Last week, I wrote about breaking my mala (you can read about it here) What I didn’t tell you, was what a bad state I was in, to have fallen over in the bathroom. As I may have mentioned before, I had a terrible experience earlier in the year at work, and suffered from severe burnout and post-traumatic symptoms. I am still undergoing treatment so I won’t go into it now, but I will eventually talk about it when I come out of it the other side.
Just two days after breaking my mala, I received a new one from Les Ateliers de Brahma, a family-run artisanal boutique. They plant one tree for every mala that they sell, which I also think is such a wonderful initiative that they do. They had randomly chosen me as one of two Instagram followers to receive a rudraksha mala. I really could not believe my luck nor the timing of this giveaway. I love their pieces, which are lovingly hand-made. They are made in the authentic way, with knots between the beads, which not only strengthen the mala but also allows for space between the beads to help with the counting in japa meditation (you can read a bit about japa in one of my previous posts here).
I have been suffering from around February/March this year, working an untenable (and illegal) workload, which eventually forced me to resign in June when I became too physically unwell to function. Malas have been a new discovery for me this year, and I believe that they have been helping me with my recovery. I have started to create a meditation altar (picture above) where I place my beloved mala, as well as the beads of my broken mala in a glass bottle. Plants are also great for mental health so I recently got a succulent because I needed something low maintenance that I can actually look after!
My mala from Les Ateliers de Brahma is called “Éveil”, which means “awakening”. I thought this was apt for what I’m going through at the moment. For a long time I ignored my symptoms because I didn’t have a choice… I had to keep working like a machine and I completely ignored my body’s cries of distress, and my damaged spirit. My mala is a reminder that I need to be more aware, mindful and perceptive towards my mind, body and soul in order to bring love and peace into my life. When I wear the mala I feel protected, and out of habit I stroke the tassel because it is so soft, made from such fine, high quality threads!
My mala is made from rudraksha and howlite. Rudraksha is a common seed used by yogis. There are vertical lines seen on the seed, called mukhi (Image below used from this website). The rudraksha beads used for this mala are five mukhi, which help with awareness, memory and word power. This is important for me as I am suffering from cognitive symptoms of burnout. I usually have a good memory but I am struggling with short term memory loss, speech, and concentration. Rudraksha is known to help sharpen focus and concentration, which would be helpful in meditation but to be honest I really just need them to get through everyday life right now. Perhaps even more important to me right now is that rudraksha can protect you from negative energies, especially from someone against you, like a bully or an online troll. Due to jealousy, rejection, hatred or any other reason, such people may try to cause trouble. Rudraksha can help protect you from such negative vibes.
Howlite also facilitates awareness, encourages emotional expression, and helps to eliminate pain, stress, or even rage. It’s a lovely stone that has soothing qualities. Although my sleep problems are not related to over-thinking, howlite can help achieve a deep and restful sleep by calming the over-active mind. (My next blog post will be about vegan / cruelty-free products that help with sleep… watch this space).
Howlite brings awareness to both current and past-life issues, which has been a very helpful thing for me. I am a strong believer that your developmental history (what happened in your childhood) significantly influences how you think and behave as an adult. This can sometimes be hard to accept, and even harder to change the behaviours that have resulted from it. Howlite also absorbs anger and negative energy, which I certainly carried with me after having to resign from my job, which was (literally) killing me. Howlite also strengthens positive character traits, removes selfishness, rude behaviour, and greed.
Sounds like an amazing mala, doesn’t it? I love wearing it and I can’t wait to purchase my next mala from Les Ateliers de Brahma, especially knowing that a tree will be planted for my purchase. I’ve got my eye on the “Guérison” mala, which means “healing”… it’s funny how the mala that you are drawn to (I was drawn to this one immediately because of its beautiful colours), also turns out to be the mala that you need. Healing is a long process, but I’m getting there, and I’m so grateful that I received this mala at this time of my life.
Light, love, and gratitude,
Miko xx
