieter, steadier ways, and boundaries felt clearer without becoming rigid. Intimacy – with myself and others – shifted from guarded effort to presence. This, I came to understand, is what healthy sacral chakra energy work could be: warm, grounded, and responsive – not dramatic or destabilising.

One of the biggest misconceptions about working with a blocked sacral chakra is that it will open emotional floodgates. In my experience, the opposite is true. When sacral work is well-held and gently paced, it supports nervous system regulation. In the beginning, there is no requirement to feel more, go deeper, or ‘activate’ anything. Healing happens through permission and through listening to the body, allowing pleasure to be simple, ordinary, and safe. Sexual energy is a core part of the sacral chakra energy, but focused, deeper healing can come later when the initial energetic work has been integrated, and the body is ready.

At its heart, sacral chakra work is about remembering how to live in your sensory body without guilt. It’s about reclaiming pleasure as a stabilising, creative force rather than a risky one. When pleasure is welcomed as a form of self-care, the body responds with trust. And from that place of trust, emotional resilience, creativity, and connection unfold naturally, in their own time.

Five Gentle Ways to Balance the Sacral Chakra

• Notice small, safe pleasures and journal about what you enjoyed today
• Use water to wash away tension – showers, baths, or foot soaks to soothe the body
• Practise gentle hip awakening exercises – rocking side to side or pelvis sways
• Delight in sensory nourishment with pleasurable tastes, touch, sounds, sight, or scents
• Choose a creative act with no intention to finish or share – doodle, colouring or dance

If you’d like to explore gentle, grounded ways to balance the sacral chakra and support creativity without overwhelm, I’ll be sharing practical tools and practices in a small, supportive workshop on 28 February in Canberra. We will explore the support of energetic tools – such as crystals, essences and herbs – to create the conditions that allow the body to relax and expand for creativity. Find out more online at the What’s On at The H Dispensary.

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.