What is crystal healing? Beginner's guide to using crystals

In turbulent times, many of us harness grounding tools; tangible ways to calm anxiety and soothe stress. So it's not surprising that alternative therapies like crystal healing have come to the fore in recent years. The concept of using crystals to manifest and heal has been around for centuries, but with celebrities such as Victoria Beckham, Adele, Naomi Campbell and Miranda Kerr speaking publicly about their belief in the practice – and accessibility flourishing thanks to e-commerce, it's had a mainstream renaissance. And, as with most trends reentering the zeitgeist, social media has played a huge part in its popularity – in more ways than one.

"What I have seen these last few years is this deeper need to connect," says crystal healer Emma Lucy Knowles. "I really feel the rise of social media has helped more people rediscover a sense of community as well as a sense of confidence in who they are. But on the other, we have become reliant on that fix, that energy hit from a small computer in our hand that never really fulfils us fully with that nourishing connection that the heart, soul and mind need. So, we seek deeper and scroll further searching in the wrong spaces."

Cue mother nature "and her abundance of goodies" – from plant power to crystal vibrations – presenting deeper-rooted connections. "Crystals allow us, quite effortlessly, to move fresh energy into the being, offering internal connectivity that enhances your external connectivity," Knowles says. "More and more people are tuning in to how that energy can be beneficial."

But how does it all work? We spoke to Knowles and other experts in the field to find out everything a beginner to crystals needs to know...

What exactly is crystal healing?

Waterstones The Little Book of Crystals

Healer Michelle Roques-O'Neil, who has worked with crystals for more than 20 years, explains that "crystals are different combinations of minerals that help purify, balance and realign by working with our bioenergetic systems".

Judy Hall, in her work The Little Book of Crystals, writes that crystals are said to "have a stable and unchanging energy pattern, each with a unique frequency and energy field, or resonance" that gives them special properties. As a result, "they act like tuning forks," helping bring "harmony" to the "very unstable energy field of the human body".

Put simply, crystal healing involves the use of gemstones in attempts to support an individual in therapeutic ways.

The benefits of crystals

The proposed healing benefits of crystals predominantly surround areas of mental wellbeing; including feelings of increased tranquility, positivity and focus, as well as enhanced immunity and natural pain relief.

Individual crystals are also known to have their own special energies that can align to different areas of life, with their shape and colour – as well as their type – affecting their influence.

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The most popular crystals

Jade: for health

Properties include longevity, purity, fertility, wisdom, peace

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Jade has long been used to purify the body and has been employed as a healing tool for centuries. Using it either physically on your body – for example in the form of the Psychic Sisters Jade Facial Roller – or as part of a meditative practice, is said to aid toxin release by stimulating the filtration system.

Citrine: for business

Properties include prosperity, creativity, digestion, confidence

Citrine is said to be ideal for entrepreneurs with its power to stimulate the brain, increasing self-esteem, motivation and creativity.

Rose quartz: for love

Properties include love, relationships, friendship, fertility, recovery

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For those seeking feelings of unconditional love, both for others and themselves, rose quartz is a well-known and popular crystal. It is seen to replace negativity with loving energies, opening individuals up to self-forgiveness and trust, while additionally being used with the view to help promote fertility.

Turquoise: for the city

Properties include protection, friendship, love, balance, wisdom, purification

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precious stones for jewelry

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Turquoise is often used to protect against surrounding pollutants or external influences, by enhancing your immune system, and it is meant to have anti-inflammatory and detoxifying effects, making it particularly appealing for individuals working in cities. It can stabilise mood swings by aligning the chakras as well, meaning that it's a popular crystal for calming fears and exhaustion in daunting situations.

Clear quartz: for healing

Properties include psychic abilities, healing, energy

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Crystal quartz is a popular crystal for healing, due to the belief that it is 'the energetic bridge between our conscious and unconscious minds'. It is said to hold and regulate negative energies to allow for a balanced and revitalised self, boosting one's internal strength.

Amethyst: for mediation

Properties include healing of mind, body and soul

Amethyst is also believed to have healing powers and is used to relieve stress and sadness, remove negativity, and ease grief. The stone's use can often be a symbol and source of support, as well as helping focus your mind and reduce the effect of headaches, making meditation easier and more beneficial in the process.

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How to choose your crystals

As well as researching crystals that are relevant to your individual concerns, Knowles recommends "choosing your stones from your gut". This is because "using your senses will drive you to what you need rather than your mind dragging to what it thinks you should." By working in this way, she suggests, we "energetically reach out for what we need – be it the colour, feel or what we've learnt about the stone".

In terms of colour, in general, dark-coloured crystals are said to focus on safeguarding an individual, with black for protection and brown for cleansing, while white is considered the colour of purity, and green the shade to choose when seeking moments of calm. In a similar way, pink-coloured stones are said to focus on love; red on energy; and yellow on wealth and abundance.

Crystals that are round are also said to help emit energy equally around them, while those with a point direct positive energy inward or negative energy out from the body (or in both directions if they are pointed at both ends).

How to use crystals

There are various different ways to utilise crystals, either alone or working with a professional. For the latter, Knowles explains that she "lays the crystals along the key chakra line of the [client's] body to aid in balancing the energy field." For her, "the chakra – or energy points – in our hands, as well as the third eye (the point between the eyebrows), are the most effective when starting therapy with a 'beginner'." This is because the sensations here, such as a buzz or heaviness, are particularly effective and you are less likely to attribute them to a placebo effect.

If you want to start at home, simply choose an individual crystal and then set your intention. This means, as Knowles explains, "deciding upon what it is you want the crystal to aid or promote". In a meditative-like state, hold the crystal in your hand and then focus on your goal, silently repeating a mantra, such as "please help me see my soul purpose" if you are looking to overcome self-doubt.

Knowles feels that while you can't really make mistakes with crystals, and that "just having them in your pocket, on your desk or in your bathroom brings in a hub of energy", you should make their presence intentional. "Give the crystal a job or purpose so you can correlate that more with a ‘result’," she says. "Equally, we have to remember that crystals work with us all so uniquely, so get curious and explore them and, most importantly, have fun in your crystal adventures rather than using them as another tool of self-sabotage."

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This all speaks to how crystals are considered a powerful tool for manifesting. "Manifestation is not as simple as just asking the universe for what we want; it’s an enactment of personal power and a direction of energy," explains Knowles – which is why you can work with crystals "to clear, direct and heighten our energy, connection, and flow" when manifesting.

In her book, Crystals to Manifest, Knowles explains that crystals can be used in every stage of the manifestation process, "by getting energetically clear about what we truly feel we want (rather than what or who we think we want), we can work with them to direct the flow of energy out to the universe with intensity". Meanwhile, they'll help to "clear any limiting beliefs in our energetic body that make us feel disbelieving, untrusting or undeserving of this coming into fruition for us – which can, in turn, weaken the speed or power in which our manifestations are returned to us".

Crystals to manifest

Knowles' book lists the crystals to work with depending on your vision, as well as offering crystal manifestation practices "to pull that creation into reality". But if you want immediate suggestions for using crystals to manifest, Nicci Roscoe, crystal master teacher and health practitioner, has some specific ideas.

"All crystals are good for manifesting; it depends what you want and are dreaming of," she says. "If you’re going into 2024 with new goals, hopes and dreams or need help to feel calm, relaxed and more peaceful there are many crystals to choose from which could help."

Ruby is the crystal for new beginnings, she tells us, while green calcite is "a wonderful crystal for calming and soothing you if you feel stressed or anxious". Citrine – known as the money stone – "is used for abundance including new beginnings and happiness". Meanwhile, "rose quartz is for giving yourself love and helping you find romance". If you're searching for passion, try rhodochrosite, she says. "Or if you want to have more focus and concentrate on your career, fluorite will give you what you need." Lapis lazuli will "help you be more organised and plan better", she says, and "if you want to be better at communication and are giving a talk to a group of people then kyanite or blue lace agate will help you".

How to keep and treat your crystals

You can store your crystals wherever you wish, but keep them close to you so that they have an effect on the energy around you. For example, Knowles, just like Miranda Kerr, likes to keep them on her skin, so that they are always close to her chakras.

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Try wearing crystals as part of your jewellery – such as a statement design from Crystal Haze, or Roxanne First's R.F. Vibes collection of crystal necklaces – allowing you to keep your stones on your person.

You can also incorporate crystals into your beauty routine, using a face roller or gua sha made of jade, rose quartz or amethyst to massage and meditate with. And try salt crystals for bathing, or – when soaked in essential oils – for inhalation.

It is necessary to occasionally cleanse and charge your crystals too, as "much like a sponge, your crystals soak up the remanences of your emotion or day," instructs Knowles. To do so, "bathe them in cold water before laying them out in the moonlight or on your windowsill during a full moon. When a full moon feels too long away – you can either wash them through or nest them in sand or natural salts."