By Charli Lundholm

EarthGallery.com

The holidays can be wonderful times. The gathering of friends and family, the lights and decorations, the food and festivities. It can also be a stressful time. The shopping, the crowds, the rushed pace and having to deal with the inevitable Scrooges. There are many ways to deal with stress and using stones is one of them.

You may be asking, “How can a rock possibly help?” Crystals and minerals are made of the same components that our bodies are made of. Just like our bodies, crystals and minerals are energy, and this energy has a vibration. Our bodies are very intuitive, they know what they need. Have you ever seen a particular stone and just fallen in love with it? You don’t know why, but you just have to have it. Then you read about it, and you find that it is the perfect stone for what you are going through at the time. I remember years ago seeing heliodor (golden beryl) for the first time. I was so taken with that stone! I read about it and found that the metaphysical properties were exactly what I needed. They were spot on…my inner intelligence of what I needed was spot on. Listening to, and trusting, what your body tells you is the first step to dealing with stress.

There are some great stones to help with the holiday madness. Lepidolite is a great stone to reduce stress and to bring a sense of calming. I call it the “mommy stone” because every mom of small (or big) kids could use it! It is actually a lithium based mineral and many people use it for emotional calming.

Kunzite is another lithium based mineral that works at the heart chakra to help bring emotional and physical calming. It helps to get us heart based, and out of our heads, which always brings stress levels down.

Rose quartz is a super stone. I think the world would be a much sweeter place if we all had to carry some rose quartz  in

our pockets. It is a gentle stone that is all about unconditional love…for YOURSELF and others. Did you notice the word “yourself?” It is very, very important. Let the self criticism and doubts go. Love yourself! Get in that beautiful heart of yours!When we are heart based stress doesn’t stand a chance.

Citrine is a variety of quartz that has a beautiful golden yellow color. It works at the 3rd chakra, the chakra where we have a tendency to store all kinds of stress, worry, self judgements (proof of this is all the antacids people take on a regular basis.) By clearing and energizing this chakra, you can get back to a place of connection with your personal power. Citrine is also great at clearing the energetic space around you. Clearing out everyone else’s energy from your own space can instantly help you feel like you can take a deep breath and just BE.

Obsidian and apache tears (a variety of obsidian) are very grounding and protective. Sometimes we get very “heady” and this can make us feel disconnected and discombobulated (such a great word). This adds to the stress we are already feeling. Get grounded, get reconnected to that beautiful earth energy and feel the stress dissipate.

Whether you use stones, meditation, yoga or other ways of dealing with stress, be consistent. You are important! Take time for yourself, breathe and be grateful for all the blessings you have in your life.

We wish you a calm, joyous, stress free holiday season.