Shifting Energy with Crystals

Crystal healing has been around for many centuries and has brought about dramatic improvements in the physical health of countless people. However, there’s more to healing than meets the eye. Crystals can be used to address imbalances in the unseen energetic forces that are whirling inside each and every one of us. When these systems are out of whack, we don’t feel well—and we may not know why. The good news is that with the right gemstone, the energy can be shifted right back to where it should be.

In this chapter, I talk about some very familiar-sounding forms of crystals and give you the real story on how to use them to harness positive energy!

Learn How to …

• ◆ Balance your yin and yang and rebalance your body’s subtle energy.
• ◆ Get grounded.

Experiencing Subtle Energy

Subtle energy is all around us, even in our bodies. We were born with it, but our knowledge is hidden until we are ready to do something with it.

Subtle energy is made up of the life force that has a connection to a spiritual or divine source. It’s so refined, some consider it a vibration. The subtle energy is a complex of interacting energy fields within our physical structure, between ourselves, and even connecting to Earth. We can train to be more conscious and aware of this magnificent energy and can learn more about how crystals are used to connect with this energy as part of the healing process.

Eastern Traditions

In India, where yoga and Ayurveda (the traditional medicine of India) are widely taught, the word prana means “breath.” Prana is light and airy and is considered the vital energy in human organisms which flows along a subtle energy network called nadis.

In Tibetan medicine, the subtle body energies are called tsa, lung, and tigle. Tsa are the channels or pathways; lung is the pranic energies; and tigle are the seeds of subtle energy that are like pollen in the wind, moving with the subtle winds of the body and leaving you feeling happy and content. The mind will experience well-being and happiness when there is balance in these channels. Some Eastern traditions teach that there are only five chakras based on the five basic elements, similar to the Platonic solids—earth, water, fire, air, and space. We will learn about the full seven chakras widely accepted in the West since 1918 based on the translation of a sixteenth century Sanskrit text written by the Bengali yogi, Purnanand.

Restoring Balance to the Subtle Body

Subtle energy is an entire network designed to keep you in balance. When the subtle body is balanced, energies float freely without restriction along the channels and feelings of joy, happiness, love, compassion, and well-being flow freely, too. The mind rides along with tigle seeds in the energy channels, like a horse and its rider.

When the subtle body is disturbed through fear and other negative mental states, the tigle seeds of energy become restricted. Because they can’t spread around, they start to recede and cause depression, anxiety, and unhappiness. Since the subtle energy is connected to the physical body, illness and disease could manifest if tigle are left unattended.

By working with the subtle balancing energies of crystals, the tigle are influenced and blockages are cleared, allowing our minds to become relaxed and clearer. We’re returned to peace and happiness! Constant exposure to crystals and other forms of healing that balance subtle energies help to maintain the subtle body through which we can experience all kinds of love and joyfulness.

Chi and Meridians

Chi, is a Chinese word for “air.” In traditional Chinese medicine, chi, like prana, is the life force that sustains a person’s vitality. Meridians are the pathways in the body on which subtle energies move about.

We can all increase our awareness of and become more sensitized to our chi. Strong emotions can generate or reduce the flow of chi. Become more aware of when chi increases, such as with laughter, or decreases, as when sad. You can even get positive chi just talking to another person. You’ll know because you’ll feel good. Taking classes in Tai Chi, Qi Qong, and other Asian methodologies that focus on the movement of chi through the body can help.

Because chi, as a vital force, is all around us, walking or any kind of motion causes chi to flow freely. Meditation also helps stimulate the flow of chi. When chi flows, health is affected in a positive way.

Chi is generally associated with meridians, pathways on which subtle body energies travel similar to the Tibetan tsa. When meridians are imbalanced, our health is affected and our immunity to disease is compromised. When crystals are placed along an imbalanced meridian line, especially at the beginning and end of a meridian line or over the area of imbalance, a rebalancing of that meridian line occurs.

The body contains 12 meridians. Each meridian is a channel for subtle energy to travel along and corresponds to a specific organ and to a set of physical and psychological functions, as shown in the following illustration. You will also find there are two additional chakras in the image, the star chakra or soul-star chakra above the crown chakra and the earth chakra below the feet. These two centers are part of a larger cosmic chakra system. I will cover these two extra chakras in the Chakra System section later in this chapter.

Yin and Yang Energies

To understand how chi energy is balanced, you need to understand yin and yang, opposing energies that are contained in all things. Yin and yang represent the balance between positive and negative attributes, and also the balance between feminine (yin) and masculine (yang) energies. Together, they must always be equal in a dynamic equilibrium. Both are part of the whole.

For example, where there is a flood on the planet, there is also a drought somewhere else. If there is too much energy in the subtle body system, there is too little energy in the physical body, which can manifest as illness. When the yin and yang are restored to balance, health and well-being continue. Hopefully, we can do the same for our planet.

Balancing Yin and Yang

When it comes to crystals, some types and forms of crystals will be more yin- or more yang-balancing. Crystals are very powerful for increasing or decreasing energy, and the right crystal must be selected to balance yin and yang energies.

For instance, if you’re feeling stressed and a bit hot headed, or feeling upset, this indicates an overabundance of yang energy. To balance this level of yang energy, you have a few choices: find a crystal to calm yourself down by removing or absorbing the excess yang energy; find a powerful yin crystal that will match and balance the high level of yang energy; or select both yin and yang crystals to bring yourself more rapidly to dispel negative emotions and the other to create positive emotions resulting in emotional harmony.

You could select a yang crystal such as the dynamic smoky quartz, best known for absorbing negative energies. You could also select a yin crystal such as moonstone, which is best known for its icy coolness and calming abilities.

Yin crystals include agates, amber, amethyst, aquamarine, calcite, clear quartz, fluorite, jade, moonstone, and rose quartz.

Yang crystals include carnelian, diamond, fire opal, garnet, lapis lazuli, malachite, obsidian, rutilated quartz, smoky quartz, and sapphire.

Hold the smoky quartz in the right male-yang dominated hand and the moonstone in the left-yin dominated hand. This formation works to restore polarity in the body and leaves you feeling relaxed, balanced, and whole.

Get Grounded

Change is difficult for many people because we like familiar ways of doing things. This is not to say we are inflexible. We might grumble a bit if there’s no coffee in the morning, but most of us will get on with the day despite the discomfort. Real inflexibility comes when we are asked to change inner parts of ourselves. This is different from changes in the subtle energy body, because these are changes we’re consciously bringing upon ourselves. Fortunately, these transitions can be soothed through a process called grounding. Grounding is a method that opens channels in the body and enables unwanted energy to travel into the ground. Grounding helps us keep centered when everything else is changing around us.

Move That Energy Safely

Like a lightning bolt hitting a tree and traveling through the roots into the ground, your surges of energy need a place to go where they aren’t going to cause harm to you, to your psyche, or to your loved ones. When you are grounded, unwanted energy passes right through you so that it doesn’t harm your physical, emotional, and spiritual bodies. This means that the energies you need for health and healing are readily available, while negative energies are removed altogether.

Grounded for Life!

So how do you do a grounding? It’s a fairly simple process that requires focus and a dark colored crystal. Did I mention you can use this method to settle your nerves before an audition or a job interview? Take a deep breath, and follow these steps:

1. Sit down with your feet flat on the floor. Do not cross your legs because it restricts the flow of energy. Feel your weight on the seat of the chair, focused on your tailbone.
2. Place a dark-colored crystal such as garnet or obsidian between your feet. The crystal will provide an anchor for your energy on the Earth plane instead of flying off and getting lost in some other dimension.
3. Visualize energy roots coming from under your feet. See them growing deep into the earth, traveling down until they reach a big boulder, as big as you can imagine, below the surface of the earth. Anchor the roots by winding them several times around the boulder. This is one of the simplest methods of grounding.
4. Draw in a big breath, inhaling the heaviness and stability of that boulder’s energy up through the energy roots and toward your feet. You may feel a tugging as your body sinks deeper into the earth. Bring the grounding energies up through your physical body, following the energy pathways, and expanding the energies around you into the subtle body. Breathe in this grounding energy a total of three times. Take your time. You will feel very heavy and really grounded.

Clearing Blockages

When you have repeated stresses such as emotional shock, worry, physical trauma, or feelings of being spiritually shortchanged, the ability to pass unwanted energy through energy pathways becomes weaker. Sometimes blockages form, like the buildup of plaque in arteries when the pulmonary system is overloaded with cholesterol. Some of these obstacles are due to ignoring or failing to recognize signs of physical or emotional distress, hiding emotions, ignoring needs of the self, or staying in a mind space that is harmful to yourself.

The really harmful thing about these types of blockages is that they are a big cause of major imbalances in the body, something I’ll talk more about in the following section.

The Chakra System

The word chakra in Sanskrit means “wheel” and describes the spinning centers of energy at various points in the body. They provide circulation of prana to the nadis and contain vital energies as well as spiritual energies.

There are seven major chakra centers, each associated with the glandular system and the general physical health of the area of the body to which it is closest. The chakras are part of the subtle energy of the body and provide for movement of prana.

Color Therapy and Chakras

Color therapy, which is used to balance the chakras, has been around for a long time. Avicenna, the eleventh-century physician, observed that certain colors were connected to disease or healing. For instance, red was associated with movement of disease through the system, blue was cooling (as in calming a fever), and yellow took heat away (as in dispersing inflammation). In the chakra system, red is seen as vitality, blue is associated with healing, and yellow with intellectual pursuits. There are many systems and interpretations of what colors mean. What we agree on is that each color has a special meaning.

In the chakra system, the higher the vibrational frequency of the color, the more it relates to the higher chakras—the seat of consciousness. When positive and negative ions merge as white light in the highest chakra center, the crown chakra, there is such an illumination of energy that ignorance of the mind is dispelled and enlightenment occurs.

On the following pages, you’ll find all the information you need to work with and heal the chakras with various crystals. One important note: you will get a bigger self-healing effect if you follow the Chakra Activation instructions in Chapter 7.

First Chakra: The Root or Base Chakra

The first chakra is located between the legs at the perineum, the space between your anal opening and genitals.

The root chakra provides physical strength, the will to live, sexual and reproductive energy, grounding, and the fight-or-flight response.

Colors: Red, black, brown

Crystals: Garnets, rubies, obsidian, black tourmaline, mahogany obsidian, and brown jasper

Sound: LAM; note C

Second Chakra: The Sacral, Spleen, or Sexual Chakra

The second chakra is easy to find. Simply place your hand with closed fingers flat against your stomach below the navel with your thumb just at the navel. In the center of your torso four finger widths down from the navel and just below the little finger on your hand, press and find a soft spot about 3 to 4 inches wide. That is the location of your second chakra—the sacral chakra.

The sacral chakra provides self-esteem, emotional self-awareness, openness to new ideas, connection to others, assimilation of experiences, and definition and identity of our sexuality.

Colors: Orange, orange-red, orange-yellow

Crystals: Carnelian, orange calcite, jasper, and coral

Sound: BAM; note D

Third Chakra: The Solar Plexus Chakra

The third chakra is the soft spot below the sternum in the center of the upper torso. This is the area where many people sense a “gut feeling.” Sometimes this chakra moves around, either a bit higher or lower, depending on your interaction with life—trying to get more out of it or trying to hide from it.

The solar plexus chakra provides personal power, self-confidence, logical thought, decision-making skill, and desire for intellectual pursuits.

Colors: Yellow, golden yellow

Crystals: Citrine, golden topaz, golden or yellow calcite, smoky quartz, apatite, yellow jasper, and amber

Sound: RAM; note E

Fourth Chakra: The Heart

The fourth chakra is in the center of the chest, about halfway between the bottom and top of the sternum. This center is usually found in times of great joy or great sadness because it either feels wide open with love or closed down in pain and grief. This chakra can move around as well.

The heart chakra provides compassion for self and others; love; and balance between mind, body, and spirit. This chakra needs both pink and green colors: pink for divine love and green for healing and nurturing. The heart chakra is the seat of compassion and the source of love and radiant light.

Colors: Pink, golden pink, green

Crystals: Rose quartz, kunzite, rhodonite, rhodochrosite, pink tourmaline, emerald, malachite, dioptase, peridot, and aventurine

Sound: YUM; note F#

Fifth Chakra: The Throat Chakra

The fifth chakra is located in the soft spot at the base of the throat, above the well that forms where your clavicles meet. People who use their voices for speaking and singing have a well-developed fifth chakra. The throat chakra provides creativity, communication, spoken truth, and the will to act.

Turquoise is the color associated with healing the fifth chakra, as it is focused on open expression and communication.

Colors: Turquoise, light blue

Crystals: Turquoise, blue lace agate, celestite, aquamarine, blue tourmaline, natural blue topaz, and sodalite

Sound: HAM; note G#

Sixth Chakra: The Third Eye

The sixth chakra is the hardest to locate; it varies with each person. Generally, it is a disc about the size of a walnut located in the center of the forehead. For some, this chakra is lower—slightly above the top line of the eyebrows. When activated, this center tingles.

The third eye chakra provides the seat of your intuitive seeing and knowing, extrasensory perception (ESP), clairvoyance, and a higher understanding of others.

Colors: Indigo, deep blue

Crystals: Iolite, sodalite, lapis lazuli, blue fluorite, sapphire, and azurite

Sound: AH; note A

Seventh Chakra: The Crown Chakra

The seventh chakra is at the top-center of the head. You might have noticed some tingling in the scalp sometimes for no reason. Maybe it was due to incoming messages from beyond!

The crown chakra provides a path to one’s higher power, self-realization, and spiritual growth and peace.

Colors: White, purple

Crystals: Amethyst, sugilite, purple fluorite, and charoite, selenite, apophyllite, clear quartz, and diamond

Sound: OM; note B

More Chakras: The Star Chakra and the Earth Chakra

The star chakra or soul-star chakra connects you to the cosmos “out there” and represents the divine or the soul aspect. The earth chakra keeps you connected to “right here” and ensures your connection to the earth for physical well-being and support.

There are two crystals that help align the central energy channel of the body and connect with the star chakra: blue kyanite and selenite. Lie down and place the crystal about 6 to 8 inches above your head, aligned with the center of your crown chakra. Imagine an energy cord coming up from your central channel through your crown chakra, connecting with the crystal and then to the star chakra above the tip of the crystal.

There are two crystals that help connect with the earth chakra: black kyanite and black tourmaline. Lie down and place the crystal about 6 to 8 inches below and between your feet with the tip pointed up. Feel your connection with the earth, draw up energy from the earth into your earth chakra and then into the crystal, and finally up into the lower opening of the central channel. Let this energy radiate through all your energy centers to replenish them.

The Chakra Tune-Up Kit

One of the most important tasks when starting on crystal healing is to assemble a chakra tune-up kit. Keep these specially selected crystals for each chakra handy for when you need them. You will need them for the Chakra Activation in Chapter 7. If you already have a collection of crystals, get them all out and group them together by chakra color to see if you are missing any colors.

Before you start to fill in your crystal collection, look at what color crystals you have already collected the most of. That is a clear signal that you are trying to heal the chakra associated with that color, and you should probably be wearing a crystal in that color as a pendant to increase your vibration in that particular chakra. Now, look at your crystals again. Which color or colors are you lacking? Let’s say you have a lack of yellow crystals. This signals that you are trying to avoid issues related to the solar plexus chakra (whose color is yellow), including self-confidence, logical thoughts, and decision-making.

The following table gives a minimum list of crystals for your chakra kit. Crystals should be at least 1 inch in diameter for chakra work, if you can find them, in either tumbled smooth or in raw form.

Chakra Tune-Up Kit

Chakra	Chakra Crystal
1—Root	Garnet or other red crystal such as red calcite.
2—Sacral	Carnelian or other orange crystals.
3—Solar plexus	Tiger eye, jasper, or any yellow crystal such as honey calcite.
4—Heart	Rose quartz or any pink crystal such as rhodochrosite, and green crystals such as jade, malachite, or dioptase.
5—Throat	Turquoise or other light blue crystal such as blue lace agate or sodalite. White coral may also be included.
6—Third eye	Lapis lazuli or other deep blue crystal such as iolite or blue topaz; or golden topaz, apophyllite, or celestite.
7—Crown	Amethyst or other purple crystal such as purple fluorite, or a clear crystal such as selenite.

What’s Your Aura?

What is an aura, anyway? An aura is a reflection of the colors of the chakra system. When chakras spin, color projects around the body into different layers of the auric system. Different colors can indicate which chakra and its associated systems are strongest in your body. Depending on the color of the aura, you might be way out of balance! When a chakra is healed or corrected, the aura will also improve. Unfortunately, most people can’t see auras, so they have no idea that they’re walking around with energy all blocked up somewhere inside their bodies.

What Does Healing Feel Like?

Now that you’ve been introduced to how crystals can be used to balance or heal systems in the body, the obvious next question is, “How do I know it’s working?”

Sometimes the effect of crystals on the human energy field is very subtle and difficult to describe because there is no real physical feeling such as “hot” or “cold.” Each person has different levels of perception, receptivity, and sensitivity.

Crystals can definitely warm up in your hand if you hold them even for a short time period. A transference of body heat and other subtle energies into the crystal occurs. If you hold a crystal for a while, put it down, and return to pick it up even after a minute, you will find the heat is still inside. We find it easy to sense hot and cold, but what about more subtle energy?

When you have a pile of crystals laid on your body for a healing session, you can feel very relaxed and often enter a different state of consciousness. Some people feel a tingling when crystals are placed on them. Some say, it feels like a Reiki session, with energy in and around their body like a long soft pulse. Muscles and wrinkles seem to relax and pain subsides. Emotional issues seem less important or resolved. You might feel more energetic and your head is clearer. Sometimes your friends and family will notice the changes before you do! Having a pile of crystals on you is like having multiple healing prayers.

The healing effects of crystals are often experienced as very refined changes to the four levels of being: physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual. Each will be discussed in Part 3.

Garnet: I give you vital energy to direct passion to your life’s purpose. I recharge your inner batteries. I generate the flow of kundalini forces to be directed toward spiritual attainment.