A common complaint I hear about from my friends and which I frequently experience is waking up at about 4:00 am and really having to make a concentrated effort to get back to sleep. Many of said friends resort to taking sleeping pills which I am loathe to do, for so many reasons – strong belief in a more natural approach, not wanting to take drugs the full side effects of which I don’t know even if they’re supposedly known to those in the medical community, not wanting to engage in a dependency which might be difficult to rid myself of, etc. Instead I try deep breathing while repeating a mantra to myself, listening to a guided meditation or soothing music, or reading, and hope for the best. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine: “Waking up between 3:00 am and 5:00 am is associated with the energy meridian that runs through the lungs and the emotion of sadness. To help yourself get back to sleep, try some slow, deep breathing and express faith in your Higher Power to help you.

If the time that you awaken is between 3:00 am and 5:00am, it could also be a sign of your Higher Power alerting you to pay attention to messages that are being sent to align you with your higher purpose….Your sleep cycle is a time when you dream and you can also receive messages from the Divine about your path. Dreams can reveal details about the spiritual journey that you are on. As a human being on a spiritual journey, you need to be aware of the signs that your Higher Power is sending to you.

In the same way that emotional problems can manifest in the body as pain, your spirituality can also manifest in bodily form as well. The divine inner spark that we all possess is being called upon at the time that you are waking up. This signal from your Higher Power is something to tune into.” https://www.powerofpositivity.com/if-you-wake-up-at-the-same-time-every-night-this-may-be-why/. All good and fascinating but we need a good night’s sleep to be able to achieve all of the things we want to achieve during the daytime and hopefully feel really good and energetic while we’re doing it!

What I’ve found since I started my crystal healing studies a couple of years ago is that it’s particularly helpful to hold crystal palm stones in each hand to help me sleep. I find that there’s something very soothing about that shape due to its smoothness and its ability to absorb the heat from my body and return it to me so to speak. There’s of course no downside to utilizing crystals in this manner and for those who are already devotees of crystal healing it’s interesting and completely makes sense that since during sleep our mind is unconscious our body is therefore even more receptive to the healing energies of crystals.

My current favorite sleep-aiding crystals are the ones shown here – a Selenite palm stone in my left hand and a Shungite palm stone in my right hand.

The Selenite (bottom) is cleansing, clearing, and opens the channels to higher frequencies. It helps to align your chakras and to clear the path to the Etheric Chakras – those above the Crown Chakra. The Shungite (top) activates light energy which works against darkness and negativity. The combination of the two is so incredibly soothing, it can move me into deep sleep in moments.

At other times I’ll use Chrysocolla (bottom first photo) or Rose Quartz (bottom second photo) for heart opening and support for the loving relationships in my life, Carnelian (middle first photo) if I want to focus on enhancing my creativity (as I often do as I design and create jewelry), Amethyst (top second photo) if I feel that I’m suffering from insomnia, if I’m feeling unbalanced, or simply to help me stay calm, or Labradorite (top first photo) to open my Third Eye and enhance my connection to the spiritual world.

These stones can of course be used at any time of the day if you need some extra soothing. Recently, I was going to New York (I live in Los Angeles) and I knew I was going to see a friend who had suffered an umimaginable tragedy with one of her children (who is still alive); I wanted to bring her something to make her feel a little better and was racking my brain as to what to get. I finally settled on simply bringing her a Rose Quartz palm stone exactly like the one pictured above, to help get her through the painful times she was going through. She doesn’t consider herself to be a spiritual person at all, but she was so moved by the gift and has told me time and time again how very useful it has been to her and how much it has helped her. I’m moved to tears event thinking about it.

When I’m feeling particularly meditative and desirous of reaching higher spiritual levels I’ll bring out my treasured pair of Shaman Stones. Shaman Stones usually come in pairs, one female and one male stone. These high-frequency stones also help balance male-female energies. They have strong metaphysical properties for spiritual growth, and help overcome deep-seated fear, are potent psychic protection stones, and help to repel negative entities. My two came in a matched male/female pair and absolutely radiate energy and mystery. I can easily get lost in the worlds that exist inside them.

And if I feel like I want to exponentially increase the potency of the crystals I’m holding, I’ll take my beautiful clear Quartz crystal sphere or wand and put it on my chest, which always works like a charm. As an added bonus Quartz is said to help ensure pleasant dreams. It also can help you move into Rapid Eye Movement Sleep which is the sleep phase in which our bodies work to repair damage which might have occurred during the day.

Of course it’s extremely important to frequently cleanse the crystals you’re using as sleep aids/enhancements as they absorb so many energies as you sleep.

And….don’t make the mistake of interacting with stimulating crystals which can actually serve to prevent you from sleeping, by producing agitation and making your brain believe that it’s time to think rather than sleep. The decrease of melatonin has in fact been noted with the usage of certain crystals. Thus enhancing crystals such as clear Quartz or extremely powerful crystals such as the Shaman Stones may not be right for you.

It’s all a matter of experimenting to see what works best for you, and having fun and hopefully building a crystal collection while you’re doing so (and hopefully throwing out those sleeping pills!).

The post Crystals To Help You Sleep appeared first on Nvision.

Excerpted and paraphrased from the Fowler Museum website: “Enduring Splendor focuses on the rich and diverse silver jewelry traditions of India’s Thar Desert region, which are considered against the background of the five-thousand-year history of jewelry making across the vast Indian Subcontinent. The exhibi­tion includes important sculptures and paintings borrowed from LACMA demonstrating the profusion and variety of jewelry worn by Hindu gods and goddesses in ancient times and by maharajas and maharanis from the 17th to early 19th centuries. Enduring Splendor explores the life and work of four sonis (silversmiths or goldsmiths). To contextualize their recent production, the exhibition features an extensive survey of 19th- and 20th-century jewelry types that are still worn by men and women of the region.”

Here are a bunch of photos I took to whet your appetite.

Now these are what I call statement bracelets:

And you need not wear much other jewelry when you’ve got these earrings on:

I think I’m going to have to go back again to really savor these before the exhibit ends.

The post Inspiration: Enduring Splendor Exhibition at the Fowler Museum appeared first on Nvision.

Anyway, I thought it might be helpful to post about a “starter kit” of stones to have in your arsenal if you’re just beginning to put together a collection – whether in jewelry form or otherwise. (All of these are pieces handmade by me; some are still available and I have many other stones in all of these categories.) Here goes:

1. Smokey Quartz for Grounding and Protection – Smokey Quartz comes in an enormous range of colors, from almost clear to deep transparent brown. Here are a couple of examples, in palm stone form and in wand form.

Wearing or carrying Smokey Quartz is said to keep you calm, balanced and centered and to ward off negativity, fear and darkness. And we can all use that these days.

2. Carnelian for Creativity – This beautiful orange-red stone is said to help you “find your passion” as well as to build confidence and courage to move forward in manifesting whatever that passion turns out to be. These two are particularly interesting as the wand has such lovely striping and the palm stone has a little “window” in its lower right corner that let’s you see into the interior of the stone.

3. Citrine for Abundance and Success – Citrines can also range widely in color, again from almost clear looking to deep golden to almost brown-ish. The piece on the right has quite a bit of rutilation (hair-like interior growths which look amazing and add to the inner life of the stone) and includes a second small citrine as part of the emblem.

Citrine is said to attract abundance on all levels and also helps with creativity and manifestation. As an added bonus, the rutile serves to amplify the energy of the stone.

4. Rose Quartz for Heart Opening and Forgiveness – Think pink whether the palest petal variety or a medium rose; it’s gorgeous whether polished or raw.

Rose Quartz also protects the vulnerable heart and soothes the hurt of loss as well as supports self-love and acceptance.

5. Amethyst, the Spirituality Stone – Amethyst comes not only in delicious purple tones but also, as I recently learned, in shades of gray ranging into black. (Many of the Druzy rings and pendants I’ve made are in this color range). Here are a couple of purple examples – a Druzy ring and a wand pendant.

Amethyst has purifying energy and helps to connect you with your spirituality as well as to release addictive behaviors. It’s an excellent meditation stone.

6. Clear Quartz for Balanced and Harmonized Energy and Amplification – By far the most popular of all crystals, Clear Quartz ‘s exquisite clarity brings balance and enhances the energies of all other stones. Here are a couple of examples:

As stunning as the clarity is, the inclusions make each stone that much more interesting.

This is a good jumping off point for beginning a crystal collection or for filling in the blanks. I hope you’ve found this to be helpful and informative and of course I’m happy to address any questions you might have or to help you put together your own collection.

Warmest, Nicole

The post Six Stones to Start Off Your Crystal Collection appeared first on Nvision.

What I ended up bringing home was highly curated in terms of each individual being the right size and shape so as to eventually be made into an NVision Power Piece and I love and resonate with each and every one of them. But I want to give you a sense of the specialness of some of the most breathtaking pieces. It’s so hard to choose between all my juicy goodies, but I felt that these really stand out:

1. Herkimer Diamonds – These actually were never a favorite of mine until I saw them in this size and with this coloration – so much going on in each of these. Herkimers are said to foster soul healing and evoke love and light.

2. Charoite – These gorgeous purple stones with black and white markings are hard to fine, certainly in this form, and are from Russia. They are said to transmute negativity and ground to the spiritual self.

3. Rutilated Citrine – Citrines are about abundance on all levels and the rutilation serves to amplify that energy.

4. Smokey Quartz – Quite unusual in this palm stone shape, Smokey Quartz is a major protection stone in addition to transmuting negativity.

5. Quartz with Chlorite Inclusions – Chlorite carries powerful healing energies which are amplified by the Quartz.

These will all be transformed into NVision by Nicole Foos Power Pieces in the very near future. Let me know if one of them calls to you and I’ll be happy to make a custom version just for you. Contact me for more info.

The post My Top Five Picks From the 2017 Tucson Gem Show appeared first on Nvision.

If I do say so myself, I have excellent shopping radar (sometimes to my detriment).

This intuitive gift or whatever you want to call it served me quite well during my recent (and first!) trip to Tucson for the world-famous Gem Show.

I was prepared to be overwhelmed, but to be honest, it wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought to navigate through thousands of vendors.

For one thing, I went with my friend­­­­­­­­ Anita Rosenberg, Bazi Astrologer and Feng Shui expert, who really knew her way around.

Here we are in serious pursuit of the perfect citrine.

Ok so mine’s too big to be a pendant but I love it anyway.

It’s hard to explain, but I seem to be guided to those stones which “need” to come into my possession – whether it’s for a particular Power Piece or to go to a specific client.

Here are the stones that called to me (and came home with me).

These will eventually all be pendants, and…

these delicious druzies will all eventually be rings and bracelets (except for the red wands and gorgeous jasper, and the amazing geodes which will now live in my personal collection).

Let me know if one of them is calling your name.  I’d love to create a Power Piece especially for you (contact me to discuss.)

Next up: MY TOP FIVE PICKS FROM THE TUCSON GEM SHOW

The post This might sound crazy, but the stones talk to me. appeared first on Nvision.