I Tried a Crystal Bath — and I Think it Worked
A therapeutic crystal bath treatment for a “deeper healing.” (Photo: Getty Images)
After reading that stars like Madonna and Jessica Alba are fans of therapeutic jewelry, I figured there had to be something to all the hype. So, when my massage therapist Liza suggested that I try an energy healing session in a crystal bed for some “deeper healing,” I decided to give it a try.
A few days later, I found myself in the Upper East Side office of Lara Riggio, whose practice looks far more physical therapist’s studio than hippie healing lair. Lara led me into a treatment room, where we chatted about everything from work stress to breakups to actual aches and pains. “When you have emotional trauma, your energy can get blocked, which can cause stress responses in your body,” said Riggio. A former bad breakup, for instance, could be the source of my chronic shoulder pain.
So how to un-block my emotional energy and cure my physical symptoms? According to Riggio, it’s all about the chakras. For those who aren’t familiar with the chakra system, here’s a quick primer: In eastern healing philosophy, chakras are considered the energy centers of your body. There are seven in every human body and each one is associated with a specific area (and its organs) and a color. The word chakra means “spinning wheel” in Sanskrit, and the energy of the chakras is said to spin clockwise. If a chakra is unbalanced, however, it might stop spinning, or spin counter-clockwise, which blocks the flow of energy through the body. Riggio can actually put her hands over the area of the chakras and feel the direction that the energy is flowing.
For me, the diagnosis was first and second chakra imbalance (though, she felt they were all a bit out of whack). The first, the root chakra, is about connection to the earth and family (your roots), while the second is about creativity and emotions (incidentally, this spot falls right over the gut). “It’s all about healing old emotional patterns that are stored in these energy centers,” she said.
The chakra spa treatment focuses on energy centers in the body. (Photo: Lara Riggio)
Crystals — in this case, quartz — give off a specific vibrational frequency. So when laying in a crystal bed, each crystal is aligned to be above one of the chakras . When light is shined through the quartz, it emits a wave frequency. As the light shines through the quartz in colors that correspond to that of the chakra it is working on, it’s supposed to break up the chakra’s vibration and help it to cleanse, balance, and align with the energy to flow in the correct direction.
I guess I had imagined that I would be lying in some Game of Thrones-style cradle of crystals. Not so. As it turns out, it’s a super-cozy table covered in lots of soft blankets, with seven strategically positioned crystals and colored lights suspended above you. Lara gave me headphones, put on some soothing music, and told me to close my eyes and relax. As I lay there swaddled in my layers of blankets, I could vaguely see the colored lights pulsating through my eyelids. A few minutes later, I fell into a state of meditative half-sleep (and possibly some full sleep). Before I knew it, she was tapping me gently on the shoulder to signal the end of our session.
If you’re thinking that this sounds totally nuts, I get it. I too was skeptical. But, a few weeks later, I have to admit that I’m convinced there’s something to it. The effects have been subtle, but suddenly I’m sleeping better, handling stress without major meltdowns, and generally just giving off more positive vibes. Plus, I’m feeling noticeably less pain in my shoulder. At $45 per session it seems a fair price to pay for the elimination of my emotional baggage. I’ll be going back next week.
Related:
Red Carpet Magic: The Diamond Youth Facial
