What are Mala Meditation Beads Meanings by Color?
Mala beads are a useful and beautiful tool used for meditation. They can be worn as a necklace or a bracelet, and usually have 108 mala beads on each strand, though other numbers may be used. They are used to count breaths or the number of times a mantra is repeated by running your fingers over the beads (learn how to use mala beads for meditation).
Japa mala necklaces can be used during meditation and also worn throughout the day as a reminder to be mindful or as a reminder for a personal mantra connected to the type of bead or stone the necklace is made from.
While any type of beads can be used for meditation, certain colors and precious stones have their own meanings that can be significant to the wearer and help to achieve a certain purpose to their meditation and their life.
Gemstones have varying energy and healing properties, so when you are selecting a bead for your meditation, you want to look for the ones that have properties that will benefit you the most. Are you meditating to reduce stress? To increase creativity? For sexual energy? There are stones that help with each purpose.
Of course, you should also take into account the appearance and texture of the stones. For this article, we’ve divided up the meanings by colors and then by certain stone and wood types. Hopefully using this information you can find the perfect mala necklaces for your meditation practice.
Mala Beads Meanings by Color
Contents
Red Mala Beads
Red Jasper – Grounding, organized, creative, empathetic, rejuvenating. Encourages mental clarity and focus. Helps with allergies to animals and those who get overwhelmed easily. Promotes healing from illness.
Red Tiger Eye – Motivating, protecting, perceptive, humbling, confident. Increases low sex drive. Perfect for those looking to accomplish goals or those with commitment issues.
Garnet – Cleansing and energizing. Inspires love and devotion, balances the sex drive. Courageous. Self-confident. Sharpens perceptions. Removes inhibitions and taboos. This a strong and intense stone.
Pink Mala Beads
Rose Quartz – Truth. Harmony. Encourages unconditional love. Purifies and opens the heart. Promotes love, self-love, and friendship. Provides comfort in grief. Dispels negativity.
Rhodonite – Balances emotions, heals emotional pain. Encourages forgiveness and self-love. Builds confidence. Helps those dealing with abuse and emotional issues. Stimulates the heart chakra.
Unakite – Unique pink and green stone. Grounding. Balancing. This bead inspires rebirthing and realizing anything that inhibits your spiritual growth. Good for people dealing with life changes or needed to let go of past events. Aids in releasing pain and anger. The stones are pink and green in color, creating a beautiful, complementary appearance as a mala.
Pink Jade – Protective stone against negative energies. Benefits the heart chakra. Attracts and enhances love while providing emotional balance. Promotes creative expression, enhances dreams, and help develop your inner self.
Orange Mala Beads
Carnelian – Stimulate creativity. Motivates. Encourages vitality, courage, and positive life choices. Sharpens concentration. Helps with overcoming abuse, treats depression, and dispels emotional negativity. Boost fertility and stimulates sexuality. Increases passion and compassion.
Amber – Healing, cleansing, vitality, stress relief, emotional healing. Attracts love, pleasure, and happiness. Good for people dealing with or coming out of a long illness. Can be used for good luck.
Goldstone – Stabilizes emotions and promotes calmness. Generates energy. Protects. Good for attaining goals.
Yellow Mala Beads
Citrine – Uplifting and energetic. Inspires success and prosperity. Promotes success in business or personal affairs. Combats negative energy and helps to bring stability. Balances the solar plexus chakra.
Yellow Jade – Inspires wisdom, moderation, and perspective. Balances emotions. Aides in understanding dreams. Helps with learning and understanding new information. Promotes compassion and empathy.
Honey Calcite – Amplifies energy. Eases challenges that come with change. Inspires vitality, confidence, strength, and persistence. Helpful for people dealing with depression. Meditating with honey calcite helps to change persistent thoughts. Balances the crown chakra.
Green Mala Beads
Green Aventurine – Compassion, empathy, perseverance, prosperity, decisiveness. Comforting and healing. Promotes well-being and calm. Good for leaders and managers.
Moss Agate – These beads can vary in color from green to blue. Strengthens self-esteem and balances emotions. Helps develop strength and inspire personal growth. Inspiring. Optimistic. Used by midwives to lessen pain and ease delivery.
Green Jade – Soothes the mind, releases negativity, and stabilizes the personality. Stimulates ideas. Inspires insightful dreams. Attracts good luck and friendship. Balances the heart chakra.
Malachite – Creativity, confidence, emotional balance. Malachite can give comfort in times of change and also encourages emotional balance and healing the heart. It helps release negativity and overcome bad habits and behaviors.
Blue Mala Beads
Blue Aventurine – For communication and being true to yourself. Eliminates fear. Encourages creativity and success in business.
Blue Tiger Eye – Very useful for stress relief. Motivating, protecting, perceptive, humbling, confident. Perfect for those looking to accomplish goals or those with commitment issues.
Indian Bloodstone – This is a stone that can vary in color from blue to purple. Heal, detoxify, revitalize. Protects from evil and negativity. Promotes courage.
Lapis Lazuli – Promotes inner truth, self-awareness, and self-expression. Stimulates the mind for clear thoughts and ease of decisions. Releases stress and eases depression. Balances the throat chakra.
Blue Sky Jasper – Protective. Eases emotional stresses. Encourages independence. Balancing.
Purple Mala Beads
Amethyst – Memory enhancer, motivator, tranquilizer. Protective. Balancing. Enhances memory. Relieves insomnia. Soothes and counteracts negative emotions like stress, anxiety, sadness, grief. Good for people dealing with high stress, anxiety, and depression. Also helpful for people dealing with addictions. Makes a nice gift for travelers and soldiers, as it’s said to protect from harm and attack. Stimulates the third eye chakra.
Crazy Lace Agate – Calming bead, fosters self-acceptance and self-confidence. Clears energy blockage and brings vitality to the organs. Encourages concentration and focus. Absorbs emotional pain.
Sugilite – Protects and removes negative attachments. Promotes positive feelings that eliminate stress and bring calmness. Helps with emotional healing and helps you live your best life. Balances the crown chakra.
Black Mala Beads
Smoky Quartz – Releives stress, brings serenity and strength during difficult times, neutralizes negative energy. Detoxifier. Grounding. Stimulates the base chakra.
Black Agarwood Eaglewood – Invigorates, purifies, calms. Good for people who suffer from insomnia or hyperactivity.
Obsidian – Protects against negativity and negative energy. Clears confusion and promotes clarity. Stabilizes. Insightful. Stimulates growth, compassion, and strength. Helps dissolve emotional blocks from past trauma.
Black Onyx – Protection, strength, good fortune, vigor and health. Black onyx banishes griefs and promotes self control. In addition to balancing the energies of the body, this mala promotes healthy bodies and increased stamina.
Black Lava Stone – Grounding stone. Promotes focus, balance, strength, and courage. Encourages rebirth and helps shed unnecessary emotions and unhealthy attachments.
White and Clear Mala Beads
White Howlite – Increases memory and desire to learn. Patient. Calm. Positive. Expands horizons and opens the mind to new knowledge. Improves memory and facilitates learning. Fights overactive minds and insomnia. Good for people who are angry and disappointed. Balances the third eye chakra.
Mother of Pearl – Healing, protecting, creative. Dispels negative energy and brings harmony and balance.
Clear Quartz – Amplifies other crystals and heals, drawing off negative energy. Cleanses the mind and body. Extremely beneficial for meditation.
Pearl – Often worn as fine jewelry, pearls aren’t usually thought of as healing stones. The main meanings of pearl are grace, purity, truth, happiness, compassion, and integrity. Pearls promote healing power, soothing the nervous system and promoting self-esteem and emotional balance.
Brown and Wood Mala Beads
Bodhi Seed – A traditional mala material. Awakening. Spiritual promise, dedication, faith. Buddha gained his enlightenment while sitting under a Bodhi Tree.
Sandalwood – Another common traditional material for mala beads, sandalwood aids in relaxation, helping to reduce excessive thoughts and nervous energy.
Bayong Wood – Provides stability and grounds mentally, physically, and spiritually.
Tiger Eye – Protecting and grounding. Increases confidence, helps to recognize talent and faults. Inspires you to accomplish goals.
Brown Agate – Inspires inner stability, self-confidence, composure, and maturity. Improves concentration, perception, and analytical abilities. Improves relationships with friends, family, and lovers by helping people forgive and release bitterness.
Tulsi – Not technically wood, the tulsi plant (also known as sacred basil) has a long history of spiritual uses. The beads are made from the stem of the plant. This sacred bead clears the aura, balances vata and kapha doshas, and provides protection to the wearer. In addition to physically protecting you from accidents, tulsi mala also protect from bad dreams.
Rosewood – With a beautiful deep reddish tone, rosewood offers protection and banishes negative energy. Removes obstables and helps manifest desires. Promotes healing in yourself and others.
How to Wear Mala Beads
Japa mala beads are so beautiful, it’s no surprise people choose to wear them daily. They’re not only a stylish fashion statement but wearing your mala can be a constant reminder to live in mindfulness and stay grounded.
Traditional practitioners advise a mala should be worn around your right wrist, usually wrapped multiple times to fit comfortably (that’s why many people refer to them as “mala bracelets” even when it has the full 108 beads). I prefer to wear my mala this way as it is easier for me to see and remember to stay in the present moment.
Many people choose to wear their malas as a necklace, either as a single loop or a double loop. This is a comfortable and fashionable option to keep your mala nearby. It’s also easier to wear this way if you work on a computer because the pressure of the beads pressed against your wrist while you use a keyboard can be uncomfortable.
Now that you’ve found the perfect japa mala, learn how to use mala beads for meditation.