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.

How to Perform a Samhain House Cleansing & Blessing

Around Samhain and Halloween is the most magical and powerful time to bless and cleanse your house. So, if you haven’t performed a house cleansing and blessing ceremony, now is the time to do it! If you’ve stumbled upon this blog during another month, don’t worry, you can still perform a purposeful house blessing and cleansing any time of the year. Just be sure to perform another one at the end of October for Samhain.

Why Cleanse & Bless for Samhain?

With winter slowly creeping in, it’s the perfect time to move out any stagnant, stale, or negative vibes before the cold sets in.

October 31st and November 1st, this year, ushers in the pagan celebration of Samhain pronounced Sow-win. Samhain is the birthplace of Halloween. Modern-day Halloween has taken a bit of a different turn with its kitschy decor. Samhain is still celebrated by many and is considered by most to be a more solemn time and reflective time, perfect for divination, cleansing, and blessing.

During Samhain, the veil between the spirit world and the physical world is at its thinnest, so it is believed that spirits and ancestors come back to visit during this time. Performing a house cleansing and blessings gives a welcome space for all of your ancestors. You want to come back and protective energy for any spirits you want to keep out.

How to Perform a House Blessing & Cleansing

This is a thorough house blessing and cleansing. Give yourself adequate time and space to fully devote yourself to this exercise. If you have a large house, you may want to chunk your house into floors or rooms to perform this spread out over a couple of days.

What You'll Need

• Cleaning supplies

• Cleansing herb of choice (frankincense, mugwort, lavender, or sagebrush make good options)

• Besom (optional)

• White candle for cleansing and a black candle for protection

• Saltwater in a spray bottle or a bowl

• Altar offerings

• Optional: protection symbols, crystals, cauldron, broom, herbs, etc.

Steps

1. Clean physically: First, you’ll want to clean your space physically. Remove things that are no longer serving you. Objects that don’t bring you joy anymore are most likely carrying old and stagnant energy that you don’t need cluttering up your energetic space. Try gifting, recycling, or finding a purposeful way to reuse these items.

2. Cleanse with smoke or incense: Use your preferred smoke cleansing tool for this step. I suggest using an herb or plant that's in alignment with your cultural heritage. If you're using something outside of your cultural heritage, like palo santo, I encourage you to ensure that it's sourced from an ethical supplier. I like to use mugwort, lavender, and frankincense.

With your cleansing smoke of choice, walk from room to room to let the smoke float through your space. As the smoke touches, each area of your house asks it to cleanse any energy that isn't aligned with your highest good or something similar.

3. Cleanse with a besom: A besom is a tool used by witches to cleanse a space's energy. You can make one yourself or purchase one around the season of Samhain (Trader Joe's always sells affordable cinnamon brooms!) For the practice of energy cleansing, you're not intended to use the broom as a physical tool, although you can if you'd like. Open a door and begin sweeping, holding your besom slightly above the floor. Visualize any negative energy not serving you being whisked out the door.

4. Cleanse and call in with candles: Using a white candle in a fireproof vessel, walk around your house, shining the light in each room. Imagine each room filling up with white. Ask the light to clear the space and bring in energy that serves your highest good. This is also a good time to call in any ancestors or loved ones who have crossed over into your space. Once you’re finished, place your candle on your stove to burn all the way through. The hearth (our modern-day stove area) is an important area of the home, which aids in transformation, so this is a great place to let your candle(s) burn as you complete your house cleansing blessing. If you'd like to call in a specific kind of energy, you can also light a candle for that as well. Black candles are ideal for this season and offer protection. 

5. Protect with salt water: Just like salt can protect your aura, it can also protect your space. Doors and windows are important areas to focus on with your saltwater because it’s where energy comes and goes in and out of your house. Spritz a bit of your saltwater in each room, focusing on windows and doors. As you do this, ask the salt to protect you and your space from unwanted energies. I like to visualize an energetic forcefield being enveloping my space during this step. 

6. Add symbolism for protection: If you’re looking for a fun and effective way to add an extra layer of protection, you can decorate with protective symbols. Runes, specifically the Algiz Rune or a protective charm bag, are potent options. Learn more about making a protective charm bag here.

7. Cleanse and consecrate tools: If you have tools you often use for rituals, this is an ideal time to cleanse them as well. You can take a few extra moments with your cleansing smoke, white candle, and saltwater to cleanse your tools. 

8. Create a welcoming altar for yourself and your ancestors: Once you’ve completed your house cleansing and blessing, prepare an altar space as a reminder and sacred container of the energy you shed and invited in. This altar will also serve as a welcome invitation to any ancestors or loved ones who have passed on. If you don’t have an altar space, you can also do this on or near your stove, which is our modern hearth. Here's a video of how I cleanse and prepare my altar for the season of Samhain.

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Place items on your altar that would attract ancestors that have passed on, like foods or drinks they liked. Light your remaining candle in the color of your choice. Adorn your altar with any crystals, jewelry, herbs, or symbols that you see fit. Here are some options:

• Crystals: Labradorite, obsidian, onyx, garnet, hematite, amethyst

• Candle Colors: Purple, black, orange, silver

• Tools: Besom (broom), cauldron, any divination tool

• Plants and Scents: Mugwort, cinnamon, clove, patchouli

• Foods: Apples, pomegranate, pumpkins, nuts, meat

• Runes: Algiz, Daggaz, Ansuz, Perthro, Othalo

• Gods and Goddesses: Lilith, Persephone, all crone Goddesses, Callieach, Cerridwen, and Hecate

9. Say a prayer or invocation: When your cleansing and blessing is complete, and your altar is set up. Grant yourself a few quiet moments at your altar to reflect on this experience. Offer a prayer to ancestors that have gone before you, an invocation to a deity that is important to you, or both.

Sleep soundly and perform your intuitive work confidently during this season, knowing that your house has been cleansed, blessed, and protected. 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.

The Power of Quartz // 6 Uses for the Ultimate Crystal

Are you looking for the ultimate crystal to do the work of an entire crystal collection? I won’t hold back on you, clear quartz is it. Want to learn how to put this workhorse of a crystal to use? I’ve got 6 simple rituals and uses for quartz to share with you, so you can get the most out of wearing and using quartz. First, let’s learn a bit more...

What is Quartz?

Quartz is comprised of silicon dioxide which is naturally occurring in the earth’s crust. It’s the most common and abundant crystal found on Earth.

These gems were so prized by ancient people that many believed that quartz crystals were alive, taking breaths once a year, or were incarnations of divine beings. Some still believe this to be true.

Quartz is the ultimate healer, balancer, manifestor, and energy amplifier. Judy Hall sums it up pretty well in this quote from her book The Crystal Bible.

If you’re not convinced that your quartz is breathing or the incarnation of an ancient Sumerian, don’t fret, because this beauty has a long list of powerful uses!

Here’s a short list of some of quartz crystals amazing qualities:

• Best stone for programming

• Ultimate balancing stone: balances chakra, immune system, mood, etc.

• Master healer

• Can create electricity!!! Quartz is piezoelectric, meaning if pressure is applied to it it will create electricity.

• Contains the entire color spectrum

• Meets you where you are energetically

• Protects from negative energy

Quartz Uses & Rituals

Amplifying

Because quartz is the ultimate amplifying stone, it’s perfectly suited for manifesting and spell work. Use quartz on a crystal grid to help amplify your intention for the grid. Learn more about making your own crystal grids here in this previous post.

Doing some spell work or magic? Be sure to add in a piece of quartz, its amplifying powers can give your spell a nice little boost!

Connecting with the Spirit Realm

Quartz can help you connect with spirit guides, the spirit realm, and be more in tune with your psychic abilities. Clear quartz strongly activates the upper chakras, which are responsible for your intuition and psychic abilities. Next time you sit down to meditate, try to connect with a spirit guide, or hone your intuition, place a piece of quartz in your hand to assist you. Having a quartz crystal ball in the same room that you’re meditating in will have a similar effect, you can read more about quartz crystal balls here.

Programming for Manifesting

Quartz is a powerful stone for storing information. In fact, scientists have discovered techniques to store up to 360 TB of information on pieces of quartz that can last billions of years. You don’t have to be a scientist to take advantage of this superpower of quartz, it can also store energetic information too.

Program a quartz crystal necklace or stone. Here’s a quick guide on how to program a crystal:

1. Cleanse your quartz crystal with a smoke wand or your favorite herb. You can read more about crystal cleansing here.

2. Clear your mind.

3. Hold your quartz in your dominant hand or in both of your hands.

4. Mentally and verbally repeat your goal or intention into the crystal.

5. Do this until you feel the stone is programmed with your intention.

6. Keep your programmed quartz nearby by wearing it or placing it somewhere you’ll see it daily.

7. Once your desire has manifested clear your quartz again for future programming. Because quartz is so good at storing information it can be powerful to use the same one for repeated programming as your successes and energy will build on each other.

Protection

The high vibration of clear quartz can also help protect your aura from unwanted energies. Wearing a point crystal necklace is perfect for this purpose. Patricia Mercier from The Chakra Bible explains:

When working with your higher chakras it is recommended that you wear a quartz point as a piece of jewelry hanging on your chest, with the point facing down toward the Earth. Place it in the position known to some Native American healers as “the spiritual grounding point”: right at the end of the breast bone between the heart chakra and the solar plexus chakra. Doing this will always keep you electromagnetic field or aura perfectly clear. Anything negative coming near you will be repelled by the light transmitted through the quartz. Always choose your crystal jewelry intuitively and don’t forget to cleanse it every night after you have worn it.

The Perfect Stone for All Levels

Quartz is special because it meets you where you are energetically. Just starting your woo-woo journey? Great, quartz can help! You’re a proficient healer, psychic, manifesting guru? Perfect, quartz can help you too! Simply keeping some quartz near you, at any stage of your spiritual journey, will be helpful.

Balancing & Healing

Clear quartz radiates white light, and white light contains all of the colors of the color spectrum in it. Because quartz carries with it all of the colors of the rainbow, it acts as a powerful balancing stone for all of the chakras. The balancing effect of quartz will go beyond your chakras and energize your entire aura, bringing greater health to your energetic and physical body. The clearer the quartz the better for balancing and healing.

Energizing Other Crystals & Objects

Use quartz to energize and elevate your other crystals or special objects. If you have multiple quartz crystals, you can place other crystals, jewelry, or other small objects in a dish with clear quartz to give them a nice charge. Quartz is also perfect for placing on oracle or tarot decks to keep them fresh.

Surprise surprise, many of your other favorite crystals are part of the quartz family! You might have more quartz hanging around your space than you even knew. Here are some other varieties of quartz:

• Amethyst

• Aventurine

• Citrine

• Smoky quartz

• Tiger eye

• Rose quartz

• Agate

• Carnelian

• Onyx

• Jasper

So, if anyone ever asks you, “If you were stuck on a desert island and could only bring one crystal with you, what would it be?”--now you know the answer! Quartz is where it’s at in the crystal world!

How to Open Your Third Eye & Know When It’s Blocked

When was the last time you had a sense that you needed to check in with someone, leave a space, or had a flash of insight, and all at once something made perfect sense? These little intuitive moments are your third eye chakra at its best.

When your third eye chakra is balanced you do not only see but you understand. That inner knowing can be felt throughout your entire body, in every cell. Sounds nice, right?

If your third eye chakra is not balanced you’ll have a whole other set of manifestations that aren’t quite as favorable, which I’ll outline later.

The third eye chakra is located in the center of your brow bone. In Sanskrit, this chakra is called Ajna and translates to “to command” or “to perceive.” It is responsible for your intuition, imagination, and is your connection to having a deep understanding of the physical realm and the spiritual realm.

Before I dive into how to open your third eye, I want to give you some tips for recognizing when it’s blocked.

Is your third eye chakra blocked?

• Trouble sleeping or insomnia

• Confusion or anxiety about decisions you need to make

• Frequent headaches

• Lack of imagination

• Unsure of what to do with your life

• Poor memory

• Feel pulled to meditate, be in silence, and do restorative activities

How to Open Your Third Eye Chakra

Third Eye Meditation

Meditation is the quintessential method for tapping into the power of your third eye chakra. This can be as simple as sitting quietly for 5 minutes each morning. Whenever I get out of my meditation practice, I’m always shocked by how much of a difference 5 minutes of meditation affects my day. Check out this previous blog post for 8 Simple Ways to Be Here Now to help you bring more mindfulness into your day.

Here’s a meditation to try specifically for balancing and opening your third eye chakra:

• Clear 5-20 minutes of uninterrupted quiet time for yourself;

• Sit cross-legged on the floor or seated on a chair;

• Straighten your spine, lift your shoulders up and back and close your eyes;

• With your eyes closed, point them both towards the center of your brow bone at your third eye chakra;

• Focus on the inhale and the exhale of your breath;

• With each inhale imagine a deep purple glowing light expanding around your third eye center. As you exhale it decreases and then grows bigger and brighter with each inhale.

• Once you settle into a rhythm, repeat this mantra: I am connected to my higher self. I know that I am always guided. I make decisions with ease and grace. I accept and trust the path I am on. My intuition is my guide. OM. (OM is the bija mantra for the third eye chakra, so feel free to chant it more than once and really draw it out!)

• Repeat the mantra as often as you want.

• Once you’re ready to finish release your eyes, release any control over your breath, stop the mantra, and rest for a few moments.

If you love guided meditations you can also get my Chakra balancing meditation here.

Crystals & Symbols

The most potent crystals for your third eye chakra are amethyst, lepidolite, celestite, and azurite.

Crystal guru, Judy Hall, explains the benefits of azurite, “Azurite guides psychic and intuitive development. It urges the soul toward enlightenment. It cleanses and stimulates the third eye chakra and attunes to spiritual guidance.”

Wear any of these crystals or a symbol of the third eye as a reminder of your goal to stay connected to your intuition. You can also rest any of these stones on your third eye for added benefit.

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Caring for your Pineal Gland

Physically speaking, your third eye chakra directly relates to your pineal gland. Your pineal gland is a tiny, rice-sized gland tucked inside of your brain. It is part of your endocrine system, it releases melatonin and is responsible for maintaining your circadian rhythm. Research was done on the correlation between meditation and the pineal gland has shown increased activity and melatonin production in the pineal gland during meditation.

There are many foods and environmental factors that can affect it both negatively and positively. Fluoride can take a toll on your pineal gland. Excess fluoride can build up in your pineal gland and cause it to become calcified, lessening the efficacy of your third eye.

To care for your pineal gland, try to cut fluoride out of your diet as much as you can. Here are some foods that can help aid in removing excess fluoride from your body and help decalcify your pineal gland:

• Eat more iodine-rich foods like broccoli, spinach, and seaweed. Iodine-rich foods are helpful for many reasons but can also help cleanse fluoride from your body.

• Add more raw apple cider vinegar to your diet, in salad dressings, or simply in a mixture of water and honey. Raw apple cider vinegar has a high content of malic acid which is helpful for detoxifying the whole body.

• Have a cup of chamomile tea. Chamomile is a calming tea that can help soothe an overactive pineal gland.

Darkness & Light (Maybe)

Try minimizing light pollution in your room at night. Your pineal gland controls your circadian rhythm so it can be beneficial to give yourself time in the real dark. Try shutting out all light from the outdoors, and any inside lights to give you some pre-sleep time in a light-free space.

Alternatively, some ancient beliefs (that are still practiced today) suggest sun-gazing to invigorate your pineal gland and third eye chakra. I don’t really feel comfortable telling you to go stare at the sun because I’ve never tried this before and am not really sure that I feel comfortable doing it either! There are lots to read about it though, so if you’re interested in it I suggest doing your own research on it.

Scents

Meditative scents like sandalwood, frankincense, myrrh, and chamomile will help open and activate your third eye. Use scents in a diffuser or on pressure points on your body during meditation or as a reminder throughout your day.

I hope you take advantage of this amazing gift that lies within you! When your third eye chakra is balanced you not only see but you understand, so go get connected.

Set Your Intentions with DIY Spell Bottles

Looking for a powerful and portable way to bring your intentions to life? Spell bottles offer the perfect solution to having all of your favorite intention-setting tools in one attractive and portable place. I also love that, unlike charm bags, you can add liquids to your spell bottle much easier and they’re pretty to look at!

What is a Spell Bottle?

Spell bottles are simply a spell that has all of its contents enclosed in a bottle. I like to think of them as little portable altars! You can add energetic materials into a vial or a bottle that relate to the intention you’re working on and have a reminder in your purse, your car, your desk, or wherever you want.

Today, I’m going to give you three recipes to create your own spell bottles and all of the tools you’ll need to create your own recipes!

Here are the basics to getting started with spell bottles. Read on to see my recipes for spell bottles to help with intuition, abundance, and deflecting negative energy.

What you’ll need to create your own spell bottle:

• Glass bottle or vial with a lid or cork, can be small or large.

• Piece of paper and pen

• Herbs, crystal in a size that will fit in your bottle or vial, essential oils, symbols (optional), and anything else you feel moved to add to it.

Creating your spell bottle:

1. Gather any herbs, crystals, essential oils, symbols, or other items that will align with and attract your intention.

2. Cleanse your materials by the light of the moon, the sun, or with crystals used for cleansing.

3. Write your intention on a paper.

4. Meditate on your intention for a few moments.

5. As you add your materials to your spell bottle speak your intention allowed.

6. Close your spell bottle.

Once your spell bottle is closed, don’t open it again until your intention has come to fruition. Place your spell bottle where it makes the most sense to you. If it’s a spell bottle for deflecting negative energy at work, place it in your workspace. Once your intention has been fulfilled, you can read this blog post for some ideas of what to do when your spell is over.

Spell Bottle Recipes

You can use as much or as little of each of the ingredients as you’d like, it’s just important that they’re each represented. If I list more than one herb, crystal, or symbol you don’t have to use each one, but they do each serve a specific purpose. The intention written on the paper can be changed based on your specific needs, so feel free to change it.

Spell Bottle Charms

Improve Your Intuition Spell Bottle

• Herbs: Bay leaf and star anise

• Crystal:Amethyst

• Essential Oil: Frankincense

• Symbols:Third eye symbol

• Intention:Intuitive

Full Moon Energy Spell Bottle

• Herbs: Cinnamon and lavender

• Crystals:Moonstone, peridot, and citrine

• Essential Oil: Myrrh

• Symbols:Moon or Goddess symbol

• Intention:Abundant

Negative Energy Deflection Spell Bottle

• Herbs: Dill

• Crystals: Obsidian and hematite

• Essential Oil: Rose and lavender

• Symbols:Hamsa with evil eye

• Intention:Protected