A Complete Guide to Balance and Heal Your Crown Chakra

In the final part of this series, we end our journey with the crown chakra. The crown chakra, known as Sahasrara in Sanskrit, is associated with spirituality. Its core issue centres around wisdom. Ignorance and an inability to connect with the better self are often at the root of crown chakra issues. This chakra is associated with the element of thought. Problems with this chakra can manifest in several emotional and physical symptoms. Let’s look at some of the most obvious indications that your crown chakra needs attention.

Emotional & Psychological States

Attachment: Attachment is the demon associated with the crown chakra.
Godfearing: You live your life according to established religious or spiritual doctrine without question. You believe you have to follow these rules or face punishment or consequences after death.
You Can’t Function Without Consulting The Stars or an Oracle: You think everything you do has to have a higher purpose or meaning. You fear making your own decisions in case ‘they’ have other plans for you.
Self-absorption: You practice navel-gazing like it’s an Olympic sport. Self-reflection takes up more of your time than day-to-day living.
Excessive Cynicism/Scepticism: You think everyone is motivated by self-interest, except you. You reject and/or distrust all forms of belief, except your own.
Spiritual Snobbery: You think your way is the highest way. You assume your beliefs make you more pure than others.

Physical Manifestations

Intellectualising Everything: You constantly reject your emotions and intuition in favour of your thoughts. Your inner dialogue is likely to be incessant.
Addictions: Spirituality and religion.
Dissociating: You unconsciously reject your body because you find it restricting, or you may be trying to avoid experiencing your emotions.
Spaced Out: You check out of your earthly existence at the slightest opportunity. Living in your head leaves you spaced out and disconnected from life and those around you.
Isolation or Loneliness: A lack of heart connection leaves you isolated. You may keep people at arm’s length because you can’t talk to them about anything — your conversations constantly centre around spiritual matters, or you always try to impose your beliefs so people avoid you.
You Don’t Learn: You fail to understand the lessons you are given. You can’t absorb knowledge that contradicts your rigidly held beliefs.
The Body: Similar to the third-eye chakra — headaches, nightmares, failure to dream. Feeling disconnected from the body.

Healing the crown chakra can help improve your balance between the inner and outer realms. Learning may become easier, and your ability to connect with a wider circle of people could improve. It does not matter who or what caused the problem in the first place. It also doesn’t matter whether you think your chakra is blocked or too open — the following exercises focus on restoring balance.

A Simple Meditation

The only tools necessary here are a pen and a piece of paper. If you need help setting the mood, light a purple, white, or black candle and burn some incense or oil. For some suggestions, see further down this post, or use something that you know you find enjoyable. You need to lie down on your back. If this is uncomfortable for you, grab some pillows and cushions, or lay on the sofa to prop yourself up. Take a few deep breaths until you feel relaxed and able to focus — breathe in for a count of 6, and exhale for a count of 8. The goal here is to become aware of your body through your breathing. Once you feel calm, visualise the crown chakra as a violet lotus at the very top of your head. Ask the chakra to show you why it’s unbalanced. You may see a symbol, a face, or an object. If you are sensitive you may see something more complicated. Don't analyse or judge what you see or feel; acknowledge the signs and refocus on your breathing. Once you have brought yourself back to your centre, ask the chakra what you need to heal. Again, you may see a single object or something more complicated. And again, don’t analyse or judge what you see or feel. Stay in your body for another six breaths or longer if you are comfortable. When you feel ready, open your eyes and move slowly until you are upright. You can now write down any thoughts and feelings you experienced during meditation.

The next bit is crucial — you need to park that shit to one side until tomorrow or even the day after that. If you want further insight you can take the piece of paper to bed and put it under your pillow. Ask yourself to have a dream that tells you anything further you need to know — ‘give me a dream to help balance and heal my crown chakra’ is perfectly adequate. The point is to set the intention. You may or may not remember it after waking. Write down anything you can recover from memory, including how you felt when you woke up.

You can now analyse any signs and symbols you were given. Whatever you see will most likely make sense and should at least give you a place to start. Try not to hold on to your insights too tightly — the goal in the upcoming weeks is to open up to new feelings that show healing is occurring.

Your Crown Chakra Medicine Bag

As with previous posts, I’m recommending specific crystals, incense, and oils, but if you don’t have these and can’t afford them you can still use the other methods found under the Time & Energy Investment heading.

Lighting the Way

Candles are great for creating a healing atmosphere. They’re also useful if you want a focal point to set intentions. Candles can be used as a visual representation of whatever you are trying to manifest or change in your life. For crown chakra healing, the colour used is violet, purple, or white.

Scent

If you don’t like the smoke and ash that incense produces — candles anointed with oil or an open-flame oil burner offer a cleaner way to enjoy the benefits of scent-based healing. The newer electric wax melt burners are available as a lamp, and also as a plug-in. The electric mist diffusers are another great way to disperse aromatherapy oils. You can, of course, use a few drops of oil on a tissue, or create a scent pouch with herbs or crushed-up incense. Blending a personalised combination of essential oils into a base oil such as avocado oil or jojoba oil would mean you can apply the scent directly to your body.

Each of the following essential oils is said to be beneficial for the issues associated with the crown chakra, and you can often find them in incense stick form:

Frankincense: Known as one of the most spiritual oils; it's used extensively to cleanse sacred space. It is said to help promote mental calm and aid spiritual awareness and growth. A good scent for use during meditation.
Myrrh: Along with frankincense, myrrh has a strong connection to religious and spiritual practices. Often used during meditation to strengthen focus and concentration while dispelling negativity.
Lavender: Lavender: The marmite of essential oils. Lavender can help to improve sleep quality thanks to its calming and relaxing properties. It is known to be anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and antioxidant.
Sandalwood: Sandalwood is wonderfully soothing, and like frankincense, it reduces anxiety by calming the mind. It is emotionally stabilising, and it can help to lift heavy moods. It has been used in rituals for thousands of years as a way to connect to the spiritual self and increase spiritual awareness.
Rose: The delicate and unmistakable scent of rose essential oil is great for calming emotions and lifting the spirit. Anti-anxiety and helps to alleviate feelings of stress.
Neroli: A powerful oil known to help alleviate feelings of anxiety and depression. Neroli is exceptionally good if you need to lift your mood.

Other oils and scents worth mentioning are jasmine, pine, and geranium. You can also use ready-made blends, whether incense or essential oil. Think about using the blends created for spiritual awakening or those designed for healing the crown chakra.

L-R: Pink Himalayan quartz at the back, with golden mica in front, amethyst with calcite, apophyllite, and carved selenite wand.

Crystals

For the crystals, it’s good to focus on any or all of the purple and white stones.

Amethyst: Very soothing and can help to reduce tension in the body. Enhances intuition and spiritual connection.
Lepidolite: Increases peacefulness and emotional balance. Calming on the mind.
Charoite: A stone for transformation and spiritual strength. Helps when opening up to the flow.
Sugilite: A lovely stone that can help to open up to divine love. Sugilite can be used for personal growth and is a solid ally for crown chakra healing.
Golden Mica: Some use mica to increase willpower and self-confidence, while others see it as a stone for spiritual healing and awakening. It is often seen as a protective stone — its hue protects from negativity. Mica's reflective surface deflects bad energy away from the source.
Selenite: A good stone for cleansing and often recommended to clean other crystals. Selenite brings harmony and peace; it can be used to help open up to the higher mind.
Clear Quartz: Use for clarity of mind, and clearing away mental cobwebs. Clear quartz is said to amplify the energy of other crystals placed nearby.
Apophyllite: A stone for spiritual awakening. Apophyllite can improve access to internal information.
Moonstone: I love moonstone. Use white or cream-coloured to increase intuition and reduce stress. Use black moonstone if you’re working through deep or complex psyche issues. Moonstone can be a good one to use during sleep; it’ll help you remember your dreams.

Other stones worth mentioning are: howlite, labradorite, and fluorite.

Take Control of Your Diet

Food is naturally influential for healing of any kind. Most of the foods for the crown chakra are the same as those for the third-eye. Additionally, it’s probably here that you need to be at your most conscious of what you’re eating. There is no right or wrong, I won’t be advocating for veganism or anything like that, you just need to try and increase your awareness. Pay attention to where your food comes from, and try and find out more about production methods. Be as conscious as possible. Try and think more about what is nourishing, rather than what satisfies your hunger.

I usually say to include foods that make you feel good about yourself, but for the crown chakra, it’s more important to serve your body’s needs than its wants.

Here are some foods that can help balance your crown chakra:

Purple Fruits: Grapes, plums, elderberries, blackberries, blackcurrants, acai berries, and prunes.
Vegetables: Purple cabbage, purple carrots, aubergine, purple kale, and purple sweet potato, beetroot. Also white veggies such as cauliflower.
Other Random Purple Foods: I can only think of Skittles, Smarties, Maoams, cake icing, and ice cream. . nothing remotely useful!
Herbs, Spices & Flowers: Lavender, violets, rosemary, blue lotus, holy basil, and sage.
Fruit Teas: Try herbal blends that promote calm, or maybe those to help de-stress the body. There are lots of fruits to choose from to make a decent tea.

Eating mindfully and with intention can help support the healing and rebalancing of your crown chakra.

Time & Energy Investment

Yoga

Yoga for the crown chakra will often include headstands — if you know these are outside of your ability, simply do something different. As with the foods, many of the poses are the same as those that are helpful for the third-eye chakra. Some of the beneficial crown chakra poses include:

Lotus Pose (Padmasana): If this pose is too difficult, or flat-out impossible for you, don’t worry too much about tying your legs in knots. You can sit with the soles of your feet together instead (Seated butterfly pose, or cobbler’s pose: Upavistha Titli Asana), and use blocks or cushions under your knees for support. It’s a lovely pose for meditation, mantras, and affirmations as it supports improved concentration.
Mountain Pose (Tadasana): An empowering pose that can help to open up and align all chakras. Focus on pulling the energy up from your feet then through the midline of your body and out of the top of your head.
Tree Pose (Vrksasana): A good pose to work on balance. Close your eyes to encourage trust in your body and its senses.
Rabbit Pose (Sasangasana): Good for the lower back, core, and neck. Rabbit can feel a little awkward but it’s an inversion and therefore be used in place of a headstand.
Wide-legged Forward Fold (Prasarita Padottanasana): Great for leg and core strength, and can improve concentration. It’s a great pose to use if you spend a lot of time sitting down. Like the rabbit pose, it’s classed as an inversion and can be used instead of a headstand.
Corpse Pose (Shavasana): Normally done at the end of any yoga session to give time and space to absorb the wisdom and energy of the practice. It can also help with detachment, relaxation, and reducing stress.
Neck Stretches: It’s important to keep tension out of the neck and upper body when pulling energy up to the crown chakra. Stiffness here indicates rigidity in thought patterns, or simply trying too hard to hold everything together as it is. Surrendering and detachment are important tools here.
Ujjayi breath is a breathing exercise often practised in Hatha Yoga. Ujjayi is excellent for encouraging calm and deeper breathing.

Holding each pose for several breaths (between three and five minutes for a yin-style approach) will encourage your inner body to slow and calm down. As with the other chakras — don’t worry too much about whether you’re getting everything right. And don’t think you have to do any of the poses exactly as shown if you can’t physically do so — all yoga needs practice, and plenty of it, to develop the flexibility and balance required for a pose.

Mantras, Affirmations, & Sound Baths

Mantras can be a single word or phrase and are believed to carry magical properties. The mantra ‘OM’ is a one-syllable Sanskrit word used as the sacred sound for the crown chakra. You can chant this however you like, but some say it needs to be done 108 times because that number is sacred in Hinduism. It represents the number of spiritual completion — or the distance between our body and the god within.

Affirmations can be used like mantras but differ in that what we are doing with an affirmation is vocalising what we need with the intention we can manifest what we are chanting. Some useful affirmations are already included in the yoga videos above. If you skipped over that part, the more common ones associated with the crown chakra are:

I am at one with the universe
I let go of my attachments with ease
I am guided by the best part of myself
I am aware of my divine purpose and walk my path with love
I am my authentic self and express myself effortlessly
I seek wisdom in every experience and trust the process
I trust my inner voice and follow my highest good
I radiate peace and love
Divine energy flows through me and inspires my existence

Sound baths can be a great way to relax for an hour. If you are sensitive to sound, this method could work wonders for you. The best frequency for the crown chakra is 480 Hz. The crown chakra is associated with the B note. The first two videos are examples of contemporary sound produced for alternative healing. I have found using headphones helps enormously while listening to binaural beats and other sound therapies. This is a link to an 8-hour-long black screen version of the first video for use during sleep. A crystal singing bowl is used to create the sound. The second video is a single pure tone. You can use the sound bath videos when meditating because they are not jarring and will not interfere with your inner journey. The third video “480Hz Crown Chakra Healing: Tap into Your Inner Wisdom!” is more like music, but with little variation in the sound. It’s very calming, and like the other two, it won’t be jarring on your psyche or disturb you during meditation. As it’s just over an hour long, it’ll get you to sleep, but use one of the other videos if you want something playing through the night.

Is It Healed Now?

As always, it is important to recognise that healing is a process, not an event. When you work on your crown chakra one of the biggest issues to work through can be spiritual snobbery. You shouldn't assume you’re somehow more enlightened or have all the answers to every problem or worse — that you have the answers for everyone else, too, if only they’d do as you say. I mean, it should be an enormous red flag that you have more work to do, but I haven't found this to be the case.

A common obstacle to healing the crown chakra is the lack of access to necessary information. Others don't always tell the truth or they may omit crucial pieces of information. And likewise for the self: we can ignore a truth that rages within and we can stay in denial of things that are causing us deep problems.

It's always better to behave when dealing with other people, but having a good filter doesn't equate to being a good person. If the crown chakra is casuing problems, it's highly likely there are issues further down. There could be a lack of authenticity, you could be living a lie, have poor boundaries, be in denial of your own inner shit, have a lack of humility, the list is endless. The easiest way to spot a problem is to pay attention to where judgement creeps in, and then you can start asking yourself some hard questions.