With the world becoming seemingly more and more chaotic, I needed something to slow me down. As many of you know, I practice mindfulness and meditation regularly and wanted my DIY this week to reflect something that will help my mindfulness journey, a Mala. A Mala is a necklace of beads that you can use to count mantras or breaths during meditation. They come in four different lengths 18, 27, 54, or 108. I figure I need all the mantras possible so I went with a 108 bead Mala.
So, I headed down to The Bead Shop in Laguna to find the perfect beads for my meditation needs. Ha that rhymed! Also, I totally recommend that you go to an actual bead shop, don’t just order online. There’s something so mindful about touching everything and getting a feel for what you’re buying. Anyway, I bought 108 counting beads made of Earth Jasper also known as the “Supreme Nurturer” it reminds us to help one another and brings tranquility into our lives. Then I grabbed 3 marker beads made from Agate which is a protective stone. Your marker beads should be a different size so you will know when you’ve passed a particular number of beads. Then I bought one large Agate guru bead. The guru bead is the large bead at the apex of the Mala where the tassel hangs. I also added a pretty little tassel and Ohm symbol.
The spacing can get a little confusing, to keep everything simple I placed a large marker bead every 27 counting beads and the guru at the bottom. It all came together to form 4 sections of 27 beads.
Happy meditating my friends!