I Made My Very Own Mala
I’d been really interested in Mala’s for sometime – I mean, how could you not (especially if you’ve ever spent time in the “yoga world”) because Mala’s are so gosh darn beautiful!
Although I’m still working my way through how meditating with a Mala sits with my personal beliefs, (I haven’t investigated fully enough to decide) I do love they way that a Mala can be a visual representation of an intention that you set, so you’d wear it (or have it at the top of your yoga mat should you not want to have it annoy the shite out of you every time you go into down dog) as a daily reminder of that intention – I think of my Mala as a VERY beautiful post it note.
I’d been investigating Mala makers, the meanings of beads and intention setting for a couple of weeks and I’d narrowed it down to two the Serenity Mala from Blooming Lotus and the I Am Patient Mala from Mala Collective (so you can kind of see what character trait I’m currently trying to work on … ) but as both sites are US based I then had to factor in shipping and the FX rate so I was in the process of weighing up the pros and cons when that same night the Facebook logarithm put the Yoga Mala Mantra & Manifestation Workshop slab dab onto my newsfeed, so after checking it was an Auckland based workshop, I signed up on the spot!
I guess their are *some* advantages of having big brother watching you ..
10 of us came together on a pretty gloomy Sunday afternoon and Natasya gave us quick run down on Mala’s, let us admire all the Mala’s that she’d bought along for inspiration and then let us loose, to choose our beads and create our design, this part of Mala making takes some maths skills, thankfully those around me were pretty chilled each and every time I asked how many nines were in 108 – they obviously already meditate a lot. We then got onto the actual stringing of the beads and knotting, which I’m guessing should be meditative, but I can assure you wasn’t the case for the 10 newbies in the room. It did however become a valuable learning experience in patience, forgiveness and acceptance.
I loved the way that although every participant had the same beads to choose from, each and every Mala came out completely unique. I honestly had the BEST afternoon and I would go again without the slightest bit of hesitation. Not only did I come home with a beautiful Mala (THAT I MADE!) and the knowledge (although not necessarily the skills) to make another should I choose to, I was also given a booklet that explains such things as why there are 108 beads in a Mala, how to cleanse and program your Mala and how/why we would meditate with one. All the things that Natasya probably went over while we were stringing our beads but I was too busy swearing at myself concentrating to focus on.
I’ll definitely let you all know if Natasya runs another Mala Workshop – because honestly, it’s the most fun you can have in a yoga studio bar standing on your hands!
Till next time
