5-Minute Mindfulness (26 page)

In the yogic science of Ayurveda, a repertoire of eighty-four gems is used to assist healing by enhancing certain energies. The ayurvedic physician often recommends either wearing the gems or using them to make “gem waters.” The gems are placed in water to rest for a time, and then the patient drinks the water for medicinal purposes. Medieval European physicians used the same procedure.

In meditation, the
navratnas
, or nine healing gems, are used to awaken the body’s innate healing powers. The process begins with meditation, followed by visualization of the gem’s healing colors and recitation of the planetary mantras that awaken the gem’s energies. You then wear the gem to help in the healing process.

CRYSTALS

In the late-nineteenth century, Jacques and Pierre Curie discovered the phenomenon of piezoelectricity. They found that some crystals, particularly those derived from quartz, rapidly expand and contract on a molecular level when placed in alternating electrical fields. The reverse also occurs when crystals are placed in sound-wave chambers, where they create electrical potentials or voltages. Because of this ability, piezoelectric crystals can be used as either receivers or sources of sound waves in acoustics. The sound waves can run the range of audible to ultrasonic frequencies.

So, metaphysically, crystals—like other materials that come from the depths of the earth—are believed to embody and transmit the subtler frequencies in the environment. This can be beneficial, especially when you place crystals on your altar or in your meditation space. The frequencies from the long-term repetition of mantras or the harmonic atmosphere of serenity, to name just a few, are “stored” in the crystal; and it becomes a sort of organic record of your mindfulness experience. Over time, the crystal may help you relax into mindfulness more quickly whenever you are in your meditation space. Raw rock crystal is reported to be the most effective for this purpose.

Create a Crystal Essence

You can create an “essence” with quartz. Water will copy the crystal’s vibration. To create an essence, fill a glass container with crystals, and pour distilled water over them. Note: Some crystals contain potentially poisonous minerals. Be sure to check the chemistry of your crystals before creating an essence. Let sit from several minutes to a couple of hours, and then remove the crystals. You can then place a few drops of the essence in your bath water, or on your pulse points, or in your food or drink. It will last two to three days.

CHAKRAS AND CRYSTAL HEALING

Crystals come from the earth and are believed to have certain healing qualities. When you place the crystals on your body, your intentions help the energy of the crystals enter into your cells. The healing energy vibrates into your physical body and stimulates the chakras.

CLEANSING CRYSTALS

Before using your crystals, it’s important to cleanse them of negative energy. You can cleanse them by leaving them out overnight in the light of a full moon. The energy of the moon is said to clear them, returning them to their own pure vibration. There are other ways to cleanse crystals of negative energy:

• Go to a fresh spring, and bathe your crystal, with the points facing downward.

• Create a salt solution using sea salt and water. Use only sea salt and cool water. Place the crystal in the solution, point down, and leave it to cleanse overnight.

• Bury your crystal in a jar of dry sea salt or dried herbs or outside in the earth overnight.

• “Smudge” your crystals by burning sage leaves and clearing the air around the crystals with the smoke from the burning sage. You can buy sage already bundled specifically for smudging, and one bundle can be used several times.

Use glass or ceramic containers to cleanse your crystals. And, before cleansing crystals in water, make sure your crystals aren’t water soluble, or else they will dissolve. As you cleanse your crystals, imagine white light flooding through them. Send them love from your heart, and fill them with an intention, such as “I intend for this crystal to cultivate easeful healing for my highest good.” It’s always best to use the word “ease” or “easefully” when you set intentions for healing.

CHOOSING CRYSTALS FOR EACH CHAKRA

Books and charts differ about which crystals will help heal each chakra. You can cultivate your own relationship to crystals and find which ones you can connect with. There are some standards with each chakra that follow the rainbow as a guide: red for Muladhara, orange for Svadhistana, yellow for Manipura, green or pink for Anahata, blue for Vishuddha, indigo for Ajna, and a white/clear or amethyst crystal for Sahasrara.

Allow yourself to be creative with the crystals. Find out what particular crystals are known for, and match them up to what you might need at each chakra. Because each person is different, no one prescription will suit everyone. As a starting point, though, the rainbow guide will work well.

The colors of the rainbow associated with each chakra will help bolster a deficient chakra. If you have an excessive chakra, rather than using a crystal to enhance that chakra, try using a crystal at the chakras below or above the excessive one to help diffuse the excess energy.

Once you have cleansed your crystals, keep them in a nice pouch on your altar or in another special place. If you keep them in a place where you can see them, then every time you see them, you can be reminded of the natural beauty and healing energy that comes from the earth.

Set Your Intention Crystal Healing Exercise

Crystal healing potential is activated by the mind’s intention. Just like everything else on earth, crystals vibrate at certain frequencies. When you place the crystal near the chakra you want to balance, the crystal increases the healing vibration of your intention. Crystals amplify the energy you send through them and draw out negative energies from the body.

PLACEMENT OF CRYSTALS

One of the ways to use crystals for healing is to place one in your nondominant hand. Meditate on the crystal, its healing power, and the intention you want to infuse it with. Hold the crystal in your hand, and then move your hand toward the area of your body needing healing. Hold it there, with the crystal against your body, and meditate on its healing energy. On each exhale, envision the crystal drawing negative energy out. On each inhale, imagine the body absorbing the crystal’s healing energy.

If you want to do this lying down, you can lay the crystals on your body and meditate with them there while you lie down. Some say that the less you touch the crystals, the better because their energy will remain purely their own. Others say, as long as you keep your energy positive and focused on your healing, then your own hands and energy will enhance the crystal’s effects.

After you’ve finished using the crystals for this visualization, take some time for the healing effects to integrate. Give yourself a few moments, at least, before resuming other activities. Allow the effects to sink in.

You could also use crystal healing after another chakra healing practice. For example, you could start your chakra healing session with a yoga sequence and then follow it up with crystal healing. Or, while you do your yoga sequence, you could take a few sips of your crystal essence.

Remember: An essence, or elixir, has the vibrational quality of the crystal used to infuse it. To preserve your essence for more than a couple of days, place it in a dark glass bottle, and add the same amount of vodka as liquid as a preservative. Keep the bottle out of sunlight and out of contact with other bottles.

CRYSTALS MATCHED WITH CHAKRAS

There are many kinds of crystals to choose from. Here are some examples of crystals you can use at each chakra when following the rainbow as your guide.

With these suggestions as your guide, you will find crystals of different shapes and sizes. It doesn’t matter which one you choose. Choose what you feel attracted to, and remember to cleanse it before each use.

BEADS

Just about every culture has a custom of using beads in meditation or prayer. They help the user to focus on recitation and counting. Ceremonial beads include:

•
Rosary:
Used for Catholic prayer, the rosary consists of five sets of beads, each consisting of ten small beads and one larger. These sets are joined in a loop by a crucifix. An Anglican version uses four sets of seven “week” beads, with four “cruciform” beads marking the four directions.

•
Muslim Prayer Beads:
These prayer beads are used to silently recite the ninety-nine names of God. The ninety-nine beads are joined in a loop by a tassel.

•
Mala:
In Hindu and Buddhist meditation, 108 beads are strung together. Some malas are fabricated from sandalwood, which can be infused with scented oils. In the yogic tradition, rudraksha (“Rudra’s tears”) and tulasi (“holy basil”) beads are used.

•
Chinese Meditation Balls:
The two metal balls fit into the palm of the hand and musically resonate when moved around by the fingers.

•
Prayer Stones:
The cool feeling of these rounded stones, also called touchstones, can be relaxing. You can carry them in your pocket or your purse to the office desk or dentist’s chair as psychic reinforcement for calm.

“Listen to your life … Touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analyses all moments are sacred moments and life itself is grace.”

—F
REDERIC
B
UECHNER

CHAPTER 13

BREATHE IN MINDFULNESS

“Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains.”

—D
IANE
A
CKERMAN

The sense of smell is one of the most powerful instruments we possess to connect the outer world with inner states. Scent is inhaled through the nose, traveling through the olfactory nerves into receptors in the brain. From there, scent creates changes in the limbic system, a primitive area in the brain that governs emotions and memory. It is through this simple act of inhaling that molecules of scent can impact our psychological state.

In the 1970s, Robert Tisserand, a researcher in the science of smell, produced a body of work inspired by the studies of Dr. Jean Valnet, in France. Tisserand demonstrated the tremendous influence and potential of aromatic plants for the health of body and mind. He was one of the first to write an exposition on the science of aromatherapy, which now has become a buzzword in everyday business and leisure. Tisserand made the connection between aromatic substances and the human endocrine system. In addition, he observed studies showing that scent could actually alter brain-wave activity.

Marketers have long since known about the power of smell to seduce customers, and the field of aromatherapy is rapidly developing scent for healing. A Japanese website has started mapping unusual scents around the world so that aficionados can sample them. In 2009, at Brigham Young University, researchers found that smells associated with cleanliness (in this case, citrus-scented Windex) led test subjects to reciprocate trust. Take some of this wisdom into your practice space: Keep it clean and lightly scented with something calming and inspiring.

MAP YOUR MOOD WITH SCENT

Scent is big business. Scientists who specialize in understanding the effects of scent on mood and mind are called odorologists. In recent years, odorologists have been investigating which smells influence states of mind in order to create a “mood map” that reveals the secrets of scent. Preliminary results show that citrus is mentally stimulating, vanilla is relaxing, and rose is calming. For therapeutic use, odorologists have confirmed that cucumber helps claustrophobics.