What are healing crystals and do they actually work? In today’s post I’m jumping into the history of healing crystals, how people use them and answering the forever-asked question: Are they actually effective?
The wellness world can be overwhelming. Trust me, even as someone who is 100% immersed in it, I feel this sentiment too. I created this series to help you navigate the ever expanding and increasingly confusing wellness world.
My first encounter with crystals occurred in Banff when I experienced my first crystal bowl sound bath at a local crystal shop in downtown Banff. I can’t fully explain to you what that experience was like except that in the span of a half an hour it felt like every emotion I had ever felt was suddenly about to pound out of my chest. I was told that crystal healing sometimes can bring out negative emotions that we need to face, and well, that’s exactly what happened to me. I became a believer.
What is a Healing Crystal?
A crystal is just a rock right? Not quite. Crystals are solids that form by a regular repeated pattern of molecules connecting together. This uniform structure is what makes a crystal a crystal. A rock, such as granite is not a crystal because it does not have a uniform structure. Whereas a crystal, such as amethyst is made up of the mineral, quartz. In the world of crystals, each type of gemstone has a certain frequency and can help heal or encourage certain states. Holding crystals or placing them on your body is thought to promote physical, emotional and spiritual healing. Crystals do this by interacting with your body’s energy field, or chakra.
Different Types of Healing Crystals
There are many different types of crystals but here is an intro guide to some of my favorites:
Rose quartz: the crystal of love and opening your heart.
Calcite: Helps with mental clarity and bringing into focus love and abundance
Citrine: a third chakra crystal promoting mental clarity, confidence and willpower
Amethyst: a type of purple quartz that helps with sleep, mood and healing by targeting your crown chakra
Aventurine: helps to manifest abundance and wealth
Tiger’s Eye: a root chakra crystal all about grounding and safety
Labradorite: Helps in connecting you to your dharma (passion) and intuition
How To Use Healing Crystals
1. Wear them! Making crystals into jewelry keeps them close to your body and allows their energy to be working at all times.
2. Keep them in your pocket, on your desk or nearby – strategically place your crystals in areas of your life where you are most likely to interact with them.
3. Cleanse, clean and charge your crystals.
- Cleanse: when you buy or receive a new crystal, always cleanse it to eliminate any negative energy and allow it to start fresh. You can cleanse your crystal using sage or palo santo and allow the smoke to coat your crystal. Smoke has historically been used in many cultures as a purifier.
- Clean: soak your crystals in sea salt to purify and clean them.
- Charge: Under each full moon place your crystals out to charge in the moonlight.
Do Healing Crystals Really Work?
The answer to this depends on who you talk to. People who are deep in the crystal/energy world will say “yes! they absolutely do!” others might disagree. Though some scientific testing has shown that crystals do in fact have different frequencies, the effect these have on various emotional states is not 100% certain. That being said, I truly believe the most important piece of crystals is mindfulness. Taking the time to figure out the right crystal to achieve a certain physical/emotional/spiritual state not only forces you to assess where you are at presently but also where you would like to be. And wearing a crystal and/or having them in your space bring that mindfulness to you more frequently than if you didn’t have any kind of reminder around.
I also remind people that wellness “add-ons” like crystals are pretty harmless. While, I wouldn’t depend on crystals to heal you from illness, I do think they promote positive behaviors and thoughts with little to no negative side-effects. So in the end I think it all depends on if you buy into or not. That choice is up to you.
Do you use crystals? What are some of your favorites?
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8 Comments
Angelina
July 9, 2019 at 12:39 amTbh I’m litterally looking for Crystal’s that help relive stress, anxiety, sicknesses and sleep. Lol cuz I need something that’s helps with that rn snd I think I have a good crystal rn on my luckily
Adrian Jones
March 16, 2019 at 2:53 amMost people might write off crystals as something that only looks pretty but they can be used to be so much more. Each type of crystal that exists has a specific ‘wavelength’ inside them that exists in order to be able to boost your body’s energy fields, and having them around the house would help get that good energy flowing and going and preventing clog-ups from happening. If I had a few crystals of my own, I would give it a try because I’m curious to see what could happen.
Sarah
October 21, 2018 at 2:42 amThis was so interesting! What do you look for when asking questions about sourcing? How do you know if they’re coming from reputable sources?
Davida @ The Healthy Maven
October 30, 2018 at 12:53 pmGreat question! You can’t really know until you ask. I get to know local vendors and when in doubt check out Energy Muse. They’re a reputable source for online purchases!
Ashley Pineda
September 19, 2018 at 4:25 pmWhere are the best places to buy crystals?
Cassandra
October 2, 2018 at 10:40 amI second this question! I see them more and more often in kitschy/trendy stores but I question the validity and quality at stores like that. What are some good sources?
Davida @ The Healthy Maven
October 2, 2018 at 3:58 pmHi lovelies! I totally agree. I buy mine at local stores in SF where I’ve gotten to know the owners or have asked questions about sourcing. I also trust Energy Muse for online orders!
dixya @food, pleasure, and health
September 18, 2018 at 11:44 amhow interesting..i keep hearing about them but had no clue idea. thank you for sharing.