Since I’m sure all of my previous blog posts have made you want to run out and purchase countless numbers of crystals (trust me, once you start you will never stop) let’s talk about cleansing them. Since crystals hold such strong energy, it is important to cleanse them to ensure all the energy within them is positive energy. But don’t worry, cleansing is actually very simple.

In order to cleanse your stones of negative energy some methods are:

Water

Another method is to literally cleanse your crystals by holding them in lukewarm water for a few minutes. However, before doing this make sure that the stone is not water soluble because some may start to dissolve in water, which we definitely don’t want.

Smudging

This method is simply using sage , a cedar stick, or incense to clear the energy from your crystals. To do this all you have to do is light the sage/cedar stick/incense and allow the stone to pass through the smoke a few times.

Full Moon

If you find yourself needing to cleanse your crystals when there happens to be a full moon, you can also place the stones in a window from which the moon is visible and the moonlight is said to cleanse them as well.

Thank you so much for spending this time with me, I greatly appreciate it. I hope this has taught you something new, or even sparked your own desire to experiment with crystals and all of their many purposes.

In light of having 4th of July break I decided to keep this weeks post simple. I traveled to Atlanta for a few days and while I was there of course I had to check out a crystal shop. While I was walking, I happened upon an amazing one called Crystal Blue. They had an incredible selection, and very reasonable prices, so of course I had to walk out with a handful. Today I will be showing you what I got and listing a few characteristics of each stone.

Amethyst

• 

• Contentment, stability, strength, peace, calm, prosperity, freedom
• Third Eye and Crown Chakras
• Virgo, Aquarius, Capricorn
  

Smokey Quartz

• 

• Protection, security, transforms negative emotions, thinking, grounding, acceptance, removes emotional blockages, helps fear, depression, additions, and obsessions
• Root Chakra
• Capricorn, Sagittarius

Lepodolite

• Reduce stress, anxiety, tension, relaxing, calming, acceptance, hyperactivity, ‘stone of transition’, insomnia, bad dreams
• Heart Chakra
• Libra

Rose Quartz

• 

• Self love, self acceptance, peaceful and calm relationships, attract love, heals emotional wounds and childhood experiences, love
• Heart Chakra
• Taurus, Libra

Blue Lace Agate

• ‘Stone of the diplomat’, fear of public speaking or strangers, expressing thoughts, communication, reality
• Throat Chakra
• Pisces

Black Tourmaline

• One of the most powerful stones, repel negativity, heals fear and panic, grounded, vitality, stability, mental clarity, memory, purpose
• Root Chakra
• Capricorn, Gemini

While of course many people see crystals as being “just stones” or “pretty rocks” for some they are a major component of healing and hopefulness. Whether or not you believe in their properties, for many people they can help to ease their internal turmoil. Though I could go on for days about the different crystals for various mental illnesses, I chose to keep this post simple and stick to the, unfortunately, most common ones, anxiety and depression. These may be used in situations of meditation, simply holding the crystal, or carrying them around with you during the day to help alleviate the symptoms and provide even just a sense of comfort.

Having a crystal in my pocket is something I do quite often. For this my favorite “form” of crystal is a worry stone or palm stone which is a flat stone that can easily be held, you guessed it, in your palm, and conveniently also more comfortably in a pocket than other varieties.

Crystals for Depression

These crystals are said to absorb negative energy and lift your mood: citrine, smoky quartz, sunstone, Rose quartz, angel aura quartz, carnelian, and amethyst.

Crystals for Anxiety

To help calm your anxious mind and alleviate stress you can use these crystals: blue lace agate, lepidolite, amethyst, angelite, fluorite, rose quartz, and black tourmaline.

General Calming Crystals

Additional stones for an overall calming effect include: celestite, amazonite, jade, turquoise, aquamarine, apatite, aragonite, howlite, charoite, prehnite, and tigers eye (to name a few).

I hope this was a helpful glimpse into crystal healing! Let me know if you could like me to go more in depth with the different forms crystals come in and their uses, or anything else in the comments! See you next week.

Hello and welcome back. As promised last week, this week I will be continuing my discussion of the Seven Chakras and finishing up with the last three remaining ones.

THROAT

The throat chakra is the 5^th chakra and is the one that involved expression of oneself, including your truth, purpose, and creativity. It is located at the base of the throat and is controlled by the element of sound.

Characteristics: Expressing truth, communication (verbal, nonverbal, external, internal), creative abilities, sense of timing, and realizing ones purpose.

If this chakra is out of balance it can cause you to lack control over your speech, or the opposite, fear of speaking, poor listening skills, lying, not keeping secrets, and lack of connection with your purpose in life. In order to bring balance to it you can repeat the mantra “I am”, incorporate healing music, journal your thoughts to help verbalize them, and focus on careful listening.

Crystals associated with the Throat Chakra: Blue kyanite, larimar, tanzanite, azurite, aquamarine, and lapis lazuli.

THIRD EYE

This chakra allows you to open up to different ways of seeing and perceiving reality. It is located between the eyebrows and it divulges its energy from the “supreme element” which is a combination of all the elements in their most pure form.

Characteristics: Vision, Intuition, perception in movements of energy, psychic abilities, connection to wisdom, insight, motivated inspiration and creativity.

If the third eye chakra becomes unaligned you may feel stuck and unable to look past problems, not be able to establish a vision for oneself, rejecting anything beyond the usual, not being able to see the greater picture, or feeling a lack of clarity. Several ways to heal it include wearing third eye jewelry, meditation and yoga, or affirmations confirming that you are intuitive and have a purpose.

Crystals associated with the Third Eye Chakra: Purple fluorite, amethyst, black obsidian.

CROWN CHAKRA

This is the last chakra and it gives access to higher states of consciousness and going above and beyond our limitations. It is located at the top of the head and is connected to the element of light.

Characteristics: Consciousness, realization, communication, bliss, and presence.

Blockage of the crown chakra may result in feelings of depression, disconnect to spirit or body, living inside your head instead of reality, obsessive attachment, and close-mindedness. Healing can come by way of meditation, focusing on connecting with the world around you, practicing silence, yoga, and spending time stimulating your brain through reading or puzzles.

Crystals associated with the Crown Chakra: Clear Quartz, Selenite, Amethyst, Diamond

Thank you for reading part two of the Seven Chakras! I hope you enjoyed. Comment and follow for more!

Chakras are something that I have been interested in learning about more in depth and I am excited to use this blog post not only to educate my readers on the subject, but to also delve into this world I have been to distracted to learn about otherwise.

The chakras are quite extensive so, in this post I will give a brief description of the first four of the seven chakras including what they govern as well as what occurs if they are out of balance. Correspondingly, I’ll give a brief synopsis of how to bring them back into balance and which crystals can assist in doing so. The last three chakras will be continued on next weeks blog post.

ROOT

The Root Chakra is what provides the foundation which we build our life on and is associated with growing and feeling safe while exploring life. It is located at the base of the spine. Its energy comes from the earth element.

Characteristics: Security, survival, basic needs, physicality, grounding, support

When this chakra is out of balance, it can lead to excessive negativity, eating disorders, greed, and feeling insecure and unsafe. In order to strengthen this chakra you need to make sure you are grounded in your environment, making sure to spend time surrounded by nature, work on becoming self reliant, and participating in physical activity.

Crystals associated with the Root Chakra: Red Jasper, Smoky Quartz, Hematite (underlined stones pictured)

SACRAL

The Sacral Chakra associated with the emotional body, sensuality, and creativity and is the driving force for the enjoyment of life through the senses. It is the center of all of our feelings and sensations. It is located in the center of the lower belly. Its energy comes from the water element.

Characteristics: Emotions, relationships, sexuality, creativity

Having this chakra out of balance results in dependency, being ruled by your emotions or the opposite and feeling out of touch and numb to how you feel, or feeling stuck. To heal this chakra you can conduct specific sacral meditations or repeat mantras and affirmations.

Crystals associated with the Root Chakra: Shungite, Tangerine Quartz, Carnelian, Goldstone, Selenite, Phantom Quartz

SOLAR PLEXUS

The Solar Plexus Chakra is what governs the expression of will, personal power, and mental capabilities. It is located in the upper belly where your diaphragm rests. It derives its energy from the fire element.

Characteristics: Taking control and responsibility of ones life, intellect, opinions and beliefs, decision making, clarity of judgements, confidence, self discipline, independence.

Imbalance within this chakra can result in excessive control and authority, feeling helpless, irresponsibility, manipulation, and lacking purpose or direction. Solutions to this imbalance include breaking routine, cutting off negative people, getting out in the sun, releasing anger, let go of unhealthy attachments, and setting goals.

Crystals associated with the Solar Plexus Chakra: Pyrite, Citrine, Lemurian Quartz, Agate, Orange Calcite, Tigers Eye, Shungite

HEART

The Heart Chakra brings compassion, love, and beauty to our life. When it is open you feel deep connection and harmony with all that is around you. It is located in the center of the chest. Its energy is based off the element of air.

Characteristics: Love for oneself and others, relationships, empathy, forgiveness, transformation, peace, awareness

When this chakra is out of balance you may feel overly defensive and closed down, jealous, co-dependent, isolated, and holding grudges. To place yourself in a state of balance some healing techniques include breathing exercises, focusing on noticing and appreciating the beauty in the world, practicing self care, reflecting on the past and coming to terms with it, and expressing gratitude.

Crystals associated with the Heart Chakra: Fuchsite, Emerald, Rhodonite, Rose Quartz, Chlorite Phantom Quartz, Shunghite

As always, thank you so much for reading! Be sure to give a follow and come back next week for the last three of the Seven Chakras!

To begin, there are several crystals that are considered the basics, like kind of a building block for the rest of your collection. They are the following:

Clear Quartz

This clear stone is known as the master healer of all the crystals and can pretty much be used for any purpose, including but definitely not limited to personal development, intuition, motivation, energy, clarity, and many more. It is associated with the Crown Chakra (I plan on going more in depth about the chakras in a future post).

Amethyst

This purple stone is my personal favorite. It can be used for a variety of purposes such as healing emotional issues, helping with insomnia and nightmares, intuition, clarity of the mind, calming and more. It is associated with the Crown Chakra. An interesting fact about amethyst is that it is a very common stone and easy to find, so anywhere you purchase one you can be sure that it is genuine amethyst.

Rose Quartz

This beautiful pink stone is the crystal for universal love, whether it is referring to relationships, friendships, or self love. It can also be used for its soothing and calming effects. This stone is associated with the Heart Chakra.

Citrine

This gorgeous golden stone is another great one for beginners. Its purposes revolve around creativity, encompassing imagination, clarity, intelligence, self confidence, decision making, and productivity. Due to also being referred to as a sun stone, it is associated with the Solar Plexus Chakra.