Your Guide To Meditating With Crystals For The First Time

Beautiful, naturally sparkly, and full of positive, healing energy: What's not to love about crystals? Crystal healing and meditation with crystals has been practiced by cultures around the world for thousands of years, and it's believed by many that crystals can store energy and offer various healing benefits. Many practitioners "program" crystals with their own intentions, or simply attune their minds and bodies to the unique energy of each individual stone in order to vibe with their individual frequencies. In any case, I think we can all agree that, at the very least, we love crystals for being magical and oh-so-pretty looking. If you're ready to branch out and use your sparkling stones for something other than witchy apartment decor, there are so many different ways to use crystals for their purported health, wellness, spiritual, and beauty benefits — everything from using them in crystal rituals to creating crystal facial grids. But learning how to meditate with crystals is one of the simplest and most effective ways to really harness a stone's energy and reap the benefits your crystals have to offer.

I've been working with crystals for years (in meditations and otherwise!) so I have a few tips to share when it comes to using crystals in your spiritual journey. I also tapped some experts to have them share their insights with you, so here's a simple guide on how to meditate with crystals to get the most out of it that literally anyone can use to get started.

Why Meditate With Crystals?

As I mentioned earlier, crystals have been used since ancient times as healing tools for all sorts of health, spiritual, and emotional issues. When we meditate, we're often trying to go inward — to quiet our thoughts so that we can hear the voice of our higher selves. Many people believe that crystals can be used as a tool to help us clear that space and amplify our truthful inner voice, making meditation even more effective.

"The crystals are all trying to get us to listen better to ourselves," explains astrologer Nura Rachelle of metaphysical crystal shop Thee Ancients, who spoke with Bustle about the power of crystal healing through meditation. "We so often think that it is the crystals themselves that are imparting a type of wisdom, insight or answer. But instead, the crystals are giving us permission to access our own akashic records, to access our own higher self information."

So while opening yourself up to the "frequency" of an individual crystal's energy is fabulous, if you're using crystals for meditation, it's also helpful to keep in mind that the crystal is a tool to open your mind, heart, and spirit to yourself and the innate knowledge within you that's often inaccessible and shrouded by the chatter of day-to-day distractions.

Choosing Crystals To Work With

Perhaps you already have a collection of crystals at home, in which case, great! But how do you know which crystals to work with when embarking on a crystal meditation? Firstly, think about your goals for the meditation and do some research.

"When it comes to crystal meditation, I think the most important thing to do is determine what sort of benefits you're looking for and the outcome you're seeking," explains witch and crystal expert Renee Watt, who spoke to Bustle about choosing the right crystals to meditate with. "By understanding your meditation agenda and doing some light research, you can really maximize the results of your session!"

Different crystals have very different energies — and while some stones, like clear quartz, are pretty one-size-fits-all when it comes to uses, other stones are much more suited to certain areas of healing. "[I]f I feel like my energy levels are low, I'll meditate with pyrite or citrine on my solar plexus chakra to help boost my stamina," explains Watt of her personal practice. "On the flip side of that, if I'm trying to relax or find my grace, something much calmer like flourite or kunzite can help my energy shift more towards the mellow side of things."

Depending on what sort of energetic vibe you're looking for, choosing crystals by color can be helpful, as different colors often associate with different chakras, giving you as easy map to find stones that can help support your meditation goals.

You can also choose crystals intuitively — meaning you skip the research altogether and simply go with whatever crystals feel right. The more you practice opening yourself up to your own intuition and paying attention to the way your physical or emotional state changes in response to a crystal's energy, the better you'll get at intuitively choosing crystals that are right for you at any given time.

No matter how you choose your them, always be sure to cleanse your crystals before working with them and take the time to get to know their energy in whatever ways feel right to you. "The more we can be in the right relationship with the crystals we choose (or that choose us), the more we come even closer to right relationship with our higher selves — and closer to our own knowingness," explains Rachelle to Bustle.

Different Ways To Meditate With Crystals

Just as there are infinite ways to meditate, there are, as well, infinite ways to incorporate crystals into your meditation practice. However you choose to use crystals in meditation, it's helpful to pay attention to the shift in energy and power that the crystal may be offering you — that can help you figure out if working with crystals jives with your style or not! Some people seem to be more sensitive to crystal energy and others, so experimenting is helpful.

Visualizations are also helpful when it comes to crystal healing. I often visualizing bright, warm, cleansing rays in the color of the crystal coming out of the stone, surrounding me with protection and enhancing my awareness. Doing so also helps you attune with your particular crystals so you can use them in ritual work in the future.

Here are a few simple ways to meditate with crystals that you can easily adapt to your personal meditation style.

1. Hold them in your hands. Meditating with crystals can be as simple as holding them in your hand and clearing your mind. Bustle spoke with Heather Askinosie, co-founder of Energy Muse and author of the upcoming book, CRYSTAL365, who weighed in with some tips. "The best way to meditate with crystals is by holding them," Askinosie shares. "This allows you to develop a tangible connection to the crystals as you meditate." By holding a crystal in your hand as you go about your meditation, you'll naturally swap energies and vibrations with the stone and feel its effects.

2. Place crystals on your chakras. Chakras are a series of energy points on the body that represent different parts of the physical and spiritual self (you can read more about them and where they're located here!). If your goal for a crystal meditation is intentional and healing in nature, then choosing to focus on the chakra that aligns with your meditation purpose by using a relevant crystal is ideal.

For example, if you are looking to tap into your intuition, you could try a third eye chakra-opening meditation using a labradorite crystal, which helps with psychic and spiritual connection. Simply lay down comfortably and place the labradorite over your third eye chakra (which is physically located on your forehead, between your brows), Then simply focus on your intention, paying attention to your breath and acknowledging thoughts and feelings as they come to you. Another example is doing a heart chakra-opening meditation to help with self-love or forgiveness. You might choose to place a rose quartz crystal over your heart chakra, in the center of your chest, and again focus on your intention, letting the crystal do its work.

3. Create a crystal energy field. Some people may not want to disrupt their meditation by having crystals touching their body, in which case creating a crystal circle or grid can be a helpful way to connect with crystal energy without the physical touch. "I recommend creating a circle to surround yourself with the crystals," explains Askinosie. "Place one [crystal] in front, one in back, and one on each side of you to envelop yourself in the crystal energy. You can incorporate one or more types of crystals into your meditation, but it’s important to interact with them to align yourself with their high vibrations."

Another option is to create a crystal grid on your altar to focus on before, during, or after your meditation session. By intentionally placing your chosen crystals in a circular design on your altar or other sacred space, you can actually amplify and enhance each stone's energy. You can read more about how to create a crystal grid here.