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Chances are you’ve spotted a crystal or two when scrolling through Instagram. After all, you can’t shake a stick at a carefully curated coffee table without running into a chunk of rose quartz.

And if you listen to my podcast, than you know how on-board celebrities seem to be for these shiny pieces of decor.

But, and not to get all woo-woo on you guys, I’ve often wondered if there was more than meets the eye when it comes to crystals. So many folks espouse their ability to heal, affect well-being, and even emit a since of inner tranquility. I’ve gotta admit…I’m down for all three of those things. But is this all the placebo effect, a passing fad, WITCHCRAFT? Let’s find out.

Crystals tend to be semi-precious stones with striking colors, patterns, or textures. But even in all their beauty, they are intrinsically natural. As such, many argue they embrace the life-giving elements of the universe and inherently connect us to the Earth we live on. 

Here are 3 applications of crystals I looked into…

Holistic Therapy

The world can work in mysterious and wonderful ways and you don’t always have to have solid evidence in order to benefit from something positive. (As in, “I don’t care how it happened, I’m just glad I feel awesome!”) Holistic therapy broadly, and using healing crystals specifically, is an example of this. 

Here’s an example one crystal believer told me about:
“Crystals can serve as the physical manifestation of your intentions. You hold onto them and use them to “hold” or represent the things you want in the world — like to feel more at peace or find love. Many people will then hold the crystal close to them near their skin, perhaps in crystal necklaces or in a pocket. This helps your intention vibrate in reality.”

The type of stone that you choose depends entirely on what you want to accomplish. Different stones have different properties, but some of the most popular stones include:

• Clear Quartz – Clears negative energy. 
• Rose Quartz – Is the “love” stone, a great choice if you’re looking for romance.
• Tiger Eye – Offers protection and can help to give you confidence and courage.
• Sunstone – Combats feelings of sadness.

But do they work?
“I think it’s less about any sort of magical powers the crystals may have and more about truly identifying what you want and need. If I’m feeling blue and I carry around a Sunstone in my pocket, throughout my day I’m going to be constantly reminded that happiness is a possibility that exists in my reality–and that’s a powerful thing.”

Meditating With Crystals

Meditating can improve your sense of well-being on it’s own. It encourages you to dedicate a portion of your day to letting go of stress and worries, focusing on your breath, and just BEING.

So, if you find that meditation is benefiting you, can you throw crystals in the mix and achieve a deeper meditative state? One of my favorite yogis and meditation rockstars says, absolutely! Here’s how she does it —
“I gather up stones that represent the properties I want to focus on that day. Then, I lie down on a flat surface and place the chosen stones over my chakras. Once I’ve got everything all set up, I close my eyes and remain as still as possible.” 

Essentially, instead of just focusing on your breathing as you would with any other meditation, you also focus on the properties of each of the stones you are using. Again, as with the example above, you have physical reminders to guide your focus. As someone whose mind wanders a lot in meditation, I can see how physically feeling the weight of a rock on your chest or forehead would gently nudge you back on track.

I definitely wanna give this one a try, but balancing a bunch of stones on my body seems like a lot…
“Totally. Some people prefer to meditate sitting up or just find it easier to focus on one thing at a time. Just hold your chosen crystal in your hands as you meditate in your usual manner.”

Crystals in Writing

If you’re the type of person who likes to put pen to paper when making your plans, another application I learned about was to incorporate these written items into your crystal process. Create your lists, notes, and writing as usual.  But when doing so, write as if these plans are already so. That they’ve already happened. Write that you are doing well, that you do have what you want. Root for this energy and place crystals on top of your finished work.

“Your crystals should work like batteries, charging your positive energy. I believe this method can work for folks who are a bit more analytical…they want to sketch things out for themselves, not just attribute a certain feeling or emotion to a stone. Instead, they can create their end goal and the crystal just gives it a little turbocharge, haha!”

Don’t you just love that imagery! But, I’m wondering…would this also work for say, other types of writing?

“How do you think I got through my MFA?”

Noted.

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Do you have crystals? Have you ever used them in the ways described above? I’d love to hear! xoxo