Meditation is Key
Time of Day
First and foremost, the time of day is a very important factor. I still have no idea why but I feel crystal energies so much stronger from late afternoon to late night. I can’t really feel much crystal energies early in the morning; perhaps my vibrations are too low from just having awoken from sleep. So experiment with the time of day you decide to start your crystal practice.
Energy From Your Palms
You might need to practice feeling energy from your palms by rubbing them together for about 5-10 secs then facing your palms towards each other about 5cm apart. Try to move your palms in a circular motion (whilst still facing each other). You should feel some sort of heat or movement of energy. This is a typical Qi-Gong technique and you can Youtube this online for better instructions.
Just Breathe! - Meditate
I hold the crystal/stone in my hands and breathe in and out comfortably, meditating. All you really need to do is focus on the crystal that is in your hand whilst breathing. The focus and breathing is very important. In the beginning, your mind will not focus and will be scattered, but just keep bringing your focus back to the crystal. It takes time and practice but you will eventually reach a stage where you can easily focus and meditate.
I infuse the crystal with my own energy as I breathe-in and receive the crystal's energy as I breathe-out. As you breathe in, simply just focus on the crystal in your hands. As you breathe out, focus on your body and surroundings - see if you can feel any energies moving in your body and/or out to your surroundings. This energetic exchange is very important to establish a connection and relationship between you and the crystal.
You don’t need to visualise anything, I just focus on the crystal in my hand and just “think” or “feel” that energy from my palms is infusing into the crystal and the energy of the crystal being released out to me and my surroundings. It is hard to verbally explain, but if you have trouble with visualisation (as I sure do), you don’t have to! As you work consistently with crystals, you will begin to develop visions (albeit very quick passing) and visualisations will become much easier.
Focus on different parts of your body and the chakras and see how they feel - do you feel movement of energy? Do you feel heat? Do you feel a tingling sensation? Also focus on your mood, how are you feeling mood wise? This might be quite subtle so you might have to put the crystal down, take a break from it for a minute, then try feeling it again. When you begin to trust yourself, you might suddenly perceive thoughts about the crystal that seem randomly out of nowhere, trust this inspiration!
Are Larger Crystals Better?
Again, though not always, the larger the crystal, the longer it may take to feel its energies. I personally find it easier to work with smaller crystals, and even the tiniest crystal is very effective. This seems counter intuitive (you would think the bigger the crystal, the more energy it generates, thus you feel it sooner) but I find that the crystal works with YOUR energy and the energy from YOUR body needs to sync entirely with the crystal and this may take longer with larger pieces. However, some very large crystals, you may feel its intense energy simply as you walk by - I feel this usually with crystals with many points, which may be why geodes and crystal clusters can feel stronger than polished freeforms or tumbles.
Do Crystals of the Same Kind Have the Same Energies?
Individual crystals of the same kind can feel completely different. For example, you may have 2 rhodochrosite crystals, and one might feel like gentle hugs and love, whilst the other feels incredible intense, especially at the heart chakra. This might be due to slightly different chemical components or physical characteristics of each individual crystal; some may have come from a different matrix, some may have more of a certain trace element than the other, and some might have a different physical structure.
Your Own Vibrations
Lastly, the energies you feel when holding a crystal will differ depending on your spiritual progress, your overall health (if you have the flu, it will be very difficult to feel crystal energies), or the type of crystals you had been working with prior to the one you are holding. I always try to begin my crystal meditation practice with a cleansing quartz first, then move onto various other crystals as this seems to make me more sensitive. I find that if I've had a cold or a flu, I won't be able to feel crystal energies for at least a month. So in a way this tells you how being sick really lowers your vibrations!
If your vibrations are low due to whatever life event that had occurred in your life, it will take a lot longer for you to attune to energies of certain crystals. This is probably because the energetic difference between you and the crystal is rather large so it just takes more time to bridge the difference. So don't worry, it just takes time!
Note: If certain chakras are badly blocked, you may feel pain in certain areas of your body as the energy pushes out the blockages, but this is nothing to be scared of.
Concluding Notes
With the crystals I sell on my site I try to describe the energy changes I feel in my body when I hold it. Sometimes this is very difficult to translate into words. However I’d like to note that, the way the crystal affects you could (and probably will) be different to how it affected me, so please have a go yourself! The more you practice the better you will get!
Enjoy and have fun!