BodySpirtitual | Crystal Healing Guide

How Does Crystal Healing Work?
Research into the structure of the atom over the last few hundred years has revealed that everything in our entire universe is made up of energy. Even solid objects, like a piece of furniture or the hair on your head, are really just vibrations of energy at the most fundamental levels. It may not look like it to your eye, but healing crystals and the cells in your body are made up of the same kind of energy.

Scientists have already figured out how to use the energy inherent in crystals for all kinds of things like keeping time using small quartz crystals in your watch or creating the electronic components to your computer and smartphone. Whether you realize it or not, the energetic properties of healing crystals and stones are widely used in our modern technology.

We even use crystals in our medications. Many pharmaceuticals are made by grinding up minerals that form inside of healing crystals. Even though our culture has several uses for the energetic properties of crystals, we have neglected to standardize their use in energetic healing.

Just like magnets use energy to attract or repel, healing stones crystals use energy in the same way. When you place certain crystals over certain parts of your body, your energy transforms, vibrates, pulses, moves and shifts in accordance with the properties and energetic signature of the crystal.

What Type of Healing Can You Expect From Crystals?
You can use crystals to heal everything from migraines to anxiety and beyond. Healing crystals can also accelerate your meditation practices, align your 7 chakras and even induce trance states under the right conditions. There’s no limit to the types or level of healing you can get from the right crystal or stone in the right application.

If you’re looking to heal some aspect of your mind, body or spirit, there are essentially 3 primary ways healing crystals can transform your energy and resolve imbalance:
Clearing – Crystals have the ability to absorb and remove certain types of energy from your body. Like a magnet can pick up little pieces of metal shavings, a healing crystal can absorb negative energy from your body.

Energizing – Healing crystals and stones can also push energy into your body, mind or spirit through inducing resonant frequencies. This is similar to the way electricity works by conducting and transferring energy into an object. A crystal can harness energy from the quantum field and send it into your own energy field. Don’t worry, unlike electricity, this crystal healing energy is painless and not dangerous.

Balancing – Our world is very symmetrical. Look at the leaves on trees or even your body. The energy of our planet aligns things in a mirrored pattern. Sometimes, your energy may be misaligned and out of balance, and healing crystals can use the properties mentioned above, which are essentially attracting and repelling, to balance out areas of energetic disharmony.

Ways to Use Healing Crystals
rose-quartz-healing-properties-and-meaninga beautiful example of a crystal healing grid featuring rose quartz, citrine and regular quartz. photo: natalie cochran

There are thousands upon thousands of types of healing stones and crystals in the world. There is an incredible amount of untapped healing power just sitting out there waiting for you! However, before we dive into figuring out what type of crystal is ideal for your personal use, let’s go over some different ways you can use crystals to heal yourself.

Wear healing crystals. Since crystals and stones absorb, repel and transmit energy, wearing certain healing crystals can help you balance your energy field throughout the day. Think of the crystals you wear like taking a vitamin. You eat the vitamin and it nourishes your body for the entire day. Putting on your crystal jewelry in the morning or putting certain stones in your pocket is like taking your daily vitamin on an energetic level.

Place healing crystals on a specific part of the body. Anyone familiar with crystal healing is probably familiar with this type of healing—the laying of stones. If you’re looking for a very direct, specific application, placing crystals on that part of your body is an excellent way to access their healing properties. For example, when you get a burn, you apply a burn ointment to the wound. If you have a headache, you might sit quietly with a quartz crystal on the spot of your pain.

Meditate with them. Healing stones and crystals are often millions of years old, and they contain a lot of information about our history. In fact, a quartz crystal can hold as much data as over 22,000 iPhones, and that information doesn’t degrade over time. By sitting with crystals and quieting your mind during meditation, you are often able to intuitively receive amazing, life-changing insights by simply holding an energetic piece of history like that in your hands during the process.

Use a healing crystal grid. When you use a crystal grid, you lay out specific types of crystals and stones in a predetermined pattern. These patterns are designed to receive and transmute energy. Using a crystal grid is an ancient healing technique and it can take time to learn all the different types of grids, but most people find it to be worth it as it is an extremely powerful practice.

Sleep near them. Our subconscious minds take over when we’re sleeping, and it’s a great time to heal and learn at an accelerated pace. Allowing healing crystals to work while your sleeping can eliminate any hurdles your rational mind might be presenting with fear or doubt. Try placing crystals under your pillow or on your bedside table and see how they effect your dreams and how you feel when you wake up tin the morning.

Move them around the body. Crystals don’t need to sit still to work effectively. In fact, sometimes it’s better to move stones and crystals all around your body to get the most healing effect from them. Try using a healing crystal wand to clear negative energy fields from your head to your toe. Keep in mind that your energy field extends about 3 ft. around you, so don’t hesitate to work on your entire aura when practicing crystal healing.

Place them in your home or car. You can also use healing stones and crystals to protect you or empower an intention. For example, you can place protective crystals in your car to block negative energy from accidents or break ins by placing that intention into the crystal and then leaving in them in those places. You can use them in the same way in your home or to set the energy for a room. Crystals like rose quartz can also draw in romantic energy in your bedroom or healing energy near your tub.

Cleansing and Aligning Your Crystals
Since healing crystals absorb, attract and repel certain types of energy, it’s important to keep your crystals clean. If you use crystals to absorb negative energy, you’ll want to get rid of that energy before using them again. Think of this like using a sponge to soak up dirty water. If you want to keep using the sponge, you’ll need to squeeze out the dirty dirty water and clean it up so the next plate you wash doesn’t also get dirty.

When you purchase healing crystals or stones in a store or online, they have been absorbing and repelling the energy of everyone who has touched them. Before you use them on yourself, you’ll need to cleanse their energy and align it with yours.

Doing this is simple. You can soak your crystals (don’t soak selenite or amber though as they will dissolve) in purified water, salt water or holy water. Smudging (using the smoke from white sage, dried herbs or incense) can also cleanse your crystals. Some people even give their healing crystals a moon bath by letting them sit out at night under the light of the full moon.
After you’ve cleaned your stones and crystals for healing, align them with your energy by holding them in the palm of your hand, closing your eyes, stating your intention for them and thanking them for the healing they will provide.

Finally, clean your crystals after each use. This means crystals you wear every day should be cleaned before you wear them the next day, and crystals used for a healing session should be promptly cleaned after each session.

White/Clear: Clearing

Examples: Quartz, Moonstone, Selenite

Uses: White and clear healing crystals are very absorbent. They are perfect for learning and cleansing any type of energy. Many people use clear quartz in their meditation practices because it clears and calms the mind. Be sure to clean your quartz frequently because they do absorb so much.

Brown: Allowing

Examples: Tiger’s Eye, Petrified Wood, Halite

Uses: Brown healing crystals and stones are very grounding. When you think of brown crystals, think of a dirt path in the dark woods. This path shows you the way and protects you on your journey. That’s what brown stones do—guide, protect and clear the way. Use them when you’re trying to make room in your life for something like a new job or relationship.

Red: Energizing

Examples: Ruby, Garnet, Jasper

Uses: Red healing crystals have a lot of energy. You can remind yourself of this by thinking of your reaction to a red stop sign, a red traffic light or a red warning signal. Red invokes sudden surges of energy, so if you need a quick pick me up, you can carry around a red stone as a substitute for something unhealthy like a caffeinated beverage.

Orange: Releasing

Examples: Copper, Sunstone, Aragonite

Uses: You know when you feel really sick and you walk out into the sunshine and feel better? That’s because orange is simultaneously a soothing and energizing color. Orange healing stones release negative energy and clear out room for a boost of health energy. Use them when you’re feeling down in the dumps or you’re dragging your feet.

Yellow: Aligning

Examples: Amber, Sulphur, Mookaite

Uses: Yellow gemstones are great for reorganizing energy patterns. These healing crystals are perfect for times when you’re trying to instill a new habit or break an unhealthy one. Think of yellow stones like a really efficient made. They don’t just cleanse energy, they reorganize it.

Green: Balancing

Examples: Jade, Emerald, Malachite

Uses: Green gemstones are often used for physical healing because of their balancing properties. Often, our illnesses are a matter of too much of something. For example, digestive issues often stem from too much acid or too much unhealthy bacteria. While we need these things to survive, too much of them makes us sick. Green healing stones don’t get rid of negative energy; instead, they tip the scales in the right direction, redirecting our energy flows and balancing them out.

Blue: Communicating

Examples: Sapphire, Sodalite, Angelite

Uses: Just like the blue throat chakra, blue healing crystals are all about openness and communication. If you’re having trouble finding your truth, or you want the truth to be revealed about something, work with blue crystals for healing.

Indigo: Calming

Examples: Kyanite, Azurite, Lapis Lazuli

Uses: Sometimes, like gets really chaotic and you just want to relax and take it easy. Next time you want to treat yourself to a calming spa experience, use the soothing power of dark blue/indigo healing gemstones to mellow out anxious, fragile energy.

Violet: Uplifting

Examples: Amethyst, Iolite, Sugilite

Uses: Violet is one of the most powerful colors, because it vibrates at a very high frequency/wavelength. It is at the top of our color spectrum, combining both the warm and cool ends of all the colors we can see. In this way, anything violet connects you to higher plane of existence. Violet healing crystals are no exception, and they are perfect it you need to be uplifted, want to induce a spiritual experience or call on higher powers to guide you.

Black: Protecting

Examples: Tourmaline, Apache Tears, Obsidian

Uses: Black healing crystals deflect everything. They are strong and resilient, so they make perfect protecting crystals. If you want to repel any kind of energy, use black stones to drive those negative energies away from you.

Pink: Loving

Examples: Rose Quartz, Morganite, Rhodonite

Uses: Pink makes us think of romance, and that’s because the color pink is a combination of passionate red and clarifying white. But you don’t have to use pink healing crystals just for romance. They vibrate a compassionate, loving energy, so use them for anything that needs a little bit of sweetness. They’re great for deflecting anger, drawing in romance or just making you feel the love.

Crystals have been used throughout all of history as a source of healing power. Ancient cultures all over the world used healing crystals and stones to align, clear and transform their energy, spirit and physical health. The metaphysical powers of crystals were no mystery to most ancient cultures including the Egyptians, Mayans and Sumerians who regularly adorned their bodies, jewelry and buildings with these sacred stones.

Even though these ancient cultures understood the incredible healing properties of crystals and gemstones, our modern culture has, for the most part, forgotten about these early healing techniques. Thankfully, there has been a recent surge in interest about the energetic healing powers of their properties beyond their use in pharmaceuticals.

In this article, we are excited to reveal some of these ancient crystal healing techniques to you. As you read, you’ll learn 7 different ways to use crystals to heal your body, mind and spirit. We’ll also be sharing which crystals and stones to use for a variety of life situations. But first, let’s dive into the mechanics of how crystals can actually heal you on a physical, mental, emotional and energetic level.