Mala Beads

[Joshaps]

So I've been using a timer for my daily meditations, on a year plan to work myself up to 60 minutes in 10 minute increments every 3 months. Starting at 20 minutes it's already gotten a lot easier as I've gotten better at meditation. But I always find myself thinking about how much time I have left. I typically mitigate this by telling myself "It's most likely not even been half way, don't think about it" and pulling my thoughts back to nothingness gets me back into that 'i could do this for hours' state. Still, it always happened at least once. Until I found out about mala beads that are used for counting mantras and meditation. Counting the beads with your breath, it allows me to keep track of my time without needing the noisy timer on my phone or wondering how far along I am. I just tried them for the first time today and I was very happy with it! I used it alongside my timer just to see how long one rotation lasted. My necklace is 108 beads, and with my breathing pattern during meditation takes about 7 minutes give or take. So 3 rotations adds up to about 20 minutes. As I add time to my meditation sessions, I'll add rotations.

My mind wandered a lot more this time just because I imagine I added a new element to my meditation, but I'm very exited to get used to using it! I was curious if anyone else had heard of them, and what their thoughts are on mala beads, if you use them at all? 

[Leo Gura]

I've bought some but haven't found a good use for them yet. They are mostly good if you are doing stuff like counting breathes or doing every specific pranayama exercises.

If you're just plain old meditating, use a timer with a vibrate function.

[Epiphany_Inspired]

@Joshaps I just discovered these... amazing! There also seems to be a difference between getting some, and making one.  Personally, I'm finding that these beads are an excellent tool. Creating your own Mala is like a mediation and ceremony combined... as each of the 108 beads is added, it is infused with the chosen mantra, and the final guru bead gives a lovely place to begin, end, or reflect. This infused mantra is fabulous for both mediation and energetic purposes for me (especially if the right semi-precious stones are used, and... for meditating when more focus is required/ mind is more chaotic).

So many traditions seem to use beads, Buddhist, Rosaries, Rudraksha in India, etc... I think with good reason. I have not yet really experimented with transcendental, but I believe this is similar, yet opposite. The purpose of an-undefined mantra in transcendental is apparently to keep your mind from attaching any meaning to it. On the other hand, the mantra infused in your Mala is all about the meaning of the mantra... like mental chanting, like affirmations, like choosing your desired direction and focusing intention on it, in a few simple words, in a meditative way. At least that is my understanding, (and how the beads are useful for me sometimes)...plus, they just feel good...as they warm and interact with your body...I have also begun experimenting using the mantra infusion for sort of a visualization repetition, and it intuitively feels quite positive! 

Edited January 25, 2017 by Epiphany_Inspired

[Loreena]

@Joshaps They are great. very useful