How to pick crystals

It’s not uncommon for one to feel completely overwhelmed walking into a crystal shop for the first time. As you gaze around the sparkling sea of crystals peppered with spiritual books and sage bundles, your rational mind may be trying to zero in on finding the “right” crystal for your exact life challenges, turning this intuitive practice to nothing more than picking up a prescription.
Fear not, the answer for heading home with a crystal seemingly tailored to you is simple:  you don’t choose the crystal - it chooses you.
Intuition is the inexplicable gut instinct we’re all born with, but often must train ourselves to access with ease. When the noise in your mind — that laundry list of errands and chores; those worries about your performance at work; sadness or fear you feel in the face of a tremendous personal challenge — is truly quieted, you hear the whispers of the Universe all around you.
This is the other reason newcomers to crystal connections may feel overwhelmed inside a shop: in addition to the sheer number of options available, each stone is radiating its own deep-hued energy that targets specific chakras or areas of daily life. When you tune your soul’s radio to the intuitive channel broadcasting these crystal calls, you’ll realize one voice, one energy, one stone has the volume turned up much louder than the rest.
Breathing evenly and walking consciously through the shop, you’ll gravitate toward the crystals that have this call that resonate specifically with you. You’ll know when it’s time to hover your hand over the crystals that may be the ones — their energy will be vibrating with your natural aura in a beautiful harmony that you can feel like a comforting massage from your gut to your heart to the soles of your feet all the way to your opening third eye.
Once you’ve been drawn to a specific stone, read the information card posted nearby and more likely than not the crystal’s benefits are exactly what you needed. Once you’ve located the right type of crystal, feel for one that feels like you’ve just found it after a long time — oh, there you are!
Hold the crystal up to light, turn it over in your hands — get to know it and fall in love with its crevices and color variations. With the right stone, this will be easy. Sometimes you’re drawn to it instantly like a magnet, other times you’ll have to spend an extended period rolling different individuals in your fingers before you realize which is The One.
These same intuitive skills can be applied when buying a crystal as an affordable, meaningful gift for someone else. Think of your loved one as you browse around the shop — visualize your favorite memories or go over all the reasons you love them — and if they’re facing any specific challenge think back to conversations you’ve had on the subject and what best case scenario you wish for them. Soon you’ll be guided to a stone whose description sounds eerily like your recent texts with this loved one, and you know you’ve struck spiritual gold.
Trust yourself — there are no wrong answers, no crystal will harm you, just some are more beneficial for you at a given moment than others. Listen to the calls — what’s yours is waiting for you.