Better Nutrition August 2020

Everyone Wants to Know …
BN: Which stones can help us cope with
stress in these anxiety-ridden—and very often
tech-overloaded—times?
CW: I’ve got my black tourmaline here on my desk
by my computer, and shungite is the same—that’s
another black stone that kind of absorbs your own
stress as well as the electromagnetic stress from your
devices. I think we can all get overwhelmed by that.
I know how I feel when I scroll through social media.
We all do it for work, but the panic actually upsets
me a bit. The black tourmaline gives you a bit of
clarity and perspective, and it’s going to take all that
negativity and get it away from you and act as a sort
of buffer to bounce all of that out.
Some people seem to suck your energy away, so it’s
like a filter for it, too. As I said in the book, it chucks
out anything that you haven’t really invited in. So it
can protect you in that way.
BN: You write about using agate—which occur
in a range of earthy colors—to revive plants
and possibly revitalize your garden. How has
that worked?
CW: My garden is blooming! And I have to say I just
love moss agate. If I ever have a difficult meeting or a
difficult day, or I have to do something that I’m nervous
about, I find I always get drawn to my big pair of moss
agate disc earrings. They’re the ones I go to. I always
wear them. And they do the trick. I feel better prepared
and more confident. They’re my
familiar friends to go with me.
Again, I’m just trying to have a different response to
a familiar mindset when you want to do something.
It’s going to help put a new default set button on that
mindset that takes you back to the addictive patterns.
Maybe shove it on top of the fridge, and then every time
you look at it, you think, hold on a minute. This is the
intention: Get near the amethyst, step away from the
peanut butter. And use it in that way. A lot of people
put amethyst in their bedroom, too, under their pillows
to soothe an overactive mind and leave space for more
positive things to come into your head and maybe more
creative things.
BN: So various stones placed strategically
throughout our homes—especially during
lockdowns—can change our minds and
thus change our lives?
CW: Yes. They make you think of the wider world—
which, when you’ve been locked inside, is so important—that
the earth perseveres, that there is a sense of
permanence. I think all our anxiety levels have shot up.
If you just look at a stone and think, “we will persevere,
we will survive,” you can use these stones as a comfort.
If you’re feeling more relaxed, your cortisol levels drop,
you feel calmer. And mindfulness has evidence-based
benefits, and that can have a knock-on effect. You feel
emotionally calm and you’re not making decisions based
on panic and fear. You’ll make better decisions—and
that’s a better way to live your life.
Photos: adobestock.com
BN: How can we use purple
amethyst to calm or contain
emotional eating?
CW: I’m very good at helping people
have a sense of boundary and
containment. I spent time with this
holistic health professional named
Michael Skipwith. He works with a
lot of severe trauma patients with
post-traumatic stress disorder after
combat in war. He said he really uses
it as one of his tools to help people
when their body and psyche have
been fragmented. It’s literally having
something to hold onto and sort of
believe in. It helps with their sense
of structure and in clearing trauma.
AUGUST 2020 • 13