sourced from the ground; even organics like Pearls, Jet, and Amber are connected to Earth in some capacity. In fact, 12 percent of the Earth’s crust is made up of silicon dioxide or Quartz Crystal, making it the most plentiful gemstone on the market8. Perhaps this is why grounding with a crystal in each hand as you stand with your feet connected to the Earth amplifies your energetic connection, as though the crystals you hold are charged and generating a connection to the crystals beneath our feet in the ground below.
Ground and Center
If you are able to stand, consider grounding on your feet so that you can cycle the energy of the Earth up through your spine and back down again into the ground as if you are pushing your feet down like tree roots into soil. If you are unable to stand, you can accomplish a similar grounding experience by lying flat on your back and noticing where your body makes contact with the ground beneath you. If you have access to nature, it is best to do this directly on the unpaved, unaltered ground in its natural state so you can connect closely with the energy of the planet. You can also achieve that connection while on a floor or a bed with a little extra work by consciously remembering that the Earth is below you.
The imagination is a powerful grounding tool. Try this visualization to emotionally cleanse yourself. Imagine that you are standing under a glittery, rushing waterfall. The water pours over an outcropping of rocks into a clear, blue pool warmed by the sunlight. The spray of the waterfall creates a mist dappled with rainbows everywhere you look. Imagine yourself standing beneath this flow of crystal-clear water as it washes away your stress and frustrations. Feel your feet sink slightly into the water of the pool as your toes flex to grip the stony earth beneath them.
The key to grounding is to pause and pay attention to where you are connected to the ground. Choose two or more crystals and place one in each of your hands. If you are flat on your back, you might also place a crystal on your Third Eye between your eyebrows, over your heart, and near your pelvis to cycle energy along your chakras as well. Some people even place a crystal beneath their feet while standing or lying down.
If you have a few gemstones you wish to bring into your practice but are not sure where to place them, try this quick connecting exercise. Take each stone individually and hold it so that it hovers a few inches above the skin, about where you imagine your aura might be. Starting at the top of the head, slowly move the stone down along the center of the body and sense where it “wants” to go. Pay attention to where it may feel pulled to your body, as if by a light magnet. You might be surprised. The Red Jasper that many associate with the deep red Root Chakra may feel drawn to the space above your heart, or a Blue Apatite traditionally associated with the Throat Chakra might tug magnetically toward your Solar Plexus instead. There are no rules when working with gemstones. Just listen to them.
Focus on the sensation of your body rather than the emotions or thoughts you might be having. Sensation is your physical experience. It is the points, rough-hewn edges, or polished surfaces of the crystals you feel in each of your hands. It is the coolness of the stone on your forehead (or warmth, in the case of Amber). It is the sharp, forceful pressure in your feet as you notice each bone and muscle in your soles flexing and pressing into the ground beneath you. In turn, you should experience the Earth rising to hold you up.
There is an old Buddhist proverb that goes something like, “The foot becomes the foot when it feels the ground beneath it.” Essentially, this refers to the awareness that we experience when we recognize sensation. Don’t judge or interpret as you might with emotions and thoughts. In fact, if thoughts float into your head, acknowledge them and brush them to the side as you refocus your energy into experiencing the sensations of your body. Feel your feet, and know that they are feet by the ground that you feel beneath them. Know that you are the ground by your feet above them. Feel the rise and fall of your breath in your chest. Ground by tuning in to your material self. Experience your own physical surface as it relates to the world around you—your skin, your breath, your muscles, your blood. Ground by pushing your energy into the Earth and the crystals you feel with your body. Ground by pulling that same energy up from the Earth as if you are drawing water from the roots of a tree and pulling it in.
Grounding is connecting with the surface of yourself, and centering is connecting with the core of yourself. When you ground, you feel the crystals in your hands. For balance, you can hold a Clear Quartz point in your receptive hand to amplify the energy you draw in and a piece of Smoky Quartz or Black Kyanite in your dominant hand to transmute the energy you are expelling, but use whatever stones speak to you personally. When you center, take that energy from the crystals and breathe it into the center of the body. Draw that energy inward by imagining it flowing into you through your breath, and then guide that breath to the parts of your body where you wish it to go.
Draw energy into your heart by shifting your focus from physical sensation to emotion, or from your body to your heart. Experience the calmness of your body by replicating the physical sensation of calm with the same emotional state. You can guide your emotions in this way. Choose crystals that resonate with your energy centers to help you draw that energy within you. Chakras will be explored more thoroughly later in this book, but, for now, imagine that your spine is a rainbow starting with deep red at your pelvic floor and ending with vibrant purple radiating from your head. Choosing stones that make you think of love or that align with your Heart Chakra can help, and you might place them directly on your body, either just resting there or set in jewelry, like a necklace. Good stones for love and trust are Rose Quartz, Pink Agate, or Chrysoprase (perhaps shaped like hearts or engraved with hearts, as a general concept), or, alternatively, stones that are green to represent Anahata, the heart energy center. These might include Jade, Epidote, Green Opal, Aventurine, Green Calcite, or Emerald—just beware, some stones (like Malachite) can be toxic to the touch or when ingested accidentally, and other stones (like Rose Quartz or Opal) can lose their luster if exposed to excessive sunlight. Opal in particular can have a dried-out appearance if exposed to the elements too long due to the fact that as much as 10 percent of an Opal’s chemical composition is actually water that can leach out of the stone over time.9
After selecting stones to employ in centering, infuse both the stone and your breath by tuning into yourself to prepare for manifestation. Breath, chi, or prana is an important aspect of crystal healing, as it is the energy that flows in and out of our bodies. Breath can also be whispered into a stone. Hold a stone close to your lips and whisper your intention into it, then breathe it in deeply as if you are sniffing a sea rose in full bloom.
Pranayama Exercise
Try this quick breathing technique to align your breath. You’re going to breathe in a 4:4:8 count. Begin by drawing in a breath for four seconds. Hold that breath in your lungs for four seconds, and then breathe out for eight seconds. Count out the numbers in your mind as you breathe: in for four, hold for four, out for eight. Keep breathing this way for a few minutes or until you feel relaxed and attuned to your body. By breathing out for a longer stretch of time than you breathe in, you will sink your body into relaxation by pushing out the toxins. It almost feels like you are lowering as your shoulders drop and your jaw releases tension. You can also alternate breathing in and out through each nostril to deepen your focus while you count. Draw in through the right for four, hold, breathe out through the right for eight, and then repeat with the left.
After whispering an intention or wish into your stone, hold it in your hands and picture a state of pure relaxation. All the muscles in your body have turned to jelly, and your head lolls from side to side on a downy pillow. In this mental picture, as you center yourself, remember that details in the central mind are powerful and can assist with manifestation. Mind your thoughts and allow only those which support your highest good to be of focus. If you notice you are drifting toward a negative image, interrupt it. Clap your hands, or tap your crystal on the ground and say firmly, “Stop!” Forgive yourself for the interruption and return your focus to centering.
Dig deep and imagine your wildest relaxation dream in vivid detail. Do you feel relaxed at the top of a mountain with your metal-cleated
