The In-Depth Guide To Chakra Balancing With Crystals

Chakras and crystals go hand-in-hand and are a big part of spiritual living. Almost every spiritual store, site, or article will make mention of one of the two.

This is why I’ve decided to create the ultimate in-depth guide to chakra balancing with crystals, most importantly how to effectively use the right crystals to balance each of the chakras of your body. 

This article is a deep-dive into chakra balancing with crystals and is broken down into several easy-to-understand sections.

I hope this article is a great help to beginners starting their chakra journey as well as those looking to brush up on their balancing skills. 

What are Chakras?

Chakras were first spoken about in an ancient text known as ‘the Vedas’ which was written in around 1500BC.

The word chakra comes from Sanskrit and translates to ‘wheel’ or sometimes ‘vortex’.

The chakras of the body therefore are spinning wheels of energy that rotate in harmony with the rest of our bodily energies.

It has been said there are 22 chakras, 15 of them are known as “4th and 5th-dimensional chakras”. In today’s article, we’ll be focusing on the 7 main bodily chakras known as the ‘3rd-dimensional chakras’ which are those most commonly interacted within practices such as crystal healing and reiki.

The Seven Chakras

The 7 bodily chakras run the length of the spine and up into the head. Each chakra has its own name, color, body-type, and characteristics which are as follows:

• Root Chakra: Known as Muladhara. This chakra is represented by the color red and is found at the base of the spine. This chakra focuses on grounding and is the chakra of basic trust. It is associated with the lower aspect known as the etheric body. (Related articles: Best Stones To Use For a balanced Root Chakra, Root Chakra Opening Symptoms, Blocked Root Chakra Signs)

• Sacral Chakra: Known as Svadhisthana. This chakra is represented by the color orange and is located between the pubic bone and the belly button. This chakra focuses on sexuality and creativity. It is known as the seat of the emotional body and is referred to as the lower emotional aspect. (Related articles: Sacral Chakra Opening Symptoms, Underactive Sacral Chakra Symptoms, Overactive Sacral Chakra Symptoms)

• Solar Plexus Chakra: Known as Manipura. This chakra is represented by the color yellow and is situated in the upper abdomen. This chakra is the seat of confidence and power. It connects to the mental body and is known as the lower mental aspect. (Related articles: Signs Your Solar Plexus Chakra Is Blocked, Signs Your Solar Plexus Chakra Is Opening, 85 Solar Plexus Chakra Affirmations, Solar Plexus Chakra Stones & Crystals)

• Heart Chakra: Known as Anahata. This chakra is represented by the color green (occasionally pink) and is found in the center of the chest near the human heart. It is the seat of compassion, love, and forgiveness. It is known as the astral body. (Related articles: Symptoms Of A Heart Chakra Blockage, Overactive Heart Chakra Signs, Essential Oils For The Heart Chakra)

• Throat Chakra: Known as Vishuddha. This chakra is represented by the color blue and is found in the throat area. The throat chakra is the center of communication and is the higher physical aspect known as the etheric template. (Related articles: Throat Chakra Affirmations, Blocked Throat Chakra Symptoms, Essential Oils For Balancing The Throat Chakra)

• Third Eye Chakra (Brow): Known as Ajna. This chakra is represented by the color indigo and is found between the eyes. This chakra is all about intuition, imagination, and awareness and is connected to the celestial body known as the emotional aspect. (Related article: Blocked Third Eye Chakra Signs)

• Crown Chakra: Known as Sahasrara. This chakra is most commonly represented by the color violet but may also be represented by the color white. The crown chakra is the seat for intelligence and spirituality. It is known as the causal body or the mental aspect. (Related article: Symptoms Of A Blocked Crown Chakra, Signs Of An Overactive Crown Chakra, Stones & Crystals For Crown Chakra Healing)

Why Chakras Need to be Balanced

The chakras of the body control the flow of energy through us and allow us to function at the peak of our abilities.

For example, an open and balanced throat chakra allows us to communicate effectively and lends authority to our words. The heart chakra, when balanced, provides us with emotional resilience and helps us to heal from past hurts.

Over time, just like the wheels on your car, these wheels of energy can weaken, become misaligned, and dysfunctional and will need to be balanced.

What Causes the Chakras to Become Unbalanced?

A variety of life stresses can impact your chakras, from a bad breakup causing your heart chakra to close, to a string of one night stands which may indicate your sacral chakra is in overdrive.

In general, any emotional distress may cause a sudden imbalance of the chakras while general life bad habits may contribute to a slow dysregulation of the chakras. 

How To Balance Your Chakras Using Crystals

Step One: Set the Scene

The first thing you need to do when preparing to balance your chakras with crystals is to set the scene.

Just like spa treatments and relaxation therapies you don’t want excessive distractions such as loud noises, clutter, or overpowering scents to hinder the chakra journey.

To balance your chakras you need to be relaxed so think about all the things that best calm you and create your own combination to create the perfect sanctuary space. Somethings you might want to consider for your space include:

• Sound: Such as ambient music, classical music, bird song, even white noise, or whale music.

• Smell: Some may wish to skip this step entirely as scents may be overpowering for some. Personally, I enjoy diffusing essential oils but you may even find your favorite perfume, flowers, or the scent of a candle to be relaxing for you. Even a cup of freshly brewed coffee makes some of us feel calm!

• Sight: While most relaxation and chakra balancing activities are best done with your eyes closed, you still need to consider the visuals of the space you work in. Tidy away unnecessary clutter and remove visual stimuli such as bright lights, or the view from your window (if this is something along the lines of a busy street, road, or city). 

• Comfort: You don’t need any special clothes to do this, just wear what makes you most comfortable! For me, this would definitely be my pajamas or an oversized t-shirt, but anything is okay as long as it is comfortable for you. You also want to consider warmth too as you’ll be sitting or lying still for some time. You may want to crank your heating up a few degrees, or, in the summer months, and if your surroundings permit, crack open a window to let a gentle breeze in.

Step Two: Entering the ‘Savasana’ state

The ‘Savasana’ state is just a fancy word for getting yourself relaxed.

This is done through the regulation of your breathing. Take deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth.

You can try box-breathing if you’re easily distracted which is a calming exercise where you breathe in for the count of 3, hold for 3, and breathe out for 3.

When this feels natural to you you may then opt to solely breathe in and out through your nose (though for the constantly congested like me, keeping up the box-breathing is more than enough!)

Take your time with this process and don’t rush.

Don’t be hard on yourself if you’re struggling with relaxation. I’m almost always on the go and taking time to relax and just be still is a foreign and uncomfortable feeling for me.

Instead, take it slow, maybe work each day for a handful of minutes on your breathing, and slowly over a week or so learn to enter the Savasana state. Remember, there’s no right and wrong here. 

Step 3: Start Balancing

When you feel relaxed and your breathing is regulated it’s time to start balancing your chakras with crystals.

There are a variety of ways in which this can be done and everyone has their own preferences and subtle amendments that they make to suit them. One of the most common ways to balance your chakras is to lay down and place the stone which corresponds to each of your chakras on each of the chakra points.

Then simply sink back into relaxation and let the stones work to absorb and give you their energies. 

Other people find simply holding the chakra stones they need most and relaxing/meditating with them is helpful in the case of the misalignment of one or two chakras.

Those working with more chakras than the seven third dimension chakras tend to find that creating a crystal grid is the best way to draw the most out of their crystals. (More on this later)

Questions To Consider

There are two main questions or concerns that individuals have the first time they balance their chakras with crystals; what if the crystals fall off, and how long should I be balancing my chakras for?

In the case of the first issue, when a crystal falls off you it's important to know that this isn’t a negative sign or means that the balancing has failed; it’s just gravity doing what gravity does best!

If a crystal falls off there are two things you can do.

If it’s fallen to the side of you, you can simply pick it up and place it back on to your body.

If the crystal has fallen on the floor or further away from you it’s actually better to leave it where it is so that your savasana state isn’t disrupted. It will still be providing you with the energies you need, just trust the process and know that sometimes events such as these happen for a reason.

When it comes to how long you should balance your chakras for there’s actually no wrong or right answer.

It all depends on how much time you have and how regularly you feel you need to balance to benefit most.

In general, most people practice balancing activities for between 5-20 minutes. It is important not to force yourself to balance for longer than you feel able to.

Just like entering the savasana state, relaxation and restoration cannot be forced, and instead, you’ll only make yourself feel more stressed and restless. Put simply, it’s what works best for you and your lifestyle.

Chakra Balancing With Crystals And Stones

There are many different stones and crystals which can connect to each chakra and sometimes both at once.

For example, there are over 20 crystals for cultivating self-love alone!

In general, you’ll be able to tell which crystals work with which chakra by the color of the stone but there are some exceptions to the rule such as clear quartz which is a universal stone (because it contains all the colors within it.

The following stones are the most common for each of the seven 3rd dimensional chakras:

• Root Chakra: Red or black stones like black tourmaline, red jasper, red howlite, or onyx.

• Sacral Chakra: Orange stones such as carnelian, orange calcite, and fire agate.

• Solar Plexus Chakra: Yellow stones such as yellow jasper, citrine, and yellow aventurine.

• Heart Chakra: Green or pink stones like rose quartz, green jade, green aventurine, and pink howlite.

• Throat Chakra: Blue stones like sodalite, blue agate, and turquoise.

• Third-Eye Chakra: Indigo stones such as lapis lazuli, tanzanite, and labradorite.

• Crown Chakra: Violet or white stones such as moonstone, selenite, amethyst, grape agate.

Choosing Your Crystals For Chakra Balancing

You may be daunted when selecting your first crystals and be apprehensive when seeing some of the large and expensive crystals available for sale online.

You don’t need to be worried, however, picking the right crystals for you is actually a very intuitive process and can be done on a budget. 

It is a commonly-held belief that the crystal chooses its owner and not the other way around.

When perusing crystals you’ll probably find yourself naturally drawn to one stone over another even if to the external viewer the crystals look very similar. When purchasing from a physical store take your time to peruse your option and in the case of affordable crystals, let your hand guide you to your selections.

Remember, if you really don’t have the finances to invest in a selection of crystals a humble piece of clear quartz is enough to start your crystal balancing journey. 

When purchasing crystals online the world is your oyster and you’ll find an overwhelming range of crystals.

Remember to use the color knowledge we learned above to help you to select a range of stones for each of the categories. Next, do some more in-depth research on each of the crystals on your shortlist and lastly pick the one which seems best suited to you. 

Alongside clear quartz, other affordable crystals you might want to start with include:

• Rose quartz
• Amethyst
• Citrine 
• Black Tourmaline

Chakra Stone Placement

Unless using a crystal grid, you’re most likely going to want to place the selected crystals on the corresponding parts of your body.

Here’s where to place different crystals for each of the chakra points:

• Root Chakra: Is placed off your body between your thighs near to the perineum if possible.

• Sacral Chakra: Is placed between the hip bones where your sexual organs are.

• Solar Plexus Chakra: Is placed between the belly button and the lower ribs.

• Heart Chakra: Is placed in the center of your chest, not over where your heart is.

• Throat Chakra: Either on top of your throat/adam's apple or beside your body at the throat level, if you find that you cannot balance a crystal directly on your skin.

• Third Eye Chakra: Is placed between your eyebrows.

• Crown Chakra: Is placed above your head (where you might wear a crown or halo).

You can alternatively place some crystals in the palm of your hands as energy enters and leaves the body through the palms which allows the crystals to be effective in regulating energy flow.

This is great if you prefer to sit up and meditate while you balance your chakras. 

Organizing Your Crystals In A Grid

If you’re more of a visual person you may find it more helpful to work with your crystals in a more hands-on and visual way.

You may have seen images of aesthetic crystal grids on Pinterest and might feel intimidated but a simple crystal grid is actually quite straightforward to make and can be an engaging and creative spiritual activity.

This is a great activity if you have a large collection of crystals that you want to make the most of. 

Laying out a crystal grid takes thought and could be a separate article in itself, however, for brevity I’ll share some of the basic tips to get you started:

• Quartz Crystals are used to surround each chakra stone and divide each of the sections of your grid. 

• Place the Chakra Stones in the order they’d naturally be on your body.

• Ensure that any Pointed Stones are facing inwards towards where the body would be.

• Enjoy the meditative nature of the assembly process. For some simply laying out the crystals is a healing and balancing activity, but others prefer to meditate using their crystal grid. 

Cleansing Your Chakra Balancing Crystals

As mentioned earlier, crystals can absorb and store negative energy which is great when it comes to balancing your chakras but does mean you’ll need to factor in cleansing the stones when you’re finished working with them.

There are a variety of different and simple ways this can be done.

Crystal cleansing is an important step and should not be overlooked because a crystal clogged with negative energies will not be effective and may even start to emit those negative energies instead of absorbing them.

The following methods can be used to cleanse your crystals.

Water

Water is great for removing negative energy buildup from your crystals.

Natural sources of running water such as streams are best, but your tap can do a brilliant job too!

Either way, you need to make sure the crystal is completed submerged for at least one minute per stone. This works best on hard stones like quartz stones but should be avoided when cleansing soft stones such as selenite as this can make the stone more brittle and prone to breaking. 

Salt Water

Salt is a natural absorber of negative energies which is why it is used during some spiritual belief systems to remove or prevent bad spirits and entities from affecting others.

If you live near the ocean collecting seawater to cleanse your crystals is a great choice.

However, you can also mix some salt (of any kind) with some water and allow your crystals to soak for upwards of 2 days. Again, this method should only be used on hard stones like amethyst. 

Brown Rice

Rice isn’t just great for getting water out of your ill-fated electronics but can also draw out negative energy too.

This method works great for stones that are used for protection purposes such as citrine and labradorite.

Submerge your stones in the rice for over 24 hours and be sure to throw away the rice as soon as you’re done as it will be contaminated with the negative energies from the stones. This method is great for any type of stone. 

Moonlight and Daylight

The sun and moon are powerful forces and can be used to cleanse your crystals.

Place your stones outside before nighttime and be sure to bring them in before 11 am the next day. This gives your crystals that chance to absorb both moonlight and daylight.

You shouldn’t keep your stones in extended daylight, however, as this can affect the surface of your stone.

Ideally when placing your stones outside you should nestle them in the earth as this provides extra cleansing potential. The best stones for this are tumbled stones and stones which are vibrant like agate and amethyst shouldn’t be cleansed in this way due to the damage direct sunlight can cause them.

Sage

Sage is a natural cleanser and is known as a sacred plant in many belief systems.

Cleansing your stones using a smudge stick is great for cleansing multiple stones at once and doesn’t take a long time to do, so is perfect if you rely on your crystals on a daily basis. It’s also safe to undertake on all types of crystal.

Sound

Sound healing is a popular spiritual practice but is definitely a more niche way to cleanse your crystals.

Chanting, singing bowls, and tuning forks are all methods that can be used for crystal cleansing and is usual for those with large crystal collections.

This method can be used for any stone. 

Crystal Clusters

If you have a larger crystal cluster most commonly a quartz cluster, agate slice, or a geode, then these larger crystals can be used to absorb the negative energies stored in smaller crystals.

Place your crystals on top of the larger stone and leave for at least 24 hours. This can be used on any stone but be careful of the weight of your chosen stone as you don’t want to damage more delicate crystal clusters. 

Cleansing Your Chakra Stones

Some stones such as clear quartz, hematite, and carnelian are well-known for their cleansing abilities and can be used to cleanse others, even much larger stones.

Simply place the stone you want to cleanse on top of the cleansing stone and leave for a day. This can be done on any stone.

Final Thoughts

As you can see there’s so much to explore when you start your journey into the world of chakras and crystal healing.

There’s a variety of different belief systems and no technique is overtly right or wrong. Instead, crystal balancing and chakra balancing are all about trusting your gut instinct and your intuition and just doing what feels right for you.

What matters most is the intention you have in mind.

If your intentions are clear it doesn’t matter if the crystals fall off, if your placement is a little off, or if you substitute for a universal stone like quartz. Just be sure that when you start your chakra-balancing journey your intentions are clear to you and you’ll be a-ok.

Thanks I hope you enjoyed this article on the chakra balancing with crystals!

❤️ Recommended Post:

• The 7 Earth Chakras – Here’s Where Each One Is Located