What is “Sacred Intimacy” or Sexual Healing?
Sacred Intimacy is a form of sexual healing describing a purposefully created opportunity for healing and releasing wounds from emotional and sexual trauma. It also describes the experience itself—which is both “sacred” (elevated, enhanced, spiritual) and intimate (open, vulnerable, transparent, accepting). In sacred intimacy sessions, very intimate and vulnerable places of the psyche and emotions are safely accessed, allowed to integrate and then released. Sacred intimacy sessions have the purpose and sacred intention of recovering one’s spirit, healing, and returning to emotional and psychological well-being.
What Happens in Sacred Intimacy Sessions?
In a therapeutic professional setting, sacred intimacy sexual healing sessions should be facilitated by a trained and qualified healing practitioner. There is however, a lot that a couple trained in the essential aspects of providing a healing session can do for each other without needing a sexual healer to facilitate the session. The benefits of Sacred Intimacy sessions include deeper intimacy, closeness and connection, openness and trust of each other.
Art by Richard Stodart
Sacred Intimacy is a special creation of space and time wherein two people meet—one to be the receiver and the other to be the giver. The exchange is “one-way” in its intention and facilitation. The receiver is invited to open up and lower psychological and emotional barriers to create an opportunity to release and clear energetic “residue” from past sexual trauma and emotional wounding. The giver holds the sacred intention of serving the receiver’s highest good and supporting his/her process of healing and letting-go by maintaining complete presence and unconditional acceptance without getting in the way of the receivers process of unwinding and releasing.
Because sexual wounding and trauma so often involves a heart-break of trust at deep, unprotected, levels by a family member or relationship partner—communication and relating ability are impacted and get triggered when intimate and vulnerable circumstances occur (while sharing intimacy, during sex and deep connection). To understand Sacred Intimacy or the sexual healing process better lets look at what it is that is being “healed” or let go of.
Why Sexual Healing is Needed
Very few people have escaped childhood without experiencing some traumatic event that left emotional wounds and psychological scars—especially in the areas of: broken trust, a broken heart, or betrayed trust by a family member. The overwhelming emotion produced by these will often produce psychoid (psyche-physical) reactions that embed “trigger points” of pain, tightness, and discomfort in the emotion centers of the body (abdomen and genital area),
Not everyone is sexually abused, and yet abuse of any kind will cause trauma that can surface when intimacy, trust, and vulnerability are experienced—and the place most likely for this to occur is in one’s relationship and in the experience/expression of sexuality. Past trauma and abuse will often severely affect a person’s ability to feel deep and fulfilling intimacy, and manifests in sexual dysfunction, reoccurring emotional and relationship sabotage, low self-esteem and unhealthy choices/practices.
Sacred Intimacy sessions are opportunities to experience emotional clarity and relief of stress, frustration and anger in a supportive and positive container that works with what your body and its energy wants to reveal, let go of, and release. Many of the relationship difficulties experienced by couples stem from pent-up and unprocessed feelings tied to past emotional and psychological wounds that have been suppressed and ignored. These wounds create emotional “hot-buttons” or “triggers” which when activated can cause havoc and damage feelings—putting a strain on the relationship.. These havoc-wielding buttons are actually the desperate attempts of the unconscious to make these hidden issues come out into the open to be seen, processed and integrated—trying to return to emotional and psychological wellness and wholeness.
The reason that Sacred Intimacy sessions are so beneficial is that they give the receiver an opportunity to consciously work with feelings and pent-up energies for greater psychological understanding and emotional clarity. With basic techniques and practices a couple can do much to discover and release unconscious feelings so they no longer have power over behavior—and anytime they get triggered again they are easily re-integrated. Current concerns or challenges can also be processed—allowing stress and emotional charge to dissipate and release. Doing this together as a couple engenders trust and deep intimacy.
It’s not necessary to become immersed in the overwhelm or relive the trauma of the wounding to heal or release its emotional charge and unconscious hold on you. Sacred Intimacy healing work will go as deep as you allow it to. In concert with a couple’s practice together, I strongly suggest seeing a professional therapist, counselor and/or healer for additional support.
The Process
Art by Richard Stodart
Because energy knots from sexual trauma or emotional wounds are often found in the area of the body where feelings are held and processed (also associated with sexuality) the sacred intimacy and sexual healing process uses sexual energy to reveal, clear, and release any “energy knots” (often experienced as: numb, cold, tight, and/or painful places). The conscious activation of these energy knots allows the previous pent-up energy to flow naturally and return the receiver to vitality and full experience of their sexuality. The benefits of which are: less stress, fear and anxiety while adding greater self-awareness and capacity for intimacy in relationship.
Breath, sensual touch, movement, sound and visualization are used to create opportunities for discovery, release, and integration of the contracted energy knots, emotional wounds, or disparate feelings of the client. With the right preparation, the Receiver can relax and open to the wisdom of the body and spirit to direct the session’s experience. For the Giver, it takes an understanding of key principles combined with sincere intention and steadfast attentive presence to create the safe and sacred container where the Receiver feels safe and able to relax and open up within.
* see related article: Sexual Healing with Internal Pelvic Release
When experienced regularly, Sacred Intimacy sessions allow a person (or couple) to stay in-touch with developing feelings while discovering previously hidden sources of compulsive behavior or unconscious motivation and clear or release what wants to be let go of, process and integrate disparate feelings —while providing more clarity and deeper connection in relationship not to mention personal understanding and empowerment.
If you would like to learn how to create sacred intimacy sessions with your beloved, or if you have questions about sacred intimacy sessions please click on the Contact Sunyata button below.
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2 Comments
Tantric Healing | Sunyata Satchitananda · December 9, 2013 at 1:16 am
[…] healing, or sacred intimacy, sessions have the intention of providing an opportunity to release energy blocks that limit […]
Sexual Healing with Internal Pelvic Release | Sunyata Satchitananda · September 26, 2013 at 10:29 am
[…] * additional article: Sacred Intimacy & Sexual Healing […]