Quiet a busy mind by counting Digital Mala
Mantra mediation involves reciting a phrase 108 times
At first glance, mala beads may seem like little more than the fashion accessory du jour for yoganistas but, in actuality, practitioners of yoga have used them for millennia as a counting tool in the meditative practice of mantra recitation. During mantra meditation, a chosen sound, word or phrase is recited silently or under the breath 108 times.
Let me show you a mantra meditation practice called The Digital Mala that allows you to track your progress using nothing but your hands. 1. Choose a mantra — something pithy, personal, and profound. It can be in the language of yoga, English, or another tongue altogether. I personally like the words “breathe easy.”
2. Repeat your mantra silently to yourself, aligning the words with your breath. For example, you could silently express the word “breathe” as you inhale and “easy” as you exhale.
3. Mark each mantra by touching the tip of the thumb on your dominant hand to each of the three segments of the four other fingers on the same hand, starting with the tip of the index finger and finishing with the base of the pinky. Four fingers six times three segments each equals 12 mantras.
4. Use your nondominant hand to mark each group of 12 mantras by touching the tip of the thumb to each of the three segments of the index, middle and ring fingers (ignore the pinky on this side), starting with the tip of the index finger and finishing with the base of the ring finger. The nine segments on this hand times the 12 segments on the other hand yields 108. How it works The traditional practice of meditative mantra recitation is called Japa, which means to utter in a low voice or repeat internally. This practice is good medicine for anxiety as it traverses the chatter of the thinking mind. It disrupts habitual patterns and diverts the mind from its wellworn psychic grooves. Some have even gone so far as to suggest that this practice simply replaces one obsessive-compulsive tendency with another obsessive tendency, albeit one that is chosen consciously for its uplifting content.