Woo-Woo wellness for stressful times

Crystals, sound baths, reiki… just a decade ago, these sorts of spiritual interests were out on the fringes of wellness. Perhaps you’d give them a go at Glastonbury, or read about a Hollywood celebrity dabbling in them, but they were definitely not a fixture in your own home.

And yet here we are in 2020's, with our chakras balanced, our mornings meditated and our energies healed - leaving the door open for some of the more so-called ‘woo-woo wellness’ trends, which are on the horizon of becoming just as much part of modern life as avocados and yoga pants.

But while we’re all aware of them, it can be daunting to dip a toe into these trends without knowing a whole lot about them. So we’ve stripped away the guff of three of the most useful wellness trends during these stressful times, and given you a really simple insight into each of them, arming you with enough information to go ahead and investigate any that stick out to you!

CRYSTALS

Crystals are simply just minerals formed underground, and they come in dozens of colours, each with their own ‘values’. The core belief of integrating crystals into your life is that they absorb energies around themselves. That means, you can hold crystals and channel any positive feelings - love, luck, happiness - into the crystal, and then place it somewhere that needs a little boost.

A good one to start with is Rose Quartz, which is fairly easy to get hold of and has a calming effect - something we could all do with a little help with at the moment. You can get them in various shapes, colours and sizes - opt for the one that best suits the purpose you’re aiming for. Necklace crystals are a great way to start if you’re thinking of dabbling.

SOUND BATHS

For the uninitiated, sound baths (or gong baths as they are sometimes known) may seem a step too far...but stick with us. In short, sound baths are just the practice of playing ancient instruments - gongs, crystals and Himalayan singing bowls - to create vibrations.

The instruments are played in specific beats and rhythms, which help alter your brainwaves so that you’re able to naturally enter a trance-like, meditative state.

One of the advantages of this practice is that it allows people to unwind and relax in a completely passive way – the sounds really do all of the work for you. This means if you find regular meditation a little too tricky to get into, it might actually be worth you taking it a little further and going for a sound bath approach.

REIKI

Reiki is simply a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation. It’s done by laying hands on someone, allowing us to transfer energies between ourselves.

The Reiki community believe it helps healing illness too, but for beginners it’s best to focus on the calming, wellness aspect. Visit a Reiki master, and they’ll help you learn how to unlock ‘life force energy’ - if the name puts you off, see it as more of a way of unlocking your own confidence and potential.