I wouldn't call myself spiritual. I was never one of those people who “charged” crystals under the moon. The only thing I charged religiously was my phone!

What I did have was anxiety - the kind that turns up uninvited, sits on your chest, and refuses to leave until you’ve had three coffees and a small existential crisis.

My job sometimes meant giving presentations, which I absolutely dreaded. The heart palpitations would kick in before I’d even opened PowerPoint, and more than once I made up an excuse to get out of it. Then came the guilt - that horrible feeling of letting myself down again because anxiety had won, yet again.

So when a friend casually asked, “Do you believe in crystals?” and mentioned she’d started wearing a “calm bracelet”, I actually laughed.

“Sure,” I said. “Beads. That’ll sort my cortisol levels right out.”

She just gave me that look - the one that says, you’ve got no idea what you’re missing.

Once I started reading about it, I fell down a proper rabbit hole!

What began as a quick search turned into hours of scrolling through forums, watching videos, and reading about crystals - not just their meanings, but the way they’re said to hold energy. The idea that something from the earth could carry a frequency that affects how we feel sounded far-fetched at first, but the more I read, the more it made sense.

Psychologists talk about anchoring - giving your brain a physical cue that signals calm. It’s why people use worry beads, rosaries, or fidget rings: small, tactile rituals that tell the body, you’re safe.

Crystals seemed to work in a similar way, but with something extra - they don’t just give your mind a cue; they hold energy. Each one vibrates differently, like tiny tuning forks for your mood.

Even if you don’t fully buy into the science, there’s something powerful about the intention behind it. The act of pausing, breathing, choosing what energy you want to carry - that’s where the real shift happens.

And in a world that runs on stress, that kind of focus feels a little bit like magic.

The first thing I noticed was how often I reached for the bracelets - twisting them gently around my wrist whenever I caught myself spiralling and the anxiety taking a hold.

It became a small, grounding ritual I hadn’t planned - a quiet, physical reminder to come back to myself and focus on my breath.

The stones I had researched and chose, amethyst for calm, fluorite for clarity, and aquamarine for emotional balance, felt quietly reassuring. There’s something about wearing something you’ve chosen with intention; it really is like carrying a tiny breath of space with you.

Each time I touched them, I paused long enough to take a slow breath - in through the nose, out through the mouth - the kind that steadies your pulse when your heart’s racing. Sometimes I’d repeat a tiny mantra in my head, the one that worked for me was simple, it was and still is: “I’m safe.”

It’s strange how such a small gesture can reset everything - a single touch that reminds your body it can calm itself.