Feeling low? Grab an amethyst rock. Looking for love? Hoard some rose quartz. Need a single solution to any problem life throws at you? Crystals.
Whether Victoria Beckham is adorning her runway with them, Miranda Kerr is meditating clutching hers or the hippest beauty brands are infusing their serums with rose quartz, crystals have become the trendiest route to enhanced wellness.
Hey, if you haven't jumped aboard the crystal bandwagon yet, have you been living under a rock? Pun intended.
What are crystals thought to have healing properties?
The use of crystals can be dated back to ancient Egyptian times, when hematite was used as a mirrors. Throughout the centuries, they have been used as decoration, but it's only in more recent years that they have become a popular tool for healing.
“Crystals are so powerful because they work towards connecting and aligning us to a power and energy that at times is perhaps unseen, whilst at the same time encouraging us to connect and heighten our own personal power,” crystal whisperer and healer, Emma Lucy Knowles, says.
“Crystal are formed under pressure (much like ourselves), and they can do more than one thing at any one time, they can give and they can take (again just like us), and they vibrate energy. There is a natural affinity to the reflections of ourselves in these beauties that also connect us and help us quite literally take to hand the magic of the universe, the power of life force - whats not to love about that?”
It's so simple.
How do crystals heal?
Knowles explains that crystals act as lenses and filters to our energy, and can be used to draw out energy that no longer serves us.
“They also can work to draw forth that which we desire, that we wish to be more abundant in, be emotional (confidence, love), or physical (energetical abundance),” she adds.
“When we feel ‘off’ our energy swings ‘out of balance’. For me in a crystal healing session or in meditation - these beautiful formations ‘vibrate’ at a frequency heard by our own calling. Energetically we reach out for what we need, be it the colour of the stone, the feel of the stone or what we’ve learnt about the stone.”
How to choose your stones and best crystals to buy
Just as crystal healing sessions are unique, so are the healing crystals you choose to own. Knowles says her best advice it to choose from your gut, and use your senses to drive you to what you need, rather than buying what you think you should.
“Allow yourself to play with what works for you too. If you’re not getting anything from touching the crystals – take a step back and see where your eye is drawn,” she adds.
Knowles says that Rose Quartz and Amethyst Selenite are her two staples as they promote love, spiritual and creative lifting, and universal guidance.
Heal yourself during the cosmic chaos
“You really cannot go wrong with these crystals when you are ‘starting out’,” she adds. “Beyond that – ALWAYS go with your gut.”
Below is a rough guide on which crystals can help with what aspect of your life:
- Amethyst: enhancing willpower, healing, purifying
- Clear quartz: Supporting your energetic system
- Bloodstone: Improves circulation
- Obsidian: Helps process emotions
- Jasper: Offers support during stress
- Rose quartz: Encourages love and trust
- Ruby: Enhances sexuality
- Moonstone: Prompts feelings of inner strength and growth
- Sapphire: Can aid prosperity
- Jade: The stone for good luck
- Citrine: Sparks enthusiasm
- Turquoise: Soothes emotions
How to do your own crystal healing session
Before you try a crystal healing session yourself, you first need to attune your crystals. You can do this by either visiting a crystal therapist or energy healer, or simply use the power of your own intention.
“Decide upon what it is you will for the crystal to aid you or promote you in,” Knowles says. “For example if I wanted to see my true worth I would use a piece of Labradorite. Holding it in hand, during meditation or in a quiet space, I would set my attention with its assistance ‘please help me see my soul purpose, my pure real beauty, my worth – allow it to shine through all the obstacles that currently seek to block it’.”
While it's best to visit a crystal healer if you want a complete crystal healing session, Knowles says that one way you can heal yourself daily is simply pick up the crystal or stone that you are intuitively drawn to that day and set your intention.
“[To choose my crystal] I think, ‘what do I need for today’ and then I reset my eyes, my mind and let myself be led to what’s needed.. that can be the biggest crystal in the room or it can be a piece hidden away in to obscurity,” Knowles says.
How to care for your crystals
Knowles says that stones are like sponges in that they ‘soak up’ remnants of your emotions from day to day and therefore need to be cleansed - preferably when there is a full moon.
For stones that are not soluble, Knowles recommends running them through or bathing them in cold water before laying them out in the moonlight or sitting them on your windowsill during a full moon.
“When a full moon feels too long away, you can either wash them through or nest them in sand or natural salts,” she adds.
As for where to carry your stones, Knowles recommends skin contact so holding them in your hand, or as she does, wearing them inside your bra.
What can you expect to happen during a Prana Crystal Therapy session?
With A-listers and wellness gurus espousing crystal’s life-changing benefits, I was keen to find out what all the fuss was about so I indulged in a Prana Crystal Therapy & Marma Energy Massage at the Fairmont Windsor Hotel.
According to Hotels.com, a quarter of Brits are more open to wellness breaks than ever before and almost a third have admitted this is because they are bored with traditional wellness retreats and want to experience something more exciting in 2023. A further 36% say it’s because there are more alternative wellness experiences than ever before. The UK is at the core, with most British travellers wanting to stay here to explore new offerings. The quirkier the better, with activities such as sylvotherapy (forest bathing), fruit harvesting, and body therapies including cryotherapy. To capture this awakened market, hotels such as the Loire Valley Lodge in France and Whitepod in Switzerland are innovating and offering advanced rejuvenation programs and hands-on activities that encourage travellers to get up close and personal with nature.
To save the air miles I settled on my treatment at the stunning Windsor hotel, which incorporated personalised therapeutic oils, healing crystals chakra therapy and Marma massage, layered with yogic stretches, meditative breath work and powerful relaxation sequences to bring deep healing to a frazzled body.
So what exactly does the treatment entail? Well, Prana Crystal Therapy is a method of energy body work using a crystal to work with your body therapeutically to facilitate a decrease in pain, diminish symptoms and reverse some debilitating symptoms.
Essentially, a talented therapist works to stimulate the body's energy flow to restore balance and help the body heal itself. The East have always seen and understood the chakra body to be the fundamental influence for the physical body. So when there is a blockage or disharmony within the energetic body, it can very often manifest into a physical or emotional illness or imbalance. Therefore energy healing is hugely beneficial for the wellbeing of all three bodies: emotional, physical and spiritual.
Crystals work as tools for energy harnessing. Think of the micro processor inside a computer, which uses quartz crystals to hold and submit precise signals and frequencies. Crystals work as vessels which are able to hold energy, transmit energy and transmute energy. In order to understand crystals, you have to start thinking in terms of energy, vibration and frequency.
My therapist began by selecting different crystals suited to my needs and adorned them all over my body before beginning Marma therapy. As Jasmine Hemsley explains: "Marma translates as “secret” and Marma points were once called “Bindu” — which is a dot or mystic point that unlocks the body’s potential for healing. Marma points are vitality AKA vital energy points or Pranic centers — specific points on the head and body through which Prana (life-force energy) flows.
“When we are out of balance for any environmental or internal reason, the energy in the body doesn’t flow well and can become “stuck” at these points, leading to further imbalance and dis-ease. Marma chikitsā or Marma therapy is the art of touching these points precisely so that any energy blockages present (which might prove tender to touch) can be released. Balance can be restored by gently massaging these energy points to stimulate the Chakras and the Doshas as well as the various organs and systems of the body. This helps to remove metabolic waste, stress and negative emotions for increased overall wellness.”
I immediately feel relaxed and enter a trans-like state. The session, which lasted around two hours, left me feeling incredibly zen, content and practically floating through the door. I felt like I'd cheated nine hours sleep or overdosed on Rescue Remedy.
I continued my relaxation journey in the incredible spa, which not only houses 18 treatment rooms but also has four wellness rooms, traditional Hammam, indoor pool, thermal suite encompassing a sauna, steam room, cryotherapy, experience shower, heated tepidarium bench and Japanese foot bath as well as both light and deep relax and an epic Himalayan Salt Room with views over the courtyard vitality pool that wouldn't look out of place in New York.
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The hotel as a whole just evokes instant relaxation; it helps that it's set on the edge of historic Windsor Great Park so surrounded by 40 acres of open green space and a tranquil lake to explore.
The hotel perfectly fuses that elusive old country house charm with state-of-the-art facilities and interiors, and the bedroom was one of the best we've stayed in. Travelling with children and need a separate living space to enjoy your room service dinner and Netflix session? Same. Opt for a one bedroom suite, which was opulent, super spacious and had idyllic views of the grounds.
Despite it raining the entire 48 hours we spent at Fairmont Windsor, it didn't make an ounce of difference because of the incredible facilities and activities available. We didn't leave the grounds once, which is no mean feat with a toddler. Huge shout out to the kids' play room, which is akin to a super plush Montessori nursery and replete with games, activity sessions, a Playstation and kiddy toilets.
In fact, the hotel as a whole is one of the most child-friendly we've ever stayed in. Fairmont Windsor not only tolerates children, it wholeheartedly welcomes them and makes them feel as special as their paying guests. Every member of staff made a major effort with our 18-month-old, with one man spotting her playing in the lobby and rushing to gift her a soft toy. The waiters at breakfast at the brilliant Moreish restaurant also bent over backwards for her, taking the time to stop and talk to her and ask her how her day was going despite the fact she can't even articulate a sentence yet.
Feeling confident after the welcome she'd received, we were bold enough to take her to the hotel's fine dining restaurant, 1215. The restaurant was named in recognition of the signing of the Magna Carta in the year 1215 only a short walk from the hotel in the historic grounds of Runnymede. Described as “an intimate and beautiful setting where you can enjoy a special occasion or indulge in a culinary experience which will make you want to return for our quality British cuisine,” we were nervous we'd cause a scene at this impossibly chic and intimate eatery as we took our daughter out perilously close to her bedtime. Thankfully we were joined by four other families probably feeling the same sense of trepidation and a stiff margarita (one of the best I've tasted) quickly quashed my anxieties. The staff, once again, were exceptional, cooing over our daughter whilst simultaneously topping up our wine (thank you, team!).
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As any parent knows well, lavish meals out are a thing of the past when you have a baby so it was such a treat to be able to dine with our daughter at such a sensational restaurant with the option to slip back to our room as soon as she, you know, kicked off. We all made it back to our suite in one piece by 7.15pm with G&Ts en route for two very happy parents.
Fairmont Windsor Park is dubbed ‘the ultimate escape from the city’ and I can attest it's exactly that - and then some.
You can find your perfect somewhere, just like this one, on Hotels.com. Book the Fairmont Windsor Park Hotel on Hotels.com from £356 per night. New wave wellness treatments such as Cryotherapy and Prana Crystal Therapy are available to book at the Fairmont Spa & Wellness Windsor Park.
