Alternative Medicine
The Transmutation Power of Crystals and Stones
The beneficial powers of gemstones and crystals is well-known in the psychic and metaphysical community. Many of us use them in our daily spiritual work. One of the most amazing things crystals and stones do for us is to transmute energy, that is to say, change negative energies into powerful healing.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the more popular crystals and stones and their individual energy properties. Remember, if you choose to use any of these crystals in your daily practice, their energies can be combined, depending on your individual needs.
Rose Quartz
Shades of pink, milky or opaque
Represents the planet Venus, and the signs of Taurus and Libra.
Not surprisingly, given its connection to Venus, this stone contains energies of universal and healing love. Many practitioners use it to increase levels of compassion for others, or before and after a session for grounding.
Rose quartz will help us to rid ourselves of fear, anger, jealously, or aggressiveness. It can also help us in a journey to let go of loved ones we have lost.
Simple Ways To Reduce Your Stress Levels
We all feel the effects of stress in our lives at the moment. This is an especially difficult time in the world, and it is challenging us in ways that we did not expect.
Stress is a feeling of being under way too much pressure. This pressure can come from different aspects of your daily life, such as career challenges, life transitions, relationship conflict, health problems, family issues and financial worries. Whatever the stressors in your life are, they can affect your well-being very negatively.
We all experience stress, but how we handle it affects our lives to various degrees. You might have tried different approaches, but not much has worked. Sometimes the solution is much simpler than one might realize. Here are some positive lifestyle tips to manage your stress levels. Even if you just apply a couple a day, these basic strategies can make a real difference in cultivating a calmer state and greater peace of mind.
Get Enough Sleep
Sleep is so important in so many ways, and so often neglected in our busy lives. Adequate sleep helps us to stay focused, heal is from within, and manage our days so much better.
If you are not sleeping well, or not getting enough sleep, make every effort to resolve this. It is probably the most important thing you can do to reduce your stress levels. I find meditation music or white noise very helpful, and taking short naps during the day are an excellent means to get extra rest.
Herbs And Your Spiritual Well-Being
When our physical body is weakened or sick, we take remedies to heal it. We reach for a tincture, supplement or medication that we trust will help us. But, in the same way we care for our physical body, we also need to take care of our energy body and aura.
Yes, the light body or auric field also needs loving care, in the same way our body does. As a certified herbalist I find this is often overlooked in the field of health and medicine.
Many people only think of herbs as something you use in cooking to season food. Years ago, when I discovered that herbs were also a great way to treat the body for illness, I wasn’t expecting to find out all the other benefits herbs can offer us.
During my herbal studies coursework, I discovered that herbs not only help us heal physically, but can also work to bring our spiritual body back into alignment. The herbs work with us on many levels to promote harmony and wellness.
For example, when we drink Lavender tea for stress or anxiety. Try it yourself. Breathe in Lavender essential oil and notice how your thoughts instantly calm and the muscles in your body relax.
But Lavender not only promotes a sense of peace and calm, it also affects our spirit and changes our energy vibration. In addition to the effect it has on our nervous system, Lavender works with us on a spiritual level, to purify our soul and to clear out negative energy clogging our higher chakras.
Aromatherapy For Stress Relief
I have been using essential oils for many years. In the 1990s, I made it a point to study them and become certified. At that time aromatherapy was already very popular in Europe, where it was seen as a viable adjunct therapy. Science has gained more insight on the impact of scent on the brain, our emotions and our well-being.
Stress originates from the limbic system, and our sense of smell is the only one that is linked to this part of the brain. Before we might even become aware of the effects an essential oil or fragrance may have on us, the molecules from the essential oils we smell are already at work on our limbic lobe.
Successful real estate agents know the power of smell, and often suggest you bake some chocolate chip cookies, or brew some fresh coffee before an open house, or simply simmer cloves, cinnamon, and orange peels in a small pot of boiling water, to evoke a homey, welcoming smell.
Scents also trigger memories. A scent from your childhood, that created a warm, secure, peaceful feeling, is something you might want to re-create with essential oils.
When the mind relaxes, the body follows. We all experience stress at times, and although essential oils cannot magically make a situation disappear, one may benefit from the relaxation effects that aromatherapy offers.
The Miracle Healing Power Of Prayer
Every month, I host a healing prayer circle. All those who show up are invited to share what has been going on in their lives. Whoever may need a listening ear or a prayer, we go to work and pray for them.
Sometimes just listening to someone else’s problems can also be very healing. Many people don’t have anyone in their lives who will listen, and sometimes people say they will pray for us, but don’t.
There is much power in prayer. I once again witnessed this with a lady who, while attending one of our prayer circles, experienced a instant healing miracle.
She is a mature woman who lives on her own and doesn’t do much else but attend a knitting group and our monthly prayer circle. During one of our gatherings she shared how grateful she was for the group and that she urgently needed a prayer for herself this time. She had never before asked that we pray for her.
She had been experiencing severe pain in her spine and painful rashes. Her doctor had examined her two weeks prior and told her she had the viral infection known as shingles. She showed us some of the rashes on her body and it was clear that this was a severe case.
We then laid our hands on her, everyone present that day, and we prayed for her. She started to vibrate. I could feel it clearly in my hands. Her entire body was subtly vibrating and two of the other women said they could feel it too. I could also perceive white energy going through her entire body, and she said she could feel it too.
Give Your Nervous System A Break
Given the fast pace of today’s world, the expectations of others, as well as the pressure we place on ourselves, giving our nervous system a break, and understanding the ways to support and strengthen this system, is physically, emotionally and spiritually important.
Stress is something we all experience – some more than others. Those of us who are empathic, psychic, or highly sensitive, can experience stress more intensely with more profound consequences.
The stress that empaths, psychics and sensitives experience may be tied to that of another person, or situation, as well as their own stress. This ability to experience the emotions, thoughts and feelings of others can create a rebound effect of high stress.
Racing heart, anxiety, quickening of breathing, tensing of muscles, sweating, feeling faint or nauseous, are all signs of a nervous system in flight mode. Add in the compounded impact of experiencing this in another person, on top of yourself, and your nervous system is off and running, literally.
The body’s ‘fight or flight response’ is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system, which is one part of the autonomic nervous system. The other part is the parasympathetic nervous system, which works to relax and slow down the body’s response.
The sympathetic system acts like an accelerator, to ‘rev up’ our body and make us run, to remove us from danger. The parasympathetic system acts like the ‘brake,’ slowing us down when danger isn’t present.
The Laying On Of Hands
The laying on of hands, also known as the imposition of hands, is a ritual act performed in some religious and spiritual traditions. It is used for the purpose of ordination, healing, or the transmission of a spiritual gift or blessing. In this blog article I will explore the different traditions and how they use this ancient practice in diverse ways, with a special focus on healing.
Judaism
The hands are of particular importance in certain Jewish religious rituals. Deuteronomy 34:9 describes, for example, how Moses laid hands on Joshua, his successor. The term used for it is semicha, meaning ‘leaning of the hands.’
It is also associated with sacrifice. Thousands of years ago, priests practiced semicha by laying hands on the sacrifices right before offering was made. Moses tells Aaron, “This is the thing that God commanded you to do, that God’s presence may appear.” It is understood that this passage in Leviticus 9 refers to the laying on of hands.
Christianity
In the New Testament we find a continuation of the Jewish practice of semicha, still connected to the liturgies of ordination and now also of baptism, in both of which the imposition of hands is an important part of the ritual.
Ordination involves conveying a gift and an authority within the Church. The imposition of hands connected with baptism is a means whereby the convert is born to the ecclesia, or the Christian community. The action itself of laying on hands is connected with the gift of the Holy Spirit and is also used to convey a blessing. For example, in Acts 6:6: “These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.” It is also practiced as a means of healing (Luke 4:40).