How to take care of a mala

When you start to use your mala for the first time

When you receive your mala you can wear it immediately, but how beautiful would it be to put your intention into your sacred mala beads. You will experience a different energy from your mala and you start building a strong connection with it. It’s not difficult and a little ceremony to clean and charge your mala, makes a world of difference.

Awareness and respect are key (not only for Rudraksha). For me it feels best when there is space for spontaneous acts without losing the perception that I’m dealing with sacred malas. The description below is a suggestion, it’s not meant as the only way to clean and charge a mala. It’s my personal interpretation of ancient old books and articles I read, combined with my experiences in the last years.

Start to wear Rudraksha on Monday, as this is the day of Shiva. Sit in a quiet and peaceful space. Put some flowers in water together with your mala, light some incense and relax. When you feel relaxed, wash the beads one by one and state your intention to the beads themselves and visualize them protecting you, blessing you and giving you peace of mind. Say the mantra “OM HREEM NAMAH SHIVAYA OM”. We say the mantra because they are the tears of Shiva to remind us of our true inherent nature. Now you can start wearing your mala.

Taking care of your mala over time

It’s possible that the mala doesn’t feel good after wearing it for a while. Remember that the beads absorb a lot of energy and that the mala needs to be cleaned. Keep the mala underneath the tab with streaming water. Touch every bead with the intention to clean it. If you reach the Guru bead, you are done. Hang your mala outside (full moon would be great) to dry and when it’s dry, you can start wearing it again. If you like, you can put some natural oil on each bead. Of course it’s also possible to do the ceremony as described above again.  Do you feel the difference?

Rudraksha beads will turn darker over time, this is a natural effect of using and wearing your mala. This is even the desired effect, since the natural (body) oils penetrate the Rudraksha. Wear the beads on your skin as closely as possible.

When you are not wearing your mala, keep the Rudraksha mala in the pouch and put it in a special, clean and preferably sacred space. Hold the mala from the ground and especially during longer periods of inactivity, use incense as energetic cleaning.