joy
Find Your Calm In Crystals
It’s been a stressful couple of years for everyone, and stress-relief can be hard to accomplish. Stress, if untreated, can lead to a host of physical and emotional symptoms. But dealing with the stress of everyday life can be made easier with the right crystals in your spiritual practice.
When starting to work with these amazing crystals and stones, consider this: what causes stress in your life in the first place? Usually, it happens when we feel out of control and our energies aren’t properly centered and grounded. Earth-toned crystals such as smoke quartz (associated with the Earth element for stability) and tourmaline (release of negative energies) bring us to a baseline of positive energies to de-stress.
Soothing colored colors like blue (chrysocolla, aquamarine, lapis lazuli, larimar), violet (rhodonite, amethyst, tanzberry quartz, lepidolite), and white and grey (scolecite, howlite, agate) are traditionally associated with tranquillity and serenity. The cooler hues reflect the elements of water, or emotions, and air, our thoughts.
If you use some of these stress-relieving crystals in your meditations, imagine them help tame the runaway thoughts or feelings which cause so much turmoil. In the chakras, these are the Crown Chakra (thoughts) and Third Eye Chakra (emotions, psychic intuition), which are also represented by blues and purples.
Sometimes stress is less generalized and more related to one specific area in life. Which area is this for you? Knowing will help select the best crystal for your needs. If you’re overcome with panic attacks, amethyst (a well-known stress reliever) or blue sodalite (the Stone of Peace) are good choices.
Perhaps you’re having difficulty with communication at work or in a relationship, so blue lace agate (opening channels) or lapis lazuli (confidence) will work better for you. The possibilities for your crystals are endless: you might want to keep them with you in your pocket, in a necklace or bracelet, or create a special arrangement in your home or office.
Setting Intentions Successfully
I have discovered at different times in my life how powerful intention, when guided from the heart, can be. Again, more recently, I experienced this when it was important for me to manifest some prosperity for my family and get my own health issues back on track.
I was specific in setting my intention regarding the amount of money I needed to manifest in order to meet my family’s needs. I also set the intention to attract to me the information which would help me heal and return my sense of well-being.
Intention is a motivational force of energy and it’s a force to be reckoned with when our intention is for the highest good of all individuals involved. When we set our intention, we are focusing on positive visualizations and affirmations to help steer our lives in a desired direction.
I see intention as a process of becoming, a desire, or a longing to achieve a specific result. When you wish to help bring about better circumstances for others, and your intention of wanting the best things to happen for them, it works like mass prayer.
Every morning, before I begin work with clients, I stand in one corner of my work room and set the intention for the day by asking my spirit helpers to assist me in helping others on their pathway through life, and to help me to help customers find clarity and direction with their pressing concerns. Doing readings and healing with good intention works wonders, because one has the best interest of the client at heart, as opposed to working purely to make money.
Actually writing down your goals make them feel more real. In other words, ‘if you see it, you will believe it’. It is more than likely your goals will change in time, and as you surpass them you will be making new and higher goals. There are plenty of negative people (often relatives), who say this is not the time to dream, including the media who say it’s time to be realistic. Granted, we have to be sensible and make reasonable arrangements to meet our worldly commitments, but the greatest challenge is our ‘attitude’ about reality.
The Importance Of Self-Investment
When I was younger, I thought of self-investment as ‘self-indulgence.’ However, as I grew spiritually, my guides made me aware that this was far from the case. In fact, I have learned that self-investment is a necessity – particularly in today’s world!
What can self-investment do for you? Well, it helps to calm your emotions and ground your energy. You feel more in control of your overall situation – whatever that may be.
It can also help prevent burnout by reducing stress, inducing a sense of calm, and minimizing anger, frustration, and depression, while boosting self-esteem! It may further help increase your sense of focus, aid concentration and thus help you deal with any current tasks.
Self-investment also helps you feel much more optimistic and increases your sense of happiness, thus attracting more of the good that the abundant universe has to offer you. It aids you in tapping into your higher self, connecting with the Divine, and utilizing your fullest potential in life.
Sounds great, right? But how does one go about implementing self-investment in a modern, busy life? Consider the following strategies:
Manage Your Time
Most people feel that they cannot self-invest as they never have the time to do so. However, why not draw up a timetable for your week and schedule some me-time? Taking time to do so will pay many dividends for your overall well-being, and what is more important than that?
Drawing up such a schedule will allow you to incorporate healthy habits, and it is the correct kind of habits when it comes to self-nurture that have the most impact. Schedule it: whether you like singing in the bath, cooking delicious healthy food, taking a brisk walk before bedtime, or planning for an early night!
Life Is In The Eyes Of The Beholder
What is the lens through which you view the world? When I close my eyes I see waterfalls, flowing streams, and flowers. This is the scenery surrounding me with my eyes open too. It tells me a story of life, of inner perception, and beauty.
The experience of life is what we make it, not because we are independently powerful controllers or causes of physical outcomes, but because we are eternally sentient beings with the gift of free will.
The spirit soul is a spark of consciousness, and we can express that consciousness through a variety of qualities. It is that inner flavor of our quality that then colors our experience and lens.
So, for example, when I see the water in the stream rolling around rocks and carving a curvy path through the land in front of me, I am reminded of a world that is gentle with feminine energy. She flows and nourishes and moves with consistent but soft determination.
I know that elsewhere there is also hard, jagged terrain and a state of mind that matches it. I can choose to match my mind to the beauty, diversity, and gentleness of spirit, or to the rigid harshness of a cold, hard, inert world of matter and might.
This choice presents itself at every step. Two people may suffer a similar loss in their lives, but process it completely differently. One might see it as an opportunity to grow and become more resilient, while the other might choose to feel angry and unfortunate. It depends on the lens through which we choose to view the world and our interactions with it.
Our circumstances also do not have to change for consciousness to change. When we change our inner consciousness and the lens through which we choose to view life, we change the experience.
Neglecting Your Own Needs Will Destroy Your Relationship
Some people are in really toxic relationships without realizing it. How do you know for sure if you are in a bad relationship? Well, often it is as simple as asking yourself a few basic questions.
Am I safe? Am I truly happy? Do I feel loved and supported? Are my most important needs being met? If you answer no to any of these, you may need to reassess your relationship.
Some people get caught in a dead-end relationship trap. They feel trapped and do not know how to get out of a bad situation. It can be very hard to leave someone you love. But sometimes that is what me must do in order to love ourselves.
A leading cause of failing relationships is often a lack of open, honest communication about our hopes, dreams, fears, and needs. It is very hard sometimes to bring up a subject that is uncomfortable, but remember that you deserve to be happy. It does not serve anyone to put your own needs last.
Self-worth also plays a major role. Do not put your own needs aside because you fear you cannot do better. Stay true to what is most important to you and ask for what you want!
If your current partner cannot meet your needs or refuses to respect your wishes, maybe your future does not align with theirs. Finding the right person is really what you need to do to be true to you and who you are.
Never Switch Your Vibration For Toxic, Negative People
Recently I was invited out for coffee by one of my very good friends. This lady is sweet, gentle, and extremely accepting of others. When we arrived at the coffee shop, she introduced me to another friend. I was very happy to make the acquaintance, as meeting new people is always a rather thrilling experience for me. I find it opens up a world of new ideas, opinions, and information.
Now, generally, I tend to operate in a gentle, fluid vibration, which is usually ideal, as it removes all anxiety or any kind of inner turmoil. But, suprisingly, meeting this lady my energy instantly switched to a harsh, resistant vibration, which is very much out of my character.
I could actually feel my body physically reacting to her presence. Since I was immediately aware of the change in the ‘vibes,’ I tried my best to establish a calmer and more accepting manner with this person and was temporarily at least somewhat successful in going back to my normally centered, grounded state. Our conversation were not exactly harmonious, but things did proceed in a slightly more friendly fashion.
During our chit chat, she discovered that I go bike riding every morning for a couple of hours. I live in a very small city, so it is no problem for 1me to hop on my bicycle and head out into the countryside, for what is usually the most enjoyable part of my day.
The route I normally take goes through a lovely area of farmland, where of course there are at times many dogs running about. Most farmers here do not restrain their animals, but it has never caused me any major problems. I love animals and actually enjoy seeing them.
Nagging Thoughts Are Life Lessons
Sometimes I do it too – we all do it. We sit there and rehash stuff in our minds…over and over. We beat ourselves up and say things like, “If only I would have done this”, or “If only I had not said that”.
This kind of thinking really is a waste of time. It can be very draining to sit and analyze things gone by and worry about the past.
Of course, it is certainly better to move with some discernment and caution, while we are going about our day, so we don’t make unnecessary mistakes or fall victim to this kind of regretful thinking later. But it is also important to know that no one is perfect.
Some go about their days not caring what they do or say, and neither do they ever feel the need to do this kind of obsessive thinking about the past. But the majority of us sometimes wonder if we could have done things differently, or feel the need to hold ourselves accountable for every thought, word, action and deed – and that is why we tend to go over things, time and time again.
When you find yourself engaging in this kind of thinking, just stop doing it. Thoughts that just replay events over and over again in your mind is such a waste of energy. Instead consider for a minute how the relevant events are actually a wonderful learning experience.
Those thoughts are there, bugging you, as an opportunity for growth. Ask yourself what you will do or say differently next time, and then you can go about the rest of your day with inner peace and comfort, knowing you that you have gained valuable new knowledge from the experience, and now you can turn it into wisdom for the future. People who learn from themselves and their actions can truly smile, knowing that they can ‘cruise’ along this cosmic wave called life at a higher altitude and higher level of thinking.
