Gem Essences, why and how I use them in my Chakra Massage
What the heck is a Chakra Massage? Chakras, yup, heard of those…massage, yup know what that is. But if you haven’t heard of a Chakra Massage, that’s because it is my personal and unique technique I created by blending warm stones, personalized massage, Reiki, essential oils, and gem essences into one complete session. Sounds interesting, right?
Although Reiki was founded in Japan and the Chakra system originated in India and you will find no overlap in technique or theory, I believe they are highly complementary in my practice. For loads of information on Reiki, please read my blog titled “What is Reiki” as you’ll find answers to most questions you may have. As for Chakras and how I use gem essences to enhance the experience, please read on!
These days, most people are familiar with at least a little bit of knowledge of the chakras. Whether you’ve heard of them in your yoga class, a friend has told you your 3rd chakra could really use some help, or as an online meme poking fun at the New Age crowd, you’ve most likely heard of them. Many of my clients are familiar but are also curious as to how they present themselves in our daily lives.
There are seven main chakras in the human body located from tailbone to above the crown of the head. Each chakra is like an invisible spinning wheel, with the lower chakras spinning at a slower rate and increasing in speed toward the top of the head. Dizzy? Hold on, there’s more. Each chakra is characterized by a name, number, and color and represents different emotional and physical aspects of our human selves. Our chakras can be balanced, under-active, or over-active and when out of balance we may feel ungrounded, stressed, depressed, physically depleted, and/or just out of sorts. Let’s delve into each just a bit.
The first chakra is called our Root Chakra, located at our tailbone, characterized by the color red and connects us to the earth, our families, and careers. These are the basics of life that we need to survive and build a strong foundation for us to stay grounded. The second chakra is our Sacral Chakra and it is located in our lower abdomen, just below the belly button and characterized by the color orange. It is responsible for feelings of freedom, sexuality, creativity, and a go-with-the-flow attitude towards life. The third chakra is our Solar Plexus Chakra, located in our stomach or gut area, and is yellow in color. It is our center of personal power, gut emotions, will power, and strong sense of self. Our heart center is the location for our fourth chakra the Heart Chakra, green in color, and as you would assume, responsible for feelings of love (for yourself and others), the actions of giving and receiving, and feeling at peace. The Throat Chakra is our fifth chakra, located at…. you guessed it…. our throat area and characterized by the color blue. The throat chakra is our center of vocalization and hearing, expressing yourself in a concise, kind, and thoughtful manner as well as taking the time to really listen and understand others. If balanced, we sense a great trust in our purpose and direction in life. The sixth chakra is called our Third Eye chakra, lies on the forehead between the eyebrows, and is purple in color. This is where our intuition and knowing that our hopes and dreams are possible are found. Lastly, the seventh chakra is called our Crown Chakra and is located on the top of the head and can extend feet above the body! It is white in color and represents our connection to the universe and our spirituality. When balanced we feel supported in our lives and can easily give over our difficulties to the divine.
As I am speaking to my clients before their chakra massage and asking questions about focus areas and depth of pressure, I also ask how they are emotionally feeling and if they are struggling with any area of their life. Happily, sometimes there is a client that is feeling balanced in their lives, and in that case, I strive to help them continue feeling that way! More often however, there is some aspect or challenge in the person’s life that could use a little boost. This is where the gem essences come in!
Gem essences are simply a vial of water (and usually a tiny bit of brandy to extend shelf life), in which gemstones are left to soak in the water, and allow the properties or “essences” of the stones to permeate. The rays of the sun and moon may be used at length to enhance and increase the frequencies of the stones. The stones are then removed, leaving behind the gem essence in the water. Gem essences may either be taken orally, a few drops at a time throughout the day, or used topically as I do in my Chakra Massage. Although there are a multitude of essences available, I choose my essences according to how they may benefit each chakra, hence I have seven gem essences to choose from. I will combine the essences with the essential oil of choice (also matching with the chakras that need most attention) and mix them with my massage oil to apply to the client’s body. I usually pick two or three according to the client’s needs and use them on the corresponding parts of the body. For example, I would use a grounding gem essence and essential oil to massage the lower back, glutes, legs and feet, a heart opening essence on the back, arms, and chest and a more ethereal essence on the neck, head, and face.
I recently updated my stock of gem essences and am excited to begin to use them in my practice! I will list them below and provide explanations of the emotions they treat. It is a very fun addition to your typical massage, please ask me about them if you are interested!
Root Chakra-Bloodstone: Strengthens the connection to the earth, stimulates the release of emotional energies in the lower chakras, rebalances energy after trauma or emotional upset. Use this if you are feeling energetically stagnant, have weak circulation physically or mentally, express emotional negativity, or lack sensitivity and sympathy for others.
Sacral Chakra-Gold: Opens access to the highest aspects of personal identity and helps one tap into their inner truth, joy and wisdom as a source of creative power. Use this if you suffer from low self-esteem, have a weak sense of personal identity, difficulty manifesting your wants and needs into physical reality, and/or compares one’s accomplishments to others.
Solar Plexus Chakra-Diamond: Helps activate personal will and strengthens our ability to act in alignment with our greater purpose. Use this if your life experience has been characterized by struggle, have a lack of clarity about the future, you are confused about what you should do, have an inability to make commitments, and/or are attached to your personal will (my way or the highway thinking).
Heart Chakra-Emerald: Gently coaxes the heart to open to a greater experience of love in the physical body. Use this if you fear not being good enough or feel that you are unloved and cut off from one’s center.
Throat Chakra-Azurite: Helps one communicate with vitality, authenticity, and gentleness. Use this is you are communicating more through the head than the body, straining to push words out, or becoming physically depleted when speaking.
Third Eye Chakra-Star Sapphire: Increases our discernment and powers of critical thinking, helps us to look at situations logically and work through our thoughts and emotions to make the decisions that serve our highest good and helps to find practical ways to turn our dreams into reality. Use this if you are suffering from anxiety or depression and/or having a hard time recognizing you don’t need permission or approval to live your life.
Crown Chakra-Watermelon Tourmaline: Helps align and harmonize the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels of being, balances yin and yang, masculine and feminine. Use this if you struggle with the balance between giving and receiving, are lacking joy and happiness, would like to be more adventurous and experience increased energy.
Hopefully this gave you a sense of what gem essences are and how they can be used. I purchase mine (and my essential oils) through our local apothecary in Fort Collins, the Golden Poppy. They are a wonderful resource and incredibly fun store to shop in, check it out if you’re in Old Town! If you’d like to schedule a Chakra Massage or have further questions or comments, please feel free to reach out!
Peace.