108 beads, one breath

A mala has 108 beads because that is the number of breaths a person takes in about ten minutes of slow sitting, and because 108 divides neatly into quarters — 27 beads each, marked by a larger bead or a knot.

You do not need to be good at meditation to use one. Hold the mala in the left hand, move one bead per breath with the thumb, and when you reach the guru bead, turn around. The point is not the count; it is that the hand has something to do while the mind settles.

Ours are knotted between every bead, so the strand moves one bead at a time instead of sliding.