6 Herbal Bath Recipes for Winter Self-Care
Herbs have been used for centuries as magical tools for healing, meditating, and accessing the spirit realm. Whatever your need is, there’s definitely an herb for it!They are said to be so powerful because they hold the energy of Mother Earth within them.Using herbs in your bath is a great way to practice self-care, especially in the colder, cozier months. Unwinding and decompressing from the constant stimulation your senses face in the modern world is important for tuning back into yourself. Herbal baths can boost your mood and be incredibly relaxing and healing.Science actually backs this up.
Herbs have been used for centuries as magical tools for healing, meditating, and accessing the spirit realm. Whatever your need is, there’s definitely an herb for it!
They are said to be so powerful because they hold the energy of Mother Earth within them.
Using herbs in your bath is a great way to practice self-care, especially in the colder, cozier months. Unwinding and decompressing from the constant stimulation your senses face in the modern world is important for tuning back into yourself. Herbal baths can boost your mood and be incredibly relaxing and healing.
Science actually backs this up. A 2002 study found that a daily bath significantly improved the mood and optimism of the participants. Plus, hot baths can relieve muscle pain and improve your sleep.
Adding herbs to your bath brings this mind-body practice to the next level, positively affecting all aspects of your being, including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
I recommend filling a muslin bag with your herbs (if you’ve ordered jewelry from us before the muslin bag that comes with your order works perfectly!). The measurements don’t need to be exact, but I recommend using about a ¼-⅓ cup of dried herbs. Then loop the bundle onto the faucet and let your tub fill with steaming water as it runs through the bag. When the tub fills, drop your bag into the water. Let the water cool down for 20-30 minutes as it infuses with the herbs, and climb in!
For an extra dose of self-care, light candles and burn incense or diffuse essential oils as you soak. If you can’t find all of the herbs listed in the recipes below you can substitute with essential oil, leave it out completely, or substitute with a different herb.
Scroll down to check out six herbal bath recipes for those cozy nights when it’s way too cold to go outside.
Herbal Bath to Tap into the Divine Feminine
Dried violet, yarrow, calendula, and lavender
Tapping into the feminine, lunar energy within you is all about accessing the energy of being, manifesting, and opening yourself to your truth, creativity, and compassion.These herbs help you do exactly that. Dried violet leaves stimulate creativity and draw prophetic dreams and visions. Yarrow promotes psychic opening and love. Calendula brings healing and energetic protection, and lavender soothes and calms to promote the passive energy of being.
Bonus: Calendula also soothes the skin and promotes cell repair.
Optional: Add a moonstone crystal to your bath.
Herbal Bath to Attract Abundance
Chamomile, lemongrass, and patchouli
Chamomile relaxes you and opens you to receiving abundance (plus, it’s antioxidant-rich and soothes your skin). Lemongrass brings focus and clarity of purpose, and patchouli is a powerful herb for helping you attract and manifest your dreams. Patchouli also balances the sacral chakra, which governs emotions, sexuality, wealth, and prosperity.
Optional: Add a jade crystal to your bath.
Herbal Bath to Promote Self-Love
Rose-hips, lavender, elecampane, and balm of gilead
Rose-hips promote healing, compassion, and self-love. Lavender balances and calms while elecampane opens the heart chakra. Balm of gilead promotes love and helps you manifest your desires.Optional: Add a rose quartz crystal to your bath.
Herbal Bath for Amazing Sleep
Vetiver, chamomile, and passionflower
Vetiver’s soothing qualities create a state of tranquility. Chamomile relaxes the mind, and passionflower eases stress and calms the “monkey mind.” If you have trouble sleeping, try this bath!
Optional: Add a selenite crystal to your bath. Please note, selenite is very water-soluble! If you want to keep your selenite as-is, keep it on the edge of the tub. It’s safe to add it to your bath but may come out a little smaller ;)
Herbal Bath for Emotional Healing
Aloe, motherwort, and lemon balm
Aloe promotes inner healing and overcoming blockages, while motherwort soothes the nerves and emotions to bring rest to your mind. Lemon balm promotes healing and helps treat insomnia from heartbreak and stress (and it soothes and heals your skin while stimulating blood circulation).Optional: Add a rhodochrosite crystal to your bath.
Herbal Bath to Tap into Intuition
Rosemary, juniper, and honeysuckle
Juniper balances the third eye chakra, the center of intuition, inner vision, wisdom, and deep perception. Honeysuckle aids confidence and sharpens intuition, and rosemary clears unwanted thoughts and negative thought patterns.
Optional: Add an amethyst or sodalite crystal to your bath.
Which bath do you need today? Take a photo of your tub while it cools and tag us at @cassieuhl!
How to Balance your Solar Plexus Chakra
Do you feel worthy of love and comfortable setting boundaries? Do you feel a sense of peace and understanding in taking action on things you can control and allowing things you have no control over to happen?When your solar plexus, or Manipura, chakra is open and balanced, you experience a strong sense of authentic power, and use that power to make a difference in the world. You fully understand your worth and have healthy self-esteem and self-confidence.This chakra, located right above the navel, is also where the ego lives. It is the seat of fire in the body, overseeing your emotions, motivating you to achieve your goals, and governing your self-esteem and self-discipline.But like any other chakra, this chakra can become unbalanced.
Do you feel worthy of love and comfortable setting boundaries? Do you feel a sense of peace and understanding in taking action on things you can control and allowing things you have no control over to happen?
When your solar plexus, or Manipura, chakra is open and balanced, you experience a strong sense of authentic power, and use that power to make a difference in the world. You fully understand your worth and have healthy self-esteem and self-confidence.
This chakra, located right above the navel, is also where the ego lives. It is the seat of fire in the body, overseeing your emotions, motivating you to achieve your goals, and governing your self-esteem and self-discipline.
But like any other chakra, this chakra can become unbalanced.
Signs that your solar plexus chakra is unbalanced:
You feel powerless or like a victim.
You often feel anxious and insecure.
You either feel the need to control and manipulate everything or you let others control you.
You experience frequent stomach or lower back pain.
You feel like you have to give your power away in order to keep the peace.
You have addictive tendencies and tend to form co-dependent relationships.
The good news is there are many simple ways to balance the solar plexus chakra. Use one tip or combine several, and find what works for you to get you back to a place of authentic power and control.
10 Ways to Open the Solar Plexus Chakra
Get Outside
The solar plexus chakra is associated with the color yellow and the element fire, so getting outside in the sun can be a big help. Try doing one of the tips below outside, like yoga or meditation, go rock climbing, go for a hike, or simply take a walk around the neighborhood.
Drink Tea
Ginger, chamomile, and mint all work well to open this chakra.
Yoga
Poses that light a fire in the belly— aka focus on the core— are perfect for balancing Manipura. Try Boat Pose, Warrior 2, or a series of Sun Salutations to light that Agni.
Pranayama
Speaking of fire, “breath of fire” or Agni Sara pranayama can help balance the solar plexus chakra. It is similar to kappalabhati breathing, but both inhales and exhales are forceful. The idea is to contract and release the core muscles.
Start in a standing position with the knees gently bent and the hands on the knees. As you inhale, press the stomach out. As you exhale, draw it in.
Affirmations & Mantras
Affirmations and mantras are all about becoming that which you wish to see. Try these mantras for balancing this chakra:
The bija mantra Ram.
I am worthy.
I rule from a place of authentic control and power.
I love and accept myself.
I am open and free from the need to control everything.
I use my power for the highest good.
I release judgment of myself and others.
Scents
Citrusy oils like grapefruit, lemon, orange, and even peppermint are great for healing the solar plexus chakra because they aid digestion, a solar plexus issue. You can also try ginger, fennel, and ylang-ylang to clear negative energy and bring in positive energy.
Burn candles or incense with these scents, diffuse essential oils, or mix these oils with a carrier oil like sesame or coconut and massage them onto the body. It can be particularly powerful to rub them on the belly, the center of this chakra.
Crystals
There are many different crystals you can use to balance the solar plexus chakra. Yellow-hued stones tend to work best since yellow is the color of this chakra. Try citrine, yellow topaz, honey calcite, amber, yellow jasper, or tiger’s eye.
Incorporate them into your yoga practice, meditate with them, create a crystal grid on the ground or on the body over the navel area, or wear them.
To create a crystal grid, choose a few stones from the list above that resonate with you, plus clear quartz. Decide on your purpose for the grid, and write that intention down. It could be something like “I reclaim my personal power” or any of the affirmations and mantras above.
Then, cleanse your crystals (learn more about crystal cleansing here) and place them in a geometric pattern on the bare skin of your navel with the clear quartz in the center to amplify the energy of your grid.
Spend at least a few moments with the crystals on your skin, meditating on your intention.
Play with Color
Wearing yellow and eating yellow foods such as corn, bananas, yellow peppers, lemons, and sunflower seeds are easy ways to work on opening this chakra throughout the day.
Meditation
Try imagining a glowing golden ball of light, a burning flame, or a bright yellow flower opening over your navel to open Manipura. Try this guided chakra balancing meditation if you feel called to.
Switch It Up
Sometimes all it takes to balance the solar plexus chakra is a little change. Try switching up your routine, releasing anger by yelling as loudly as you can (in your home alone!), or attending a laughing circle.
These activities allow you to activate your personal power, release control, introduce a little joy, and create a positive flow of energy in the body.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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...
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:
Cleanse your quartz crystal with a smoke wand or your favorite herb. You can read more about crystal cleansing here.
Clear your mind.
Hold your quartz in your dominant hand or in both of your hands.
Mentally and verbally repeat your goal or intention into the crystal.
Do this until you feel the stone is programmed with your intention.
Keep your programmed quartz nearby by wearing it or placing it somewhere you’ll see it daily.
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:
Aventurine
Citrine
Smoky quartz
Tiger eye
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!