Self Love and Care

crystals for self love and care

Falling in love with yourself is no mean feat: just as we overcome one barrier in the never-ending series of self-awareness hurdles, another often flies towards us. To cultivate love within we have to take hold of what makes us happy, to take hold of our minds, to open up bravely and expand into ourselves and allow that process to flood into our everyday lives.

Owning, respecting and treasuring ourselves, like cherished pearls, is not selfish; it is strengthening.

It allows us to embrace others as we embrace ourselves - and that is true love.

Rose quartz - to love unconditionally

We cannot not start our exploration without holding hands with the queen of hearts - rose quartz, our teacher of unconditional love. Love is an energy, a vibration, and one we often seek too far outside ourselves. Rose quartz reminds us that the greatest love of all starts from within.

She will act as your ever-faithful, ever-loyal guide, steering you through your exploration of this purest of energies, from the very heart of yourself, softening negative habits and patterns that reduce you and hold you back from your full potential. Take rose quartz to heart and work with her in setting positive affirmations and intentions. Use her when you are feeling that you cannot be held, so as to remove and dispel the fear that you are unlovable.

Peridot - for bringing it beautifully back to you

Inner love is not, as society so often leads us to believe, a form of arrogance. It is self-worth, self-value, self-respect - holding up the self in its best light - in all its glory and greatness. Often the value we place on these qualities dips or rises in relation to past choices or current surroundings.

Peridot may be small, but it is mighty when it comes to healing matters of the heart. Work with it to enhance the cleansing of the negativity shrouding your heart - from past mistakes or from intentionally cruel words. Let it expand your heart like a beautiful lotus flower reborn from muddy waters, facing the sun in joy through gentle forgiveness.

Other crystals with similar properties: hematite, moonstone, tiger’s eye

Turquoise - for setting those demons free

Turquoise - dreamy blue or green - should be held when you sense the saboteurs creeping up on your heels. These saboteurs can be fears built in your mind or people embodying those fears. We've all experienced a back-handed compliment or heard words dipped in venom, haven't we? We've probably consciously and subconsciously delivered a few ourselves - perhaps even to ourselves. Work with the kindness promoted by turquoise to cut off sabotage at the root, not just to ward off its shadow for short-term effect. It will temper your mood swings and encourage calm exploration as you reach out to commit to or ask for love.

Kunzite - for aligning, inspiring and externalising your inner power

In order to feel love or develop love from within we need to align to what that word 'love' means to us. Kunzite is a friend who will pick you up, encourage you to walk through the hurt and return you to your life track. Often in life we can feel rejected and it takes time to get us back on our feet, to feel brave enough to open up to a lover or to reconnect with a friend who you might feel has done you wrong. Kunzite will assist by aligning your heart with your throat, so that you can speak your truth with a loving, knowing and captivating authority, so that you can make peace or you can let go.

When looking for new lovers or friends, kunzite should be used to open the door to your heart and inspire you to make deep, emotionally rewarding connections at every level.

Other crystals with similar properties: blue turquoise, lapis lazuli, rose quartz

Tourmaline - for soaking your soul

Sometimes we feel a tiredness that goes deeper than our bones: we feel uncharacteristically cloudy, hazy and lazy; the tiredness is in our soul. Embracing tourmaline is much like taking a bath after a long day. Use the heart-transformer tourmaline - black, brown, green, pink, yellow or blue - to unwind and soak off the dirt, to purify yourself as water cleanses your skin. Gently clarifying layer by layer, tourmaline will turn the seemingly grey back into bright vivid colour. Use it not just when you feel blue, but as part of your weekly regime to keep yourself beaming from within.

Other crystals with similar properties: amethyst, aragonite, sapphire