As the long, hot summer days roll around and the sun makes its most profound entrance, the effects of its presence can sometimes be more far-reaching and effectual than you may realize. During heat waves the body has to work much harder to maintain a normal temperature. Excessive heat can not only result in serious health threats by pushing the human body beyond its limits, but can also have an effect on your mental, emotional and spiritual states of mind as well. Heat cramps, exhaustion and strokes are among the possible physical challenges you might experience, but more common is dehydration. However, the heat can also turn up the possibilities for irritability, stress, frustration, tendency towards intolerance, aggression and confrontation, lack of energy, lack of interest in new ventures, and over-stimulation that draws you outward and away from your inner needs.

There are many measures you can take to prevent heat-related illnesses including avoiding too much sun and extreme temperature changes, slowing down and avoiding strenuous activity, staying indoors as much as possible and keeping your space cool, wearing loose, lightweight and light-colored clothing covering as much skin as possible, protecting your skin with SPF and protecting face and head with hats, planning major activities for early morning or evening, and especially drinking plenty of fluids throughout the day, avoiding alcoholic beverages. However, another supportive tactic can be found in wearing and surrounding yourself with crystals that contain within them cooling elements to help adjust more than just your physical temperature, but your overall state of being. These crystals support a calming and beneficial effect that supports a return to harmony and balance during the summer months.

Crystals can and have been used for healing or environmental enhancements for millennia. They possess unique properties and subtle vibrations that affect the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels of being. Since ancient times, healers have been familiar with the fact that crystals possess varying energies and can either be energizing or more calming; sedating or stimulating. So choosing a crystal for its calming properties can help soothe your summer heat experience and help return balance and harmony to your life.

Crystal guides, such as The Crystal Bible by Judy Hall, can be used to decipher the properties of crystals and help you find what you are looking for, but sometimes merely the color of the crystal can be very telling, as in the ocean color of aquamarine expressing its calming elements. The following crystals are amongst several that would be beneficial in creating that watery experience when dry, hot days seem never-ending:

Blue Lace Agate: brings peace of mind with its soft, cooling and calming energy

Amazonite: extremely soothing and calms brain and nervous system

Amethyst: mentally calms

Apatite: reduces irritability and overcomes emotional exhaustion

Apophyllite: calms and grounds the spirit

Aquamarine: calming, reduces stress as well as quiets the mind, harmonizes, invokes tolerance

Blue Calcite: gentle stone for recuperation and relaxation, lowers blood pressure, soothes nerves

Blue Sapphire: tranquility, calms mind and tension

Chalcedony: brings mind, body, emotion and spirit into harmony

Chrysocolla: tranquil, serene, calming and reduces mental tension

Chrysoprase: inspires tolerance, calms overexcitement, cooling, takes heat out of situations

Lapis Lazuli: cool and calming, releases stress, balancing

Larimar: radiates peace, promotes tranquility, brings calmness and equilibrium

Moonstone: calms overreactions to situations and emotional triggers

Rose Quartz: infinite peace, calming, cooling, sedating

Selenite: calming, deep peace, quieting

As we approach the heated summer months and continue to navigate in these times of change, it is crucial to find ways to help support a return to peace and harmony. Keeping your body and emotions from getting "too hot" becomes essential and there are many ways you can help facilitate a "cool down" that can not only benefit you personally, but on a collective level as well. Crystals are one such tool that can promote calming tendencies on physical and emotional levels, thus promoting overall well being.