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28 m a s s a g e & b o d y w o r k m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 0 CLASSROOM TO CLIENT education The Sacred Sacrum, Part 1 Honoring Its Holistic Significance By Cindy Williams Water and Earth chakras [first and second chakras] are located above and below it and the sushumna [central energy channel of one's life force] has its end point in it. It is also the negative pole of the nervous system and the structural system of the spine. It thus becomes a critical focus for all three energy layers . . . subtle energy patterns, nervous system patterns, and physical structure." 1 ENERGETIC SIGNIFICANCE Most of the sacrum sits in the energetic center of the second chakra. From this center, life is given through our organs of reproduction. What is more sacred than life itself? The second chakra, also commonly called the sacral chakra, embodies the experiences of pleasure, sexuality, creativity, and emotional expression. It is associated with the element of water. When a person is feeling nurtured or offering nurturing, the second chakra is in play. This is the home of the mother's womb, a child's first experience of being nurtured. Self-care and self-love, also forms of nurturing, are expressed through this energy center. The anatomical term sacrum, introduced in the mid-18th century and shortened from the Latin term os sacrum, literally means "sacred bone." Given the energetic qualities of its location in the body, as well as its structural role (which we will consider in greater detail below), it makes sense that the sacrum is seen as sacred. Randolph Stone, DO, founder of polarity therapy, called it the "mysterious sacrum" because of the complexity of structural variations and energetic patterns found in and around it. Understanding the complexities of the sacrum will allow the manual therapist to address the dysfunctions that arise from it and support the health of clients who present with sacrum-related physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual imbalances. THE BIG PICTURE In the study of polarity therapy, a combination of exercise, diet, bodywork, and self-awareness unite to support freely flowing energy within and around the body. Our life force energy (also known as chi, qi, and prana) must move in cycles through positively, neutrally, and negatively charged energetic regions in the spine and extremities in order to create a balanced, joyful, and healthful individual on all levels of body, mind, and spirit. In Franklyn Sills's book The Polarity Process: Energy as a Healing Art, the sacrum is described as ". . . the negative pole of the subtle energy system. The