How to Meditate With Crystals

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsHow to Pick CrystalsGetting to Know Your CrystalsHow to Meditate With CrystalsCriticism

Table of ContentsView All

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Table of Contents

How to Pick Crystals

Getting to Know Your Crystals

How to Meditate With Crystals

Criticism

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Perhaps you own some crystals or have seen them at a yoga or meditation studio, and you’re wondering how to meditate with crystals—or why someone would do so.

Crystals are more than just pretty rocks. (They’re technically minerals.) Ancient writings show that crystals have been used in healing for a long time; it’s only recently that Western culture has adopted them in revivals of various New Age practices.

The modern belief that crystals have healing powers traces back to Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt,Greece, and Rome.In Chinese medicine as well, crystals are believed to contain “qi,” or “life energy.” In the Buddhist faith, crystals are used as messengers to transmit various energies.

Rebecca Gitana, a certified crystal healer, says “magic is nothing more than a shift in consciousness. If you want to experience the magic of crystals—you have to believe and be present.”

This article explores how to choose your meditation crystals, how to meditate with them, and also discusses the criticism this practice has faced.

Gitana says to approach picking crystals from a place of intuition. “Have an open heart and an open mind and be very curious when you’re picking stones in a shop,” she says, “As they’re all alive. Just listen to what is drawing you at that time.”

But if you’re the kind of person who needs a little more structure or guidance as you learn to trust your intuition, Gitana provides insights into how to begin exploring the world of crystals.

For example, if you’re looking to feel more grounded, Gitana recommends orange, red, metal, or deep earth-toned colored crystals. If you are looking to connect to a higher realm, she says that clear crystals are great.

Here are some specific crystals to start with and why you might choose them:

Gitana says that if you find that a certain stone seems to be drawing you in, then that’s the perfect stone to select.

She also says you can “program” your crystals. For example, if you have a hard time with flying on a plane, you can talk to your favorite crystal and ask it to prepare and support you, she says. Crystals are also programmed in technology to transmit energy.

Giana says there is no “wrong” way tomeditatewith crystals, but Verywell Mind got a few pointers from her on how to meditate with crystals in case you needed an idea of where to start.

While there are many people who engage in crystal meditation, there are people who are not in favor of this practice. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why.

Cultural Appropriation

If you choose to participate in practices such as crystal healing, be sure to respect its history and background and practice cultural appreciation, rather thancultural appropriation.

An investigation found that many crystals are being mined irresponsibly,so also be sure to ask where your crystals come from when you buy them and buy fromIndigenous peopleif you can.

It’s Hard to Know for Sure If Using Crystals Really Work

However, there is little research that exists proving that crystals themselves actually help. Instead, researchhasshown the power of both the placebo effect and interpersonal healing.

Although the placebo effect has been derided as evidence that a certain medicine doesn’t work, researchers are beginning to look at it as evidence of how strong the brain-body connection can be.

In other words, let’s say you take a pill that’s supposed to help reduce the severity of your migraines, but this pill is a placebo, meaning that it doesn’t actually contain any ingredient that would reduce headache severity. However, after you take it, you start to feel better over time. The fact you do feel better may indicate that even though the drug itself does not work, the fact that your brain believes that it does work, and responds accordingly, shows how powerful the brain-body connection is.

So, maybe crystals don’t work, but if a placebo effect takes place and you do notice signs of healing, then it’s possible that using crystals may actually be beneficial to you.

The Placebo Effect: Fake Treatment, Real Response

A Word From Verywell

Although modern day research has yet to prove that crystals support our health and well-being, they can be a tool to deepen your connection to the earth and your own intuition. Crystals can also expand your practice as another tool to support your journey. You may find that using crystals while meditating can create more focus and peace in your life, even if it happens to be a placebo effect.

How to Meditate at Home

6 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Washington Post.Healing crystals are having a ‘pandemic’ moment. But science says they’re just pretty stones.Stanford University.Stanford scholar tackles the history of people’s obsession with crystals.Torrisi F, Carey T.Graphene, related two-dimensional crystals and hybrid systems for printed and wearable electronics.Nano Today. 2018;23:73-96.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nantod.2018.10.009Atkin A.Do you know where your healing crystals come from?.The New Republic. Published May 11, 2018.Miller FG, Colloca L, Kaptchuk TJ.The placebo effect: illness and interpersonal healing.Perspect Biol Med. 2009;52(4):518-539.https://doi.org/10.1353/pbm.0.0115Harvard Health.The power of the placebo effect. December 13, 2021.

6 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Washington Post.Healing crystals are having a ‘pandemic’ moment. But science says they’re just pretty stones.Stanford University.Stanford scholar tackles the history of people’s obsession with crystals.Torrisi F, Carey T.Graphene, related two-dimensional crystals and hybrid systems for printed and wearable electronics.Nano Today. 2018;23:73-96.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nantod.2018.10.009Atkin A.Do you know where your healing crystals come from?.The New Republic. Published May 11, 2018.Miller FG, Colloca L, Kaptchuk TJ.The placebo effect: illness and interpersonal healing.Perspect Biol Med. 2009;52(4):518-539.https://doi.org/10.1353/pbm.0.0115Harvard Health.The power of the placebo effect. December 13, 2021.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Washington Post.Healing crystals are having a ‘pandemic’ moment. But science says they’re just pretty stones.Stanford University.Stanford scholar tackles the history of people’s obsession with crystals.Torrisi F, Carey T.Graphene, related two-dimensional crystals and hybrid systems for printed and wearable electronics.Nano Today. 2018;23:73-96.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nantod.2018.10.009Atkin A.Do you know where your healing crystals come from?.The New Republic. Published May 11, 2018.Miller FG, Colloca L, Kaptchuk TJ.The placebo effect: illness and interpersonal healing.Perspect Biol Med. 2009;52(4):518-539.https://doi.org/10.1353/pbm.0.0115Harvard Health.The power of the placebo effect. December 13, 2021.

Washington Post.Healing crystals are having a ‘pandemic’ moment. But science says they’re just pretty stones.

Stanford University.Stanford scholar tackles the history of people’s obsession with crystals.

Torrisi F, Carey T.Graphene, related two-dimensional crystals and hybrid systems for printed and wearable electronics.Nano Today. 2018;23:73-96.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nantod.2018.10.009

Atkin A.Do you know where your healing crystals come from?.The New Republic. Published May 11, 2018.

Miller FG, Colloca L, Kaptchuk TJ.The placebo effect: illness and interpersonal healing.Perspect Biol Med. 2009;52(4):518-539.https://doi.org/10.1353/pbm.0.0115

Harvard Health.The power of the placebo effect. December 13, 2021.

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