When we move stiffly, when our hips feel locked or our lower back aches, it’s more than just physical, it’s emotional, energetic, and ancestral. This month in Chi Flow with Jo, we’re bringing loving attention to the lower Dantien, the energetic centre in the pelvis that is key to vitality, power, and fluid movement.
Together with the incredible Julie Williams, practitioner of Consciousness Medicine and Family Constellations, who will give our Mid Monthly Health talk, we explore how trauma, rigidity, and emotional wounds, especially those from early childhood, can get stored in the sacral chakra and hips, creating tightness in both body and mind.
Emotional Baggage in the Hips
Julie shared from the Ayurvedic tradition, the sacral chakra, located in the lower abdomen, becomes active between the ages of five and eight. Any emotional upheaval or trauma during this period can create a dense energetic “wobble.” It doesn’t spin smoothly, and this disruption shows up as tension in the hips, lower back pain, stiffness, or even a sense of disconnection from joy, pleasure, and creativity.
Julie reminded us during our conversation that this trauma isn’t always ours alone. Much of what we carry is ancestral—deeply rooted emotional patterns passed down through generations. As we age, these patterns can harden not only in our beliefs but also in our bodies. Hips tighten. Shoulders stiffen. We become less flexible—not just physically, but emotionally and mentally too.
But here’s the good news: we can shift it. We can release the trauma. And we can restore flow.
Two Simple Practices to Unlock Hip Flexibility and Emotional Flow
Here are two powerful solutions from our Podcast that you can try today to soften your hips, boost your mobility, and breathe life into your lower Dantien:
1. Creative Expression
Creativity heals. Whether it’s cooking, painting, singing, dancing, or even choosing to wear a joyful colour, creative acts unblock the sacral chakra and invite movement into areas that feel frozen.
You don’t have to be an artist—simply engage in something playful and expressive.
Even something as gentle as pushing a pebble around on a blank page with a pen, letting your hand follow the flow, opens channels of expression. You’re giving yourself permission to move differently—physically and emotionally.
“Whatever we focus on grows. So focus on creation, not just consumption.” – Julie Williams
Start your morning with this mantra: Create first. Consume second. Before you reach for your phone, create something. Morning pages, a smoothie, a sketch. It sets the tone for presence, not reaction.
2. Breath into the Pelvis
Many of us have never been taught to consciously breathe into our sexual organs, the very space where life begins. But this area is a powerhouse of energy, and it’s often shrouded in shame, fear, or disconnection.
By simply placing your hands over the lower belly and breathing deeply into this space, you begin to reconnect with your power. The lower Dantien is where Qi gathers and transforms. It’s the energetic furnace of the body.
Try this:
• Sit or lie comfortably.
• Place both hands over your lower abdomen.
• Inhale deeply through the nose, imagining the breath travelling down to the pelvic bowl.
• Exhale through the mouth with a sigh.
• Repeat for several minutes, sending loving attention to this sacred centre.
Over time, this restores the flow of life force energy, allowing you to access joy, creativity, and mobility in the hips.
Trauma Needs Tenderness
As Julie shared, trauma release must be done with care. Working with a trauma-informed therapist ensures you don’t accidentally retraumatize your nervous system. It’s not about diving deep into the wound. It’s about gently acknowledging it, locating it in the body, and giving it permission to move and heal.
In Consciousness Medicine, practices like timelines, family constellation work, and NLP reframing help you see that you are not your trauma. You are the one who experienced it, and you have the power to transform it.
This Month in Chi Flow with Jo
In our daily Qi Gong practice, we’ll be focusing on hip mobility, pelvic breathing, and cultivating lower Dantien energy. These movements and breath practices help us connect with our power, release stored emotions, and move with grace and ease.
Later this month, Julie Williams will offer a Mid-Month Member Health Talk, diving even deeper into Consciousness Medicine techniques to support emotional release, creativity, and energetic resilience. Her work brings beautiful depth to what we practice each morning in Chi Flow.
You Are Not Just the Trauma
You are a radiant being, creative, powerful, and whole. The emotional body can expand and contract, but the spiritual self remains untouched, always intact. When you move, breathe, and create from this knowing, healing unfolds.
Come move with us. Come soften. Come reclaim your flow. Sign up for the LIVE Free Class at the end of the month and we’ll send you the recording too.
Self-administered acupressure or Chinese Medicine is not a substitute for visits to qualified healthcare practitioners.
Knowing how to treat yourself and your loved ones with complimentary therapies like acupressure can be greatly beneficial and convenient. However, for serious and chronic conditions, you’ll want to visit an Shiatsu therapist / Acupuncturist or other qualified healthcare practitioner who can develop a treatment plan based on your unique medical history and combination of symptoms.
The information provided should not be considered medical advice.