Using Mala Beads In Your Yoga Practice

Many ancient traditions use strings of beads as a method of counting prayers or chants. The string of beads is called a rosary by Catholics, a misbah by muslims and Sufis, and a mala by Hindus and Buddhists. In Sanskrit, mala is roughly translated as garland and can be identified as a string of beads that contains up to 108 beads with then a larger bead and a tassle. Since a mala is used to count the chanting of mantras or prayers, the large bead is a visual and tactile indicator that you have completed repeating your mantra for the number of times you wish to repeat it.

A mala can be strung with 27, 56 or 108 beads plus the large bead. The smaller numbers equal 108 when either tripled or doubled, respectively. The large bead has been referred to as a meru (mountain) bead, or a guru (teacher) bead. The purpose of the meru or guru bead is to indicate the beginning and the end of the mala.

A mala can be strung with beads made of various materials such as bone, wood, seeds, pearls, crystals, glass beads and even precious or semi-precious gemstones. The material that the mala is made with do not have to be specific. Though there are traditions that prescribe certain materials for certain purposes there is no hard and fast rule about what your mala should be made of. You can choose a mala that is very personal to you and that suits your purpose.

You can incorporate your mala into your yoga practice for a variety of purposes and in many different ways. Malas can be used to deepen your meditation practice through breath work and through chanting mantras. To do this, place yourself in a comfortable sitting position. Hold the mala in your right hand and arrange your left hand however it would like to be. Keeping the index finger extended use the thumb to move the mala, holding the bead against the middle finger for each repetition of breath or mantra and then gently pushing it down to take the next bead and repeat the breath or the chant. Begin at the large bead and work your way around the mala until you come to the large bead again. If you’re using a mala with 27 or 56 beads, then reverse and work back around till you come back to the large bead, repeating until you’ve come to 108 repetitions.

If you’d like to use a mala to support your pranayama practice, start with a simple breathing exercise. Simply match your inhales and exhales to each other, perhaps inhaling for a count of five and exhaling for a count of five on each bead. Doing this sort of focused breathing will have a tremendous calming effect on your nervous system and will help to reduce levels of stress you may be experiencing. Hold off on using more advanced breathing techniques until you have been practicing this sort of breath work with a mala for a while. Doing anything for a count of 108 can be intense and taxing to the body so focus on building your endurance and your patience as you work through your mala.

Chakras are another area of your yoga practice where a mala can be helpful. Because malas can be made of many types of materials, semi-precious gemstone beads are an excellent choice to create a mala for the purpose of focusing on a particular chakra. For instance, if you are working on opening your heart chakra then find a mala that incorporates colors and gemstones associated with that chakra. Possible stones include rose quartz, blue green obsidian or mohawk jasper. Using this mala to meditate with the breath or with a mantra or even wearing the mala around your neck or wrapped around your wrist will help to open your heart chakra by providing the support of the stones with their particular properties.

As mentioned before, there are no hard and fast rules about how you can use a mala in your yoga practice so have fun with this particular tool. Personalize your mala to represent who you are and what you want to experience in your yoga practice. Or simply wear your mala as an outward reminder to yourself of the beauty and freedom that your yoga practice gives you.

Namaste′