We've been partnering with other sustainable brands to bring you even more inspiring content. Today's post is by Brandy Heyde Montague, the owner of the sustainable clothing brand For Animals, For Earth.
How are your Sunday nights? Are they typically pretty chill and optimistic about the coming week? Or does anxiety slowly begin to build around 4PM, when you realize that the onset of Monday morning is officially here? For me, the answer depends on the week. But it wasn’t always that way. I bring up Sunday evenings because I distinctly remember the anxiety and dread that I would feel every Sunday night, with my work week being imminently upon me.
Reiki has done wonders for my anxiety. If you’re not familiar with reiki, it’s the practice of tuning into the energy that connects us to each other, and to our higher selves. Simply taking the time to breathe deeply, and feel that energy, helps me to stay grounded. And it gives me a go-to action to take when things feel intense.
But, what about those moments when the anxiety is just too strong to sit and breathe? Do you know what I’m talking about? That moment when you feel like your nerves may jump out of your skin? And someone says, “just sit… and meditate...”. And you want to punch them? ;-) Yeah, reiki isn’t usually enough for me in those moments either. This is where crystals come in. I’ve found that natural crystals can help me calm when my emotions feel too strong. It’s a little hard to grasp, but there’s an energy in crystals, just as there is in a plant, or an animal. That energy mixes with ours and has an effect, sometimes subtle and sometimes noticeable.
If you’re interested, I have a fun experiment for you to try. Find a stone crystal, or a gemstone piece of jewelry. If you don’t have one at home, try this next time you’re in a shop or farmers market that sells crystals.
Hold the crystal/gemstone near your forehead. Take a deep breath, and picture your feet grounded down deep into the earth. Can you feel the energy between you and the crystal? How about if you slowly move it to the right side of your face? Just above your lips? How about near your ears? Or your throat? Try this with two or three different crystals/gemstones. Can you tell a difference between the energy in each of them?
Personally, I can feel some crystals really well, and others I can’t. But I do believe that they cause subtle shifts in my energy when I keep them close.
So let’s talk about three easy ways to connect to crystal energy to help anxiety. My go-to crystals for this are a small set of chakra stones. Chakra stones match to the major chakras in our body. If you’re not familiar with a chakra, it is an energy center. Imagine a vortex where energy circles, moving in and out of the vortex. Our bodies have seven of these major vortexes that process energy, called chakras. You’ll often see them associated with a color from the rainbow.
- The Root Chakra - red - located at the base of the spine and most often associated with security, safety, and grounding
- The Sacral Chakra - orange - located below the navel and most often associated with emotion, creativity, and connection to others
- The Solar Plexus Chakra - yellow - located above the navel and most often associated with willpower, strength, and determination
- The Heart Chakra - green/pink - located in the center of the chest and most often associated with love, hope, and compassion
- The Throat Chakra - blue - located at the throat and most often associated with communication and self expression
- The Third Eye Chakra - indigo/purple - located in the center of the forehead and most often associated with intuition, inner guidance, and vision
- The Crown Chakra - purple/white - located at the very top of the head and most often associated with connection to higher self, divine energy, and wisdom
Chakra crystals often match these colors and vibrate with the energy in that center. I recommend buying this kit of a set of 7 chakra crystals for yourself. We have only ethically sourced crystals in our shop.
Idea #1: Place small crystals in clothing pockets for the day
I like to place small crystals in my pockets on days that I feel “off”. I basically trust that if the idea to put a crystal in my pocket pops into my head, it’s my intuition telling me that it will help me that day. If you have a crystal at your house that is speaking to you one morning, try throwing it into a pants pocket, or your purse. I most often place my root crystal (from my chakra set) into my left pocket, and my heart crystal into my right pocket. I personally struggle to balance these two energies in my life: grounding, safety and security versus leading with love, compassion, and hope. I find the simple action of saying a small prayer, placing the crystals in my pockets, and keeping them there throughout the day shifts my energy and helps me to stay balanced.
Idea #2: Meditate with all seven crystals on the corresponding chakras
This is another one of my go-to methods for settling high anxiety. I set aside a block of time to do a meditation, ideally 30 minutes, but 10 minutes will do if that’s all that you have. Ironically I often find myself doing this meditation on days that I feel I couldn’t possibly take the time away to do it. But, when I’m honest with myself, those are also the days that my anxiety is so high that I’m not being productive anyway. If I can pull myself away, the 10 minutes really does make all of the difference in the world.
I do this practice by choosing a song or guided meditation in my phone and queuing it up (along with an alarm just in case I fall to sleep). Keeping my phone at arm’s length, I lay down on my back and place the seven crystals on their seven corresponding major chakras, up the center of my body. Red: even with my tailbone, orange: below my navel, yellow: above my navel, green: center of my chest, blue: on my throat, purple: in the center of my forehead, and white: on the floor behind me at the center of my head. I then carefully grab my phone, push play, and usually reset the stone on the center of my forehead that has fallen off. ;-) I close my eyes and relax.
Click here for our ethically sourced Chakra Crystal Gemstone Set.
Idea #3: Wear a stone in a piece of jewelry or place it various times throughout the day or night
Crystals are known to have healing properties, and I personally have found that they give me comfort when my anxiety has to do with something specific. A nice simple way to tap into crystal energy in this case is to wear it as a piece of jewelry every day. Or, simply lay with the crystal periodically throughout the day, or night.
A personal story as an example... A few years ago, I was experiencing some dangerous thyroid issues, and I was on a lot of medication. I was doing everything I could to stack my chances at getting back to normal, and a friend of mine made me a Blue Agate choker necklace. I wore this necklace everyday, and the blue stone sat on my thyroid. I’m not going to pretend that this cured me, but it was nice to go through the ritual each day of putting it on, and to picture myself sending love to my thyroid through this little gem every time I noticed it in a mirror. I think it’s subtle, but I do think that jewelry shifts our energy.
How to choose a stone? I’ll share two ways. First, if there’s a specific organ or emotion that you want to nurture, try a stone that matches the color of the nearest chakra. If you have a crystal chakra set, you can use this. If not, you will find many guides online for stones that resonate with various organs, areas of the body, and emotions. A second way to choose a crystal or gemstone for your jewelry is to simply wear what you’re drawn to. I truly believe that our intuition attracts us to what would serve us best. We’re all individuals, and what will help each of us is different.
If you’re someone who struggles with anxiety, I hope that you found comfort in one of the ideas here. I’m always happy to answer questions. Feel free to email me at hello@ForAnimalsForEarth.com any time, or explore the reiki section of our website. Wishing you all the best on your journey with crystals, and comfort from anxiety. ♡
Contact info:
Brandy Heyde Montague
For Animals. For Earth.
https://foranimalsforearth.com/
https://www.instagram.com/foranimalsforearth/
