Gemstones for Holiday Hangovers

The holidays can be extraordinarily taxing on you physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Even if you have a low-key holiday season like we do, you will still be impacted by all of the holiday hoopla going on around you.

“Coming down” off of the holiday high can be troublesome, causing all kinds of issues. While not necessarily traditional, I would like to suggest that you cleanse your system and spirit with gemstones. I have discussed these before in Healing Gemstones and Crystals For Children but today I would like to focus on the adults!

I personally have 5 go-to gemstones for particularly busy, stressful, overwhelming, and over stimulating times. While there are certainly many other effective crystals, I think that these five in particular will be very healing during the holiday letdown.

Let’s start with Carnelian!

Carnelian is THE gemstone to aid in revitalizing your being.

Carnelian promotes feeling alive and full of energy. It restores optimism which can often get lost during the holidays. Simply put, this gem removes negativity, one of the strongest disruptive energies within the body and directs the focus on the positive within and without.

Some ways in which Carnelian can be of benefit are:

• It can be used as an aid in depression or to overcome grief.
• It can be used in times of new beginnings such as a new project, job or even lifestyle, to strengthen one’s resolve and motivation. (New Year’s Resolutions anyone?)
• It can also be used to augment one’s current experience of life, enhancing its richness and fullness.

On a physical level Carnelian is great for circulation and tissues. It has a strong positive influence on the organs, in particular the stomach, kidneys, gallbladder, spleen and sexual organs. It can be used to treat kidney stones and gall stones.

Carnelian is most effective when worn continually although you certainly could set aside some time each day to sit in solitude, holding the stones.

Malachite is another wonderful gemstone best used for harmonizing the physical body.

Malachite is a powerful healing gem which detects disharmonies within the physical aspect.

Stay with me here. Once the disharmony has been located this gem gives insight(s) to the wearer on how all the aspects have interacted to create it and therefore what needs to happen to change it. Malachite works in partnership with the body and it’s systems to bring whatever is needed to correct the disharmonies.

Some of the common areas Malachite assists with are the heart, lungs and organs. This gems’ energies are restorative so it simply saturates the area and returns it to its proper functioning state. This can be particularly beneficial after holiday overindulgence. It can also be beneficial for an overtaxed immune system.

Malachite can also serve as a tool for those who have reached a plateau in their physical state. For example, if one has changed the diet, adjusted exercise, etc and still isn’t reaching the state of health desired this gem can easily give insight or even a direct path on how to move forward towards the picture of health. This gem can give benefit to weight loss without doubt the biggest health focus in January.

Sugilite is a lesser known gemstone with is amazingly powerful at clearing unhealthy energies out!

It brings your being into alignment so new levels of happiness can be attained.

You can wear sugilite but be warned. It will bring “stuff” to the surface that you may not want to face. (i.e. old wounds from family strife, issues with in-laws, etc…). The ideal stone shape for balancing and unifying your being is round or oval. It should be worm on the heart.

Sugilite can simply be held (or placed on the chakras) during one’s “normal” meditation session or used in a specific session to help you to gain a different perspective.

Another favorite healing stone is Onyx.

At its core, it is used to ground you.

Onyx is thought to increase regeneration, happiness, intuition and one’s instincts. It is also told to aid in changing bad habits.

A strength-giving stone, good for people under extreme mental and emotional stress, Onyx brings balance to mind or body as well as strength of mind. It acts as a strengthening stone that can help you approach a lesson or task with greater self-confidence.

Onyx must be laid directly on the body or worn over a long period of time as its power develops quite slowly. Due to the fact that onyx needs time to develop its full power, it should be discharged once a week under running water, and if used for a long period of time, it should be placed in the earth overnight once a month. This will regenerate it to help keep its energy strong.

Smoky Quartz is a grounding stone which helps reduce depression and negative emotions (particularly useful in tense family situations or to help dissipate general negativity about the holiday strain).

Smoky quartz is a grounding and stabilizing stone, bringing calm and centering. Emotionally, smoky quartz is excellent for elevating moods, overcoming negative emotions, and relieving depression. Smoky quartz relieves stress, fear, jealousy, anger and other negative emotions by transforming them into positive energies. Smoky quartz is very comforting and calming, and can be considered a stone of serenity.

It brings physical protection, psychic protection, and protection from negative energy. It enhances survival instincts, and can help one reach personal and business goals, as well as assisting in making wishes come true. Smoky quartz also helps with creativity, prioritizing needs and wants, and wisdom. In addition, smoky quartz is a stone that brings abundance, prosperity, and good luck.

Smoky quartz also removes toxins from the body and helps the adrenal glands to function more readily. It is also very helpful for regulating all other body fluids and relieving fluid retention. Smoky quartz is excellent for dealing with hyperactivity, and attention deficit disorder. Smoky quartz is good for balancing and improving one’s general health.

I hope that this brief overview of these powerful gemstones prompts you to research further and possibility incorporate the raw energy of mother earth into your post-holiday recovery.