5 Amazing Things You Didn't Know About Amethyst

If you’re reading this then it’s safe to say you probably have some amethyst somewhere in your home. Amethyst is one of the most popular gemstones and for good reasons--it’s sturdy, beautiful, fairly easy to come by, and, energetically speaking, it comes with a slew of benefits.

Thirsty for more amethyst knowledge and uses? After doing loads of research about this purple powerhouse, I came across five amazing things about amethyst that I thought you should know, some are quite surprising! Read on to learn all five.

Your citrine was most likely an amethyst

Did you know that baking amethyst at 850°F for a certain amount of time will turn it into a golden yellow color? Amethyst is pretty amazing, but color-changing abilities too?! Most citrine on the market today was born from heat-treated amethyst. (It’s still up for debate whether or not this heat-treated citrine has the same metaphysical benefits.)

As far as the heat-treated citrine debate goes, some believe it’s all about your thoughts and intentions and some say it’s definitely not the same. Personally, I find that real citrine has a more powerful vibration to it, and feel that heat-treated citrine has a similar but slightly weaker vibe. Heat-treated citrine is also much more affordable and easy to find. I definitely don’t recommend throwing out all of your citrine! Sit with some of each and see what you think.

Here are some simple ways to determine whether or not your citrine is natural or was amethyst in a past life:

• Golden orange yellow rather than a pale yellow.

• Just golden yellow at the top part of the crystal with white at the bottom.

• Fragile and pointed shape. Heat-treated citrine breaks apart faster.

Amethyst likes to buddy up

Amethyst joins up with other crystals naturally within Mother Earth for some seriously magical combinations. Meet ametrine and super 7!

Ametrine hails from Bolivia and is a naturally occurring combination of amethyst and citrine. It creates a pretty dreamy combo. Metaphysically speaking, ametrine carries the healing benefits of both amethyst and citrine. Ametrine can be difficult to come by and heat-treated lookalikes are out there too.

Super 7, also called melody stone, comes from Brazil and has a little bit more going on than ametrine. It’s comprised of 7 different gemstones all in one! Super 7 is a combination of, you guessed it, amethyst, quartz, smoky quartz, cacoxenite, rutile, and lepidocrocite.

With so much going on super 7 comes with several benefits. Some, to name a few, are:

• Grounding and uplifting

• Balances all chakras

• Self-cleaning

• Connects you with your higher self

Recruit amethyst for your tiebreaker

On the fence about a decision? You’ve weighed all the pros and cons but just can’t decide? Amethyst is here to help! Amethyst and your third eye are besties. Your third eye aids in intuition, connecting to your higher self, and taming your busy mind. Amethyst can help to gently soothe the third eye, lull busy thoughts, and can help clarify decision making.

Here are a couple of ways to recruit amethyst as your decision referee:

• Meditate while lying down and place a piece of amethyst on your third eye. As you meditate ask for clarity about the decision you need to make.

• Place a piece of amethyst on your nightstand. Before you go to bed focus on your decision and ask for clarity to come to you in your sleep.

Boost your mood with negative ions

Amethyst won’t release these negative ions on its own, but, by heating it in the sun, an oven (not too high though, don’t want it to turn into citrine!), or from the heat of your own body it is said to release negative ions.

Don’t be fooled by the name, negative ions aren’t negative at all and some believe can help boost your mood. Similar to salt lamps, amethyst is said to release negative ions too. Not quite as much as a salt lamp, but some, nonetheless.

Negative ions are found naturally at waterfalls, beaches, and mountains. This is why some people believe visiting these types of places can put you in such a good mood. Among other positive side effects, negative ions are reported to help increase your energy and improve your mood.

The possible benefits of negative ions are still being studied, and though many people claim they work, the jury is still out in the science community.

Fend off bad vibes

Often touted for its intuitive enhancing abilities, amethyst is also a powerful shield against negative energy. Energetically, amethyst is a potent aid in handling negative vibes, it doesn’t just block them and is said to transmute them into good energy. Here’s an excerpt from The Crystal Bible by Judy Hall where she explains this:

Amethyst is an extremely powerful and protective stone with high spiritual vibration. Itguards against psychic attack, transmuting the energy into love. A natural tranquilizer,Amethyst blocks geopathic stress and negative environmental energies.

Now that you’re an amethyst genius, I hope you’ll take advantage of some of its amazing abilities!

7 Self-Love Rituals for Valentine’s Day

It’s that time of year where everything is about love, but the most important thing you can remember about love is this: Love is not outside of you.

Love is within you. Love is your divine nature.

It’s easy to forget that, but it’s true. The rituals below will help you connect to the love already within you, and most importantly give it to yourself.

For all of these rituals, you might like to incorporate:

• Rose quartz, to open your heart chakra

• Clear quartz, to amplify the energy

• Myrrh incense, a healing scent associated with feminine energy, the moon, and the water element

Try just one of these rituals, or try them all throughout the month. Each of these rituals will be more powerful the more you do them, so find one you like and make it part of your routine this month.

Create Something

Nothing gets the energy of love flowing like creativity. Do a coloring meditation, make a vision board, cook a nourishing meal, write a poem, paint with watercolors, play an instrument, or create your own yoga flow.

Whatever you’d like to do, create a sacred space and tap into your creative energy.

Get this coloring page here

Here's also a fun idea for a self-love ritual where you can play with your creativity:

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A post shared by Cassie Uhl (@cassieuhl)

Tarot or Oracle Card Spread

Tarot and oracle cards are amazing magical tools for self-reflection and connecting with your intuition. Try this three-card spread with your favorite deck:

1. What is holding me back from loving myself right now?

2. What might I experience if I give myself the love I desire?

3. How can I deepen my love for myself?

Don't know how to get started? Check out this blog post for tarot, or this post for the ultimate tarot guide. If you feel called to try oracle cards check out this blog post.

Burning Ceremony

What holds you back from loving yourself more? What limiting beliefs do you hold onto that keep you small? What things about yourself do you struggle to love? What parts of yourself do you hide from yourself and from the world because deep down you believe in their unworthiness?

Get quiet, get your journal, and allow a stream-of-consciousness type of writing to flow until you feel like you’ve got it all out on the page.

Once you’ve poured your heart out, light a single white candle and hold your paper over the flame. Allow the negative energy, limiting beliefs, and your dislike for any part of yourself to burn up with the page.

Then, free-write to these questions: What do I love about myself? What is amazing about me? What am I grateful for? What parts of myself am I working on loving?

When you’re done, place this page on your altar and return to it anytime you feel those sticky, negative beliefs trying to creep back in.

Write a Self-Love Mantra

Writing your own self-love mantra is incredibly powerful because while there are many beautiful affirmations and mantras for self-love, you are unique and your journey with self-love is unique.

Write your own mantra that tells you exactly what you need to hear. Something kind, nonjudgmental, and compassionate that you might say to your sister or your best friend to let them know that you love them and they’re not alone.

Say it to yourself.

Write it on your mirror, on a piece of paper to tuck in your bag or place on your altar, or paint it in a picture (see ritual #1!), and return to it whenever you need it. Learn more about embracing the power of mantras here.

Heart Chakra Meditation

Inhale deeply into your heart chakra. Exhale out of your mouth, releasing all that doesn’t serve you. As you inhale, visualize a bud of green light glowing in your chest, blossoming bigger and brighter with each inhale as you strengthen this chakra. Allow the unconditional love to wash over you with your breath. If you'd like a guided meditation, you can click here for a meditation bundle done by me.

Herbal Bath for Self-Love

Turn bath into a ritual by using herbs, lighting candles, and playing whatever music or sounds help you relax and turn inward.

Try using rose-hips, lavender, elecampane, and balm of gilead to promote self-love. Rose-hips promote healing, compassion, and self-love. Lavender balances and calms while elecampane opens the heart chakra. Balm of gilead promotes love and helps you manifest your desires.

Simply fill a muslin bag with about a third of a cup of the herbs, loop the bundle onto the faucet, and let your tub fill with hot water as it runs through the bag. When it finishes filling, drop the bag into the water and let it infuse with the herbs for about 20 minutes.

For an extra dose of self-love, add a rose quartz crystal to your bath. For more herbal bath recipes, check out this blog post.

Create a Goddess Altar

Creating a goddess altar is a beautiful way to honor the divine feminine energy of the universe and the divine feminine energy within. Make this altar your own! Buy a statue of a Goddess who resonates with you, or just print out a photo online. If you’re not sure which Goddess you’d like to use, do some research! What Goddess energy would help you love yourself more? Some suggestions are:

• Greek Goddess Aphrodite for love, gratitude, and beauty

• Hindu Goddess Lakshmi for abundance and wealth

• East Asian Goddess Kuan Yin for mercy and compassion

• Hindu Goddess Kali for destruction, creation, and transformation

• Greek Goddess Artemis for independence, strength, and fearlessness

• Egyptian Goddess Isis for magic, healing, and protection

• Greek Goddess Athena for wisdom and courage

• Sumerian, Babylonian, and Phoenician goddess Inanna for sensuality and divine femininity in all its forms

Once you choose your goddess, add a white candle, incense, and maybe a cloth to your altar. Choose some objects that represent love to you and ask for help loving yourself. You can also put fresh flowers or a piece of fruit on your altar as an offering to the Goddess.

Goddesses are beautiful archetypes and energies to work with because they remind you that you, too, have this energy within you. You possess the abundance of Lakshmi, the compassion of Kuan Yin, the magic of Isis, and the transformative energy of Kali.

How to Create a Meditation Practice You’ll Actually Stick to

You know meditation is good for you. You’ve seen the studies. You know you feel better when you do it. You know all of the positives, yet, it’s still so hard to commit to a daily meditation practice. I know, I’ve been there.

I’m here to share nine tools I’ve personally used, or use still daily, to create a meditation practice that sticks. I’ve been an on and off again meditator since I was in middle school but it wasn’t until I implemented a few simple practices that it became a daily routine for me. Read on to learn my favorite tips.

Why Meditate?

Entire books are written on this topic, but here are some of the big reasons meditation will rock your world.

• Stress relief: Regular meditation will help you see the bigger picture so you’re not narrowed in on the small stuff.

• Better sleep: Meditation helps soothe your pineal gland, which, among other things, helps you sleep.

• Improves your health: Regular meditation can help lower your blood pressure, improve your immune function, and decrease inflammation.

• Improves your aura (energy field): Meditating raises your energy frequency, which will improve your aura. Meditate regularly, and you’ll start to experience a big shift in your energy frequency and aura.

• Stay in tune with your soul’s purpose: Lost or confused about what to do? Meditation can help clear your mind so you can gain more clarity about the next right move.

Sounds good, right? A regular meditation practice is life-changing, but the key here is regular. Here are nine ways to build a meditation practice that you’ll actually stick to.

9 Ways to Create a Meditation Practice That Actually Sticks

1. Ritual for all five senses

Creating any habit is all about routine and repetition. One effective way to do this is to build rituals around your meditation time. By practicing the same rituals, at the same time, every day, you’ll prime yourself for your meditation practice.

The more of your five senses you can incorporate into your meditation rituals the better, it will help your new habit stick. Here are a few ways to engage your five senses and create a ritual around your meditation practice.

• Sound: Music, gong, singing bowl, or a fountain

• Scent: Essential oils, candles, or incense

• Sight: Salt lamps, candles, colored light, specific time of day, specific room

• Touch: Meditation pillow or blanket, mudras, self-massage

• Taste: Fresh breath right after you brush your teeth in the morning, or a specific herbal tea

Pick and choose what sounds good to you. These meditation rituals can be as elaborate or as simple as you want. The simple act of lighting a candle and rubbing a certain scent on your chest before every meditation can have a powerful effect.

2. Build in time. Something is better than nothing.

“There’s not enough time” is probably the #1 killer of most meditation practices. Like any new habit, it’s all about building in the time for it. The good news is, you don’t need much time to build a meditation practice, just 5-15 minutes a day will have a positive effect on your day.

The key, plan ahead. Take an honest look at the schedule of your day, and decide where the best place is to add in 10-15 minutes of quiet meditation time. When you’re just getting started try setting a reminder on your phone so you don’t forget.

Five minutes of meditation in your car is better than no meditation and will help solidify your meditation practice.

3. Create a space

A room, a corner of a room, or a simple seat will do. Designating a specific spot for your meditation time will help you stay on track. You know exactly where you need to go and have a spot for any meditation ritual elements you’re incorporating.

A space with minimal distractions is ideal but any dedicated space is better than no space.

4. Be OK with distractions

Distractions are part of life and will most likely make an appearance during your meditation time at some point. Whether it’s a pet, child, loved one, or a noisy work crew outside your house, expect them, accept them, and then move right back to your meditation.

5. Use a timer and start small

It can be difficult to get in the zone while you’re meditating if you’re spending the entire time wondering how long you’ve been meditating. Set a timer on your phone so you don’t have to wonder.

Starting out, set your timer for just 5 minutes and work your way up from there. Once you find that you’re naturally ready to sit for longer than 5 minutes, up your time by a couple of minutes. Do this for six months and you might be surprised by how long you can sit in quiet meditation.

6. Pranayama

If your mind goes a mile a minute the moment you sit down, try some pranayama to help you drop into your meditation. Many of us are stuck in fight or flight mode constantly and flipping the switch to relax can seem impossible. Starting your meditation with some simple breathing exercises can help set the tone for your meditation.

Try either of these breathing techniques to help queue your body to relax:

Three-part breath

As you inhale, feel the air filling the lowest part of your belly, the middle part of the torso (just below your heart center), and then your chest. As you exhale let the air out in the reverse order, feel the air leave your chest, just underneath your chest, and out your lower belly. Repeat as many times as you’d like.

Alternate nostril breathing

Using your thumb and your ring finger, close your right nostril with your thumb and inhale slowly through your left nostril. Cover your left nostril with your ring finger, release your thumb from the right nostril, and exhale. Repeat this on the other side starting with inhaling through your right nostril. Repeat as many times as you’d like.

7. Use guided meditations

If pranayama isn’t your jam, or you need some extra guidance to stay in the meditation zone try using guided meditations. There are several podcasts and free apps available with great guided meditations, you can also find several online. Here are some that I’ve used that are all great places to start:

• Meditation Oasis Podcast (Free and my favorite!)

• Meditation Minis Podcast (Free)

• Headspace App (Free and paid options)

• My guided meditations bundles for energy balancing, moon phases, Wheel of the Year, and Spirit Guides. Here you can download my free waning moon meditation.

8. Accountability Buddy or a Meditation Challenge

Using the momentum of a group or working with a meditation accountability partner can help you seal the deal for your meditation routine and keep you on track. Have a soul sister who’s trying to build a meditation practice too? Make a plan to touch base with each other every day once you’ve meditated.

9. Allow yourself cheat days

Things will come up, and you’ll probably miss some days. Instead of letting this be a reason to beat yourself up or stop meditating all together allow yourself a cheat day once a week. That way, if you have a crazy day that gets away from you (which will probably happen at some point!), you’ve got an easy out that you don’t have to feel guilty about.

Ditched your meditation practice? Start with self-love, no need to beat yourself up over it, then come on back to this list to find some motivation to get started again. Your mind, body, soul, and fellow humans will thank you for it.

How to Balance your Solar Plexus Chakra

Do you feel worthy of love and comfortable setting boundaries? Do you feel a sense of peace and understanding in taking action on things you can control and allowing things you have no control over to happen?

When your solar plexus, or Manipura, chakra is open and balanced, you experience a strong sense of authentic power, and use that power to make a difference in the world. You fully understand your worth and have healthy self-esteem and self-confidence.

This chakra, located right above the navel, is also where the ego lives. It is the seat of fire in the body, overseeing your emotions, motivating you to achieve your goals, and governing your self-esteem and self-discipline.

But like any other chakra, this chakra can become unbalanced.

Signs that your solar plexus chakra is unbalanced:

1. You feel powerless or like a victim.

2. You often feel anxious and insecure.

3. You either feel the need to control and manipulate everything or you let others control you.

4. You experience frequent stomach or lower back pain.

5. You feel like you have to give your power away in order to keep the peace.

6. You have addictive tendencies and tend to form co-dependent relationships.

The good news is there are many simple ways to balance the solar plexus chakra. Use one tip or combine several, and find what works for you to get you back to a place of authentic power and control.

10 Ways to Open the Solar Plexus Chakra

Get Outside

The solar plexus chakra is associated with the color yellow and the element fire, so getting outside in the sun can be a big help. Try doing one of the tips below outside, like yoga or meditation, go rock climbing, go for a hike, or simply take a walk around the neighborhood.

Drink Tea

Ginger, chamomile, and mint all work well to open this chakra.

Yoga

Poses that light a fire in the belly— aka focus on the core— are perfect for balancing Manipura. Try Boat Pose, Warrior 2, or a series of Sun Salutations to light that Agni.

Pranayama

Speaking of fire, “breath of fire” or Agni Sara pranayama can help balance the solar plexus chakra. It is similar to kappalabhati breathing, but both inhales and exhales are forceful. The idea is to contract and release the core muscles.

Start in a standing position with the knees gently bent and the hands on the knees. As you inhale, press the stomach out. As you exhale, draw it in.

Affirmations & Mantras

Affirmations and mantras are all about becoming that which you wish to see. Try these mantras for balancing this chakra:

• The bija mantra Ram.

• I am worthy.

• I rule from a place of authentic control and power.

• I love and accept myself.

• I am open and free from the need to control everything.

• I use my power for the highest good.

• I release judgment of myself and others.

Scents

Citrusy oils like grapefruit, lemon, orange, and even peppermint are great for healing the solar plexus chakra because they aid digestion, a solar plexus issue. You can also try ginger, fennel, and ylang-ylang to clear negative energy and bring in positive energy.

Burn candles or incense with these scents, diffuse essential oils, or mix these oils with a carrier oil like sesame or coconut and massage them onto the body. It can be particularly powerful to rub them on the belly, the center of this chakra.

Crystals

There are many different crystals you can use to balance the solar plexus chakra. Yellow-hued stones tend to work best since yellow is the color of this chakra. Try citrine, yellow topaz, honey calcite, amber, yellow jasper, or tiger’s eye.

Incorporate them into your yoga practice, meditate with them, create a crystal grid on the ground or on the body over the navel area, or wear them.

To create a crystal grid, choose a few stones from the list above that resonate with you, plus clear quartz. Decide on your purpose for the grid, and write that intention down. It could be something like “I reclaim my personal power” or any of the affirmations and mantras above.

Then, cleanse your crystals (learn more about crystal cleansing here) and place them in a geometric pattern on the bare skin of your navel with the clear quartz in the center to amplify the energy of your grid.

Spend at least a few moments with the crystals on your skin, meditating on your intention.

Play with Color

Wearing yellow and eating yellow foods such as corn, bananas, yellow peppers, lemons, and sunflower seeds are easy ways to work on opening this chakra throughout the day.

Meditation

Try imagining a glowing golden ball of light, a burning flame, or a bright yellow flower opening over your navel to open Manipura. Try this guided chakra balancing meditation if you feel called to.

Switch It Up

Sometimes all it takes to balance the solar plexus chakra is a little change. Try switching up your routine, releasing anger by yelling as loudly as you can (in your home alone!), or attending a laughing circle.

These activities allow you to activate your personal power, release control, introduce a little joy, and create a positive flow of energy in the body.

Tap Into the Wisdom of Your Ancestors with Meditation and Breathwork

Samhain, the sacred festival of the dead, occurs on October 31st and the 1st of November. It marks the beginning of winter and the season of the crone. This holiday reconnects us to the cycle of death and rebirth.

It is believed that the veil between the spirit world and our world is thin during Samhain, making it easier to communicate with spirits. That’s why it is the best time to honor the wisdom of your ancestors during this time.

This meditation and breathwork will take you within, to honor the wisdom you possess inside and the wisdom from those whom you come from. 

1. Set the stage for your meditation with crystals and EO’s (optional)

There are many different crystals you can use to help you connect with your ancestors. Your energy is unique, so choose the crystals that have worked for you in the past or that you feel drawn to.

Here are 8 crystals that can help you connect to your inner wisdom and wisdom from your ancestors. Choose one or several of these stones to wear or place next to you for your meditation.

Lepidolite will help you get into a calm state and connect you to your third eye chakra, the center of intuition.

Celestite opens your energy to connect with the spiritual realm by helping you relax and transition into a dream state. Rose quartz a crystal of love, creates a safe and welcoming space for both you and the spirits. Amethyst helps to open your third eye chakra and can help you connect to your intuition.

Charoite will help you connect with your ancestors. It is another powerful stone for communicating with and channeling spirits. It helps you receive information from them using your intuition.

Blue Lace Agate raises your vibration to make a connection with the spirit world easier. It helps you connect with the spirits as it keeps you balanced, allowing you to receive messages without getting overwhelmed.

Selenite increases telepathy and opens the crown chakra, making it a great stone for spirit communication.

When using any of these crystals, make sure you also have obsidian, hematite, black kyanite, or black tourmaline for grounding and protection. These crystals will keep you safe and rooted to the Earth, leaving your mind and spirit free to wander.

You can also use essential oils in your meditation. Mix them with water for a mist to spritz around the area, dilute with a carrier oil such as coconut or olive oil, and massage into the skin, or even burn these scents as candles.

Here are a few essential oils to recruit for this meditation. Use one or all of them during your meditation.

Clary Sage for connection to the divine.

Rosemary for remembrance and love.

Cedarwood for purifying, grounding, and calming.

2. Start with the breath

Start with Nadi Sodhana, also called alternate nostril breathing, to balance the nadis, or energy channels, in the body. This breath brings you into the present moment, calms and centers the mind, and helps you release fear.

Sit in a comfortable seated position and place the left hand on the knee with the palm facing upward. This hand position creates an energy of receptivity. Place the index finger and middle finger of the right hand on the third eye center between the eyebrows, with the ring finger and pinky finger on the left nostril and thumb on the right nostril.

Throughout this breath, use the thumb to open and close the right nostril, and the ring finger and pinky finger for the left nostril. As you exhale, close the right nostril and breathe out of the left nostril. Inhale through the left nostril, and then close the left nostril to exhale through the right. Alternate breathing in this way for ten cycles of breath, holding your inhales and exhales steady and even.

3. Sink into Meditation.

Once you’re centered in a place of presence and balance, begin the meditation by taking a few deep, cleansing breaths. Follow these steps to tap into the wisdom of your ancestors for this meditation.

1. Visualize the support of the Earth underneath you, connecting you to the vast wisdom of Mother Nature. Feel her energy enter your body as you inhale, and run down the spine as you exhale.

2. Think about who you are and where you are in this moment. Remember that every part of you has been woven together by the fabric of your ancestors, the good and the bad. Their blood, their experiences, their pains, their joys all run through you and shape you.

3. Begin to visualize your family line, starting with a parent. Traditionally this is the father, but allow either parent to come to mind. Visualize them in front of you. As you inhale, they breathe the white-hot light of their wisdom within you. As you exhale, you breathe the white-hot light of your gratitude into them.

4. Ask if this spirit has anything they need to share with you.

5. Continue moving up your family line with this conversation, receiving knowledge, and offering gratitude by exchanging breath, taking as many breaths as you need with each spirit.  

6. When you reach the end of your family line as you know it, sit in silence as long as you like and allow the messages to come to you. These can come in the form of images or sounds in your head, a feeling, or even a smell.

7. End with this simple phrase: “I thank all those who have helped shape and create me. I honor your divine wisdom.” Take a few moments after your meditation to let out your thoughts and emotions in a journal. Release anything that came up for you onto the page, and continue to sit with your crystals for as long as you need.

You can find meditations for the Wheel of the Year here.

Transitioning into the Darker Half of the Year with Yoga, Oils & Crystals

Since you started going to school at age 3 or 4, fall has always been a time of transition.

The transitions have changed over the years as you’ve changed. You’re no longer starting a new year of school, but the transitions have gotten bigger and, oftentimes, scarier.

A new apartment, a new job, a new partner, a new city, a plane ticket.

These tools and grounding yoga poses will remind you that no matter what’s going on in your life as we transition into the darker half of the year, you are exactly where you are supposed to be. You have roots. You are safe. You can withstand any storm.

Grounding

Grounding has two purposes. The first is to heal trauma, both physical and emotional, to allow you to release fear. The second purpose is to bring earthy energy into the system. For signs that you’re not grounded and how to fix that, check out this past blog post here.

These herbs, teas, oils, and yoga practice will serve both purposes. They will work to balance and cleanse the root chakra, which keeps us grounded and linked to the earth. When we lack sufficient root chakra energy we may feel ungrounded, question our value, feel scattered, or feel disconnected with ourselves and the Earth.

You can dive right into these poses, or you can incorporate grounding crystals, herbs, and oils into your practice. If you’re really feeling flighty, anxious, afraid, or scattered, I recommend taking extra time for yourself here for a full grounding practice.

Drink an Herbal Tea

Valerian, Lotus root, Hibiscus, and Hawthorn are all grounding roots. Besides their healing physical benefits, these herbs are known to release stress and calm anxiety. Try a tea blend with a few of these herbs or keep it simple with just one. Here are 3 healing DIY herbal tea blend recipes for you to try.

Incorporate Oils

Scent is a powerful way to introduce more grounding energy to the system. Lavender, rose, and chamomile are soothing oils that will help you heal trauma to release fear.  Sandalwood and patchouli will increase the flow of earthy energy.

There are many different ways to use your oils. For your yoga practice, you’ll want to either dilute the oils with water and create a mist or dilute them with a carrier oil (such as olive oil or coconut oil) and massage the oil into your skin. Massaging the feet as part of your yoga can be incredibly powerful, especially with these grounding oils. Here are a few essential oil blends I love to use in rollerballs.

Set Out or Wear Your Crystals

Hematite, smoky quartz, shungite, jasper, snowflake obsidian, and prasiolite all create grounding energy.

Hematite is a highly protective stone. It helps to open your root chakra, eliminate negative energy, and create a more balanced and centered mind.

Smoky quartz is a good choice for those who find hematite to be too intense or heavy. Smoky quartz grounds and stabilizes while balancing the root chakra, but in a much more subtle and uplifting way than hematite.

Shungite is another powerful stone for balancing the root chakra, helping to bring all your negative energy and toxic thoughts to the surface to release that which does not serve you.

Jasper brings a strong Earthy energy to your practice, deepening your connection with Mother Earth.

Prasiolite is another powerful healing stone that helps you ground yourself to the energy of the Earth, remove negative energy, and replace it with positive energy.

Snowflake obsidian is a grounding and protective stone. It brings balance in the midst of chaos and helps remove negative energy as it draws emotions and toxic thought patterns to the surface. It is also conducive to entering a deep meditative state. For extra grounding, try wearing snowflake obsidian jewelry during your practice.

Roll Out Your Mat

Ancient yogis divided the life force energy, prana, into 5 energetic components known as Vayus. The apana vayu is the energy of elimination that flows downward and out. When you bring awareness and focus to this energy, it will help ground you.

We often direct too much energy upwards, spending too much time thinking and creating imbalance, stress, and lack of emotional stability and mental clarity. These yoga poses will all refocus your energy downward, back to the body and our connection to our home: Mother Earth.

Sukasana, Easy Pose

Begin your practice comfortably seated in sukasana, easy pose. Become conscious of your sit bones pressing into the mat.

Start by meditating on the root chakra bija, or seed, mantra: LAM. As you meditate, visualize the breath beginning at the base of the spine. As you inhale, the breath travels up the spine to the crown of the head, the crown chakra. As you exhale, the breath travels down to the base of the spine, grounding you and growing roots into the Earth.

You can say the mantra out loud, or simply repeat it to yourself quietly.

Virabhadrasana II, Warrior 2

Warrior 2 is an incarnation of Shiva, the destroyer. This pose will remind you of your strength and stability.

Create a firm foundation for this pose by visualizing the feet connecting to the earth. Feel the mat or ground underneath you and strengthen through the legs to send your roots into the earth. Continue to focus your energy downward with the root chakra breath, imagining now that the exhale sends the breath all the way down through the legs into the Earth.

Utkata Konasana, Goddess Pose

Goddess Pose, as the name suggests, is another pose of fierce strength. The pose represents the feminine force that birthed the Universe. The same energy inside you is the energy that created the Universe, and it is the energy that will carry you through this transition into the darker half of the year.

Allow the strength of the pose and the feminine energy it cultivates to bring you back to your center. What are your fears in this time of change? This is the time to reflect on them, and then release them.

Vrikshasana, Tree Pose

This pose improves both physical and mental balance, increases your ability to concentrate, and reminds you that you can bring peace and focus to all situations.

As you enter the pose, firmly ground down with your left foot. Press into each individual toe and through the four corners of the foot. Firm through the left leg, and feel the support of every muscle as you bend and lift the right leg to enter into the pose.

Imagine that you are a tree. You have survived rain, fire, and storms of all kinds, yet still, you stand. Picture the roots that grow from deep within the earth and wrap around your legs.

Malasana, Yogi Squat

This pose helps create strength and calms the body, mind, and spirit. As you inhale, lengthen through the spine. As you exhale, feel the energy of the breath flow down the spine from the crown of the head to the tailbone.

The apana energy this pose cultivates helps you release fear as you root down close to the Earth.

Adho Mukha Svanasana, Downward Facing Dog

How much time do we spend mindlessly in a downward facing dog, letting our minds wander? This pose is often repeated during yoga classes, which makes it easy to space out and spend the pose waiting for the “next thing.”

In this sequence, I encourage you not to do this. Spread through each finger and press firmly into the palms of the hands. Straighten and strengthen through the legs to push the heels closer to the mat.

My yoga teacher actually refers to downward facing dog as a standing pose. That’s how strong your legs should be! On each inhale, visualize the roots of the earth pulling the heels closer to the ground. On each exhale, picture the white-hot energy of the breath flowing down the spine.

As you end your practice, return to sukhasana. Feel the support of the earth beneath you, closing with this mantra:

“All is well. Everything is working out for your highest good. Out of this situation, only good will come, and you are safe.” -Louise Hay

In this season, we move from light to dark together, with the support of the Earth and the support of our yoga practice.

Namaste.