You Can Instantly Boost Your Mood Just by Wearing a Ring—Here’s How

You’re probably familiar with the seven main body chakras, and may even open them up regularly through meditation or yoga. (Hello, camel pose.) But there are also secondary centers of spiritual power that run through your hands—and they can majorly impact your energy flow.

Practicing mudras, or hand gestures, is one way to keep your palm chakras balanced. But if you hardly have time to get dressed in the morning, never mind add another ritual to your day, there's hope: How you wear your rings can also affect the vibes you send and receive.

The idea of adornment as a mood booster is familiar territory for Carolyn Agis, a New York City-based healer and co-founder of Collective Museum, a tactile experimentation space for adults. As a tarot reader, she often talks about the power of wearing certain crystals and gemstones with her clients. "[They're] conductors and also carry their own energy,” she explains, noting that she views the chakras through the lens of the deck, which assigns planetary life-force and stones to each finger. (For example, Agis likes to wear an opal ring on her pointer finger because it spiritually opens her to impart knowledge—something she strives for during her readings.)

“Often, when we choose jewelry we're subconsciously aware of [the piece’s] intrinsic properties because they make us feel a certain way. Bringing awareness to why you choose what you choose is that much more powerful and ultimately alchemical," she adds. Spirit fingers, indeed.

Want to tap the hidden powers of your hands? Ahead, Agis shares how—as well as some of her favorite gemstones for channeling even more elemental energy.

For creative energy and abundance

Just took on a new freelance project—and you're kind of freaking out about getting it done on time? Agis suggests wearing turquoise on your ring finger, which relates to your root chakra and the Earth's grounding force. “When I want to call in the creative and fecund energy of the Empress [during a tarot reading], I'll incorporate turquoise, perhaps on the ring finger, which is associated with Apollo, beauty, creativity, and receiving attention," Agis says. "It makes sense that this is the same finger [on which] we traditionally place wedding rings as a public demonstration to our unending commitment to another.”

To tap your power and playfulness

If you're deciding whether your spring fling should become a summer romance, try a tiger eye stone on your pinky finger, which is connected to your sacral chakra and helps you go with the flow. Agis explains that, in the planetary realm, “the pinky finger represents [the influence of] Mercury," the solar system's ruler of communication. "My Mercury is already highly pronounced, so I avoid putting anything on it, but if you're looking to show up playful, powerful, and perhaps even mysterious, a small pinky ring with tiger eye could accentuate that.”

For increased intuition

As you try to figure out if your passion project could be more than just a side hustle, rock a moonstone on your thumb—it's the one finger that harnesses the core energy of your solar-plexus chakra and serves as the touchpoint for all other chakras. According to Agis, "choosing a moonstone ring to place on your thumb could bring a beautiful balance between channeling your intuition and putting it into action in the world.”

To be a conduit of knowledge

If your BFF is going through a major rough patch (hello, Saturn returns) and is asking for advice, slip an opal on your index finger before your chat. It'll tap the energy of your heart chakra, the epicenter of unselfish love and gratitude. “While reading the tarot, I like to wear a fire opal ring on my right hand’s pointer finger,” Agis says. “The opal's a magical stone associated with the Magician. I always like bringing this energy into a reading as it behaves like a conduit of knowledge, heralding the ancient adage, ‘As above, so below.’”

Pretty convincing reason to put a ring on it.

Two more woo-woo jewelry trends worth noting: mood rings and crystal necklaces.