Ahh, meditation. Just reading the word on the page invokes a sense of peace and tranquility. The feeling of calmer thoughts, a clearer head, and a relaxed body is always welcome — and meditation is one of the best ways to achieve it.
People have been meditating for thousands of years. Meditating with crystals and healing stones also played an integral role in many ancient meditation practices, and recently, it’s also nudged its way into mainstream culture. Not only can stones and crystals provide a focus object for your practice, but it can deepen your meditation practice and raise awareness of the higher self.
Crystals and healing stones are not only used for meditation; they’re also commonly called upon in healing and protection rituals. They’re powerful objects that can hold and transfer energy to their possessors. As a result, you’ll want to make sure you’re taking good care of your meditation stones. Starting off each meditation practice with cleansed stones ensures that you’re removing any stale or negative energy, enabling you to begin your practice on a clean slate. What’s more, each stone has its own special properties, so you’ll want to make sure you know how to take care of them properly!
Certain stones, like selenite, opal, and gypsum, are easily chipped and scratched. They’re composed of softer minerals that are much more prone to breakage. If you’re meditating with softer stones, be sure to care for them gently, and never store them with harder stones that may damage their surface.
Caring for soft stones is pretty straightforward. Just make sure to keep them dry; if you do require a bit of moisture to clean them, make sure to pat them dry promptly afterwards. You can also dry polish them with a soft, clean cloth. Never use harsh chemical cleansers on soft stones (or any stones, really!).
With harder stones, like quartz, garnet, and tourmaline, you’re able to get a bit more creative with your cleansing. These stones are more durable and can withstand moisture. Raw rocks, crystals, and geodes can be submerged in salt water to remove any stubborn dust or debris, or simply placed under running water for about a minute at a time. You can dry polish them with a microfiber cloth (the same kind you’d get in an eyeglass case), too. A soft brush or jewelry cleaner will also do the trick when cleaning tougher stones.
Sometimes, your meditation stones might require a bit more than just a dry polish or a saltwater bath. If that’s the case, you can pass both your soft and tough stones through incense smoke for a thorough cleansing. (Psst: if you’re still using white sage for this step, check out this blog for alternatives!) Smudging your stone is said to clear out any negative vibrations and restore its natural energy.
Another way to cleanse your meditation stones is by using sound, like chanting, singing bowls, a tuning fork, or a bell. Any sound will do, really, as long as the vibrations of the sounds are able to pass over the stones for a good 5 to 10 minutes.
Finally, exposing the stone to sun or moonlight for several hours can help it to recharge and cleanse. (When cleansing soft stones, be sure the weather is permitting. Otherwise, they could be damaged by rain or excess sunshine.) Set your stone outside before the sun sets, then bring it back in again before 11 a.m. This allows the stone to absorb the energy of both the sun and the moon, restoring balance to its energy. If you’re setting out a vibrant stone, like amethyst, it’s best to bring it in at sunrise. Direct sunlight can harm the surface of the stone.
Have you ever tried meditating with healing stones? Check out our new meditation stone collection and let us know what you think!
