meditation beads

The most popular Creative Expressions (from the online newsletter Newsletter) I wrote a few years ago was on making your own prayer flags, so when I learned about Mala (Meditation) beads, I knew that I had to share it with you!

A Mala is a meditative tool, also known as prayer beads. A Yogic practice of meditating with a mala is used to help reduce stress, and enhance wisdom, self-knowledge, prosperity, intuition, health, energy and communication. This is achieved by running the beads over meridian points in the hand, and chanting a mantra (or in my case, dwelling on a prayer or piece of scripture).

A mala is similar to the Catholic rosary and is rotated through your fingers each time you say the mantra. Traditionally, there are 108 beads in a mala, but you can also get them in 54 or 27 bead versions. The term 'Rosary' is not solely Christian, by the way, nor is the rose symbol. In Tibet and India the Sanskrit word Mala means "garden", "garden of flowers", or '"necklace of beads". In Hindu, 'prayer beads' is 'japamala' which translates 'rose chaplet'.

A couple of weeks ago, I was chatting with a woman online about Yoga and she mentioned that she made her own Mala. Neither of us practices Buddhism, but we both felt that there are many aspects of this belief system that go hand in hand with our own beliefs.

Kristin created a Mala that has beads on it that she chose individually to remind her of the various areas of her life that she wanted to pray for daily. These included: Relaxation and stress reduction, Energy, Prosperity, Physical Healing, Spirituality, Clarity and Wisdom. She also chose beads for the individuals in her life that she wanted to remember to pray for. Kristin's Mala looks almost like a charm bracelet - her beads are both traditional beads and dangling charms. She said she chose each one over several weeks so that when she saw it or felt it she would remember what it stood for.

I have done put mine together this summer. It is like a living prayer list around my wrist to remind me to be vigilant in my prayers for myself and those I love.