YOGUE: INSIYA RASIWALA-FINN

yoga.eco.life.style

  • Yoga + Ayurveda
    • Weekly Yoga Classes
    • Ayurveda with Insiya
    • Workshops + Retreats
    • Calendar
  • Learn
    • Online Yoga Flows
    • Recipes
  • Blog
    • Ayurveda
    • Life
    • Nourish
    • Parenting
    • Style
    • Yoga Practice
    • Yogue Travel
    • Wellness + Eco-Beauty
  • Published Writing
  • About Yogue
    • About Insiya
    • Yogue in the Press
    • Contact
    • Links
    • Subscribe to YOGUE
You are here: Home / Blog / Style / Tiny Devotions Malas: Necklaces with a Conscience

Tiny Devotions Malas: Necklaces with a Conscience

November 19, 2010 by insiyar 1 Comment

2378713998_c2e1d39586

canangs or “tiny devotions” the daily offerings that balinese women leave for their Gods + ancestors

I still remember my first visit to Bali.  Here was a land made for tourist postcards, with lush landscapes, rice fields, frangipani and azure ocean.   There was also lots of colourful patterned batik, the fabric that women and men wore on ceremonial days – of which there were plenty.  And a constant stream of offerings that women carried in little woven leaf baskets, called canang (pr. chanaang). These offerings were everywhere,  They made busy crossroads – even those replete with the buzz of a hundred scooters – a sacred space.

I asked what they symbolized, and learnt that these offerings were one of the ways the Balinese prayed.   The Balinese love rituals and this was how they remembered their ancestors, spirits and Gods.

frangipani or plumeria, they smell divine

frangipani or plumeria, it doesn’t matter what you call them, just know that they smell divine

Diana Charabin, a yoga-studying, passionate, spiritual seeker who happened to be in Bali a year ago, was also beguiled by these beautiful offerings.  And inspired!  In fact so inspired, that she decided to create a company called Tiny Devotions, in honor of the canangs.  What does Tiny Devotions do?  Craft the simplest, yet most elegant malas I’ve seen for a while.

Where did malas originate?
In sanskrit, mala is a garland.  But malas or rosaries; a circle of beads forming a necklace; cut across many cultural tradtions.  Some suggest that malas come from the Hindu traditions of India, which would date them to about 5000 years ago.  And perhaps that is true.  You may recognize their various avatars as rosaries, used in the Catholic and Christian traditions, Worry beads; the Tasbis of Islam; and the Japa Malas of Buddhism, where the beads represent the number of mental conditions or sinful desires that one must overcome to reach enlightenment or nirvana. Modern interpretations also include “charm” bracelets, albeit with fewer beads.

rosequartz

A rosequartz mala by Tiny Devotions

While the intricacies of the types of beads and the number of beads in each garland differ from one tradition to another, their purpose is similar.   They’re used as decoration as well as a mnemonic to count your prayers.   In fact, the word ‘bead’ itself is supposedly derived both from the Sanskrit buddh, which refers to self-realization, and also from the Saxon verb bidden, to pray.

tasbih

A tasbih

Charabin makes her malas in the traditional hindu style, with 108 rudraksha beads and an extra one, usually a stunning semi-precious stone, called a meru to let know when you have reached the end of one cycle of prayers.   My meru is turquoise and hangs just below my navel.

Rudra in Sanskrit is another name for Lord Shiva, while aksa means eye.  An old Hindu legend says that once Shiva opened his eyes after a long and fulfilling Yoga practice, he shed a tear. This single tear from Shiva’s eye sprouted into the Rudraksha tree, that grows today in the Himalayan foothills, South-East Asia, Indonesia, New Guinea, Australia, Guam, and Hawaii.

Turquoise Mala

Turquoise Mala

Whether you believe in the spirituality of malas or enjoy them purely for their or sringaar (decorative beauty), there is something both substantive and grounding about wearing a mala.  For me, I have a little growing being deep in my belly and the thought of having a smooth yet irregular turquoise stone, (signifying communication, healing and balance) resting at my hara, or energy centre, the spot right where my baby lays, is comforting as I navigate my busy days.  It feels like a protective, guiding amulet.  I’ve come to think of wearing a mala to be an extension of my physical yoga asana practice, the door through which so many of us enter to go further.  There’s so much more available, but only if we want to go there.  Wearing a mala can be a perfect entry point.

75171_10150326996325445_678570444_15828080_982904_n

A mala on my blossoming belly, the turquoise resting right on my “hare”

The Tiny Devotions malas cost CAD $108 – this includes free shipping across North America.
lovetinydevotions.com

*Tiny Devotions is donating proceeds from their malas to support rehabilitation efforts after the recent Indonesian Tsunamis.

Tweet
PinIt

Filed Under: Style, Blog Tagged With: bali, garlands, jewellry, malas, rudrakshas, tiny devotions

Comments

  1. Diana Charabin says

    November 20, 2010 at 11:44 am

    This is very beautifully written! Thank you for catching the essence of Tiny Devotions!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Ancient Wisdom.Modern.Life.Style
ABOUT YOGUE Hi, I'm Insiya. Journey with me to live slow, deeply, in truth, while scattering beauty as we tread lightly on the planet.
CONTACT YOGUE | LINKS | SUBSCRIBE
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo

Recipes

Spiced Apple Almond Muffins

Spiced Apple Almond Muffins

January 17, 2019

Simple Spiced Summer Oatmeal

Simple Spiced Summer Oatmeal

August 16, 2018

INSTA LOVE

 Officially landed at this place that will be home for the next three weeks. Signing off being online today, but here is a little preview of where I am. Swipe right to see more. 1. The doorway to my little room 2. My humble home for the next little while 3. The river runs beside my little cottage 4. Pure drinking water boiling in the glorious old kitchen 5. Ayurvedic herbal medicine being prepared right here A breeze blows the leaves beside me, the air is humid and heavy as I sit by the river and I can hear bird sounds and also a few motorbikes but it feels peaceful. The gardens are lush and chaotic as if they cannot be contained and there was Indian chai at breakfast milky and sweet. I realize how I don’t quite know what to do with myself when I don’t have to rush from one thing to the next. When I don’t have to keep track of everything in my life... :) doing things quickly because there is always something else to get to and somewhere else to be, has imprinted itself deep in my psyche and I wonder how long it will take to unravel... perhaps this is what we need to figure out... how can we be happy when we are always rushing to the next thing? #kerala #ayurveda #ayurvedaretreat #panchakarma #healing #wellness #india #insiyayoga #blissarmy #breathe #exhale @blissology @maggie_reagh @mount_madonna_institute ✨  I love that this selfie didn’t get us all quite within its frame because it feels like an apt metaphor for how we can never contain the multi dimensional experiences and emotions that life offers us ❤️✨! Today I am grateful for all of it and am treasuring these sweet moments with my boys as we soak up the big wildness and gorgeous trees of our northwest landscape.  #blissfamtravels #yoguetravels #victoportland #cascadia #outdoormama #blissedandblessed #blissology #yogue #yogafam  Can you remember your true nature when life gets you really squished? Can you remember that you are a shining light beam of light, love and bliss? Can you move beyond the flesh blood and bone part of you? Can you remember your true nature... #yogapracticenotes #youareenergy #prana #breathe #ayurveda #healing #breathe #insiyayoga #blissedandblessed
 What is the difference between feeling sort of not ok or somewhat ok; vs feeling vitally, radiantly, incredibly WELL. So that you can meet whatever life throws at you with spark and resilience? To me there is a HUGE difference and I imagine you feel similarly. And yet we can let a feeling of unease progress for years until it amounts to something big and then you finally wake up and decide you need to address it. I’ve been struggling w something that feels like IBS for some years now and as life has become busier I’ve felt that my health has not been able to support me fully especially given what I practice with ayurveda and yoga and I have not been able to allow myself enough self care and real care. Tonight I’m flying to India to experience first hand the Ayurvedic detox and rejuvenation treatment called panchakarma. I will be away for almost a month, while @blissology manages our wellness and yoga biz and parents our little guy. This is the first time I will have been away from our 8 year old for so long. This is the first time in years that I will have time to focus just on me. I don’t think I have felt this way since having my son. Am I ready to be offline for 3 weeks. Will I journal lots? I hope so. Will I commit to a healing yoga practice daily, yes? And will I use this time to reconnect to myself? As I get ready to leave wintry Canada I think I will be. I’ll use this time as a holiday gift from all those who love me... And while it was so hard to say goodbye to my loves in Victoria the upside is that I get to hug my parents 16 hours from now in Mumbai! #healing #wellness #blissedandblessed #ayurveda #panchkarma #detox #health #yogateacherlife #yogamama #blissology #yogue  The little guy has those sniffles and I feel something coming on too. Here is a potent and delicious healing elixir to ward off colds, fight inflammation and boost your immunity: Turmeric is a natural anti bacterial and my go to in our family in fresh or dried form when we feel a cold coming on. Raw honey helps our immunity, the citrus is full of vitamin c and the ginger is also an anti inflammatory and detoxifier. This should suit all Ayurvedic doshas but if you have a lot of pitta go easy on the ginger and pepper. Ingredients: 3” turmeric root (peeled); * 3” young ginger root (peeled), 4-6 oranges, seeded, peeled and pith removed 2 heaping tsps raw honey A generous twist of pepper 2 to 3 cups of water How to: Blend at high speed for a few minutes, serve and drink. I will mention that my version was a little more pungent while the remedy for my little guy was sweeter w more fresh orange juice. A toast to keeping our immune systems strong and vital as we step into the cold season. #modernayurveda #healingremedies #breathe #citrus #vitaminc #yogue #organicfoods #recipe #elixir  It’s such a simple idea, yet it has such far reaching benefits... ✨✨✨ when we take the time to look after ourselves, we fill up enough so that we can give fully to one another, our community and our planet without depleting ourselves again. We learn how to cultivate our prana or life force so we can live in flow w life. ✨ I am so happy to share that our upcoming bali yes / ecokarma retreat is over half full  and so with our deepest gratitude we’re making the remaining spots available at a special price for NOVEMBER. So if you are dreaming of the tropics now is the time :) What can you expect on this retreat? Intelligent, activating daily yoga w @blissology et moi; beautiful, organic food @desaseni_avillageresort to nourish you at the deepest level, getting into a beneficial circadian rhythm to help you gain balance; surfing for all levels and hands on ecokarma work to help Bali’s Mangrove Forest’s and shorelines w our partners @sustainsurf and local Indonesian non profits. I can’t think of a more blissful march week, can you? Email retreats@blissology.com for more info So excited for this truly transformational journey. ✨❤️ #canggulife #globalyogis #cangguyoga
 And you revel in the simplicity of getting your hands into the dough, watching the bread rise and letting the scent wake up your family this Monday morning. And it feels like a small accomplishment that offers huge satisfaction. A reaction to this world where so much is pre-done for us, to how little we do w our own hands and how I long to do to create and make more... Ps. The recipe is from my old @hollyhocklife cookbook. And remember you can sign up for an ayurveda retreat w me there next September (2020). #yogue #ecoyogalife #viclife #yoguekitchen #breathe #simplelife #blissedandblessed #hollyhockbread #modernayurveda #slowlife #slowfood #yogalife #insiyayoga  When you find a cosy restaurant that cooks food like you aspire to make at home... only it’s better... you marvel at your plate of deliciousness and then proceed to eat it all up. :)  #saturdays #blissedandblessed @charlotteandthequail @blissology #eatmoreplants #eatlocal #victoriacafes #vancouverisland #blissologyfam #eatingoutwkids  How I spent some of my Sunday alone (without @blissology and #lifi)... dropped in on a sweet flow practice @hemmayogaacupuncture this am, then took a botanical watercolor workshop at @visa_art_school ... i love watercolor art and I love flowers so I thought a botanical illustration class sounded amazing... ✨✨✨ what was really great about it? Losing yourself in the process of slowly observing a flower, of tracing lines, making marks on a page in a way that speaks to you. ✨✨✨ Time warped and 3 hours passed by in a flash. And it was fun! This is why I love the creative process. It is YOGA . It is the yoking together of presence and embodiment. Of allowing something other than ourselves to emerge. Of watching ourself rather than simply being stuck in ourself... swipe right to see the final watercolor. This has inspired me to paint more... #art #mamasdayoff #selfcare #creativeprocess #yogaofart #yogue #viclife #vancouverisland #exhale #yogalife #yogateacherlife #watercolor #botanicalpainting
TAP

Want more YOGUE? Subscribe now.

Menu

  • About Yogue
  • Yoga + Ayurveda
  • Published Writing
  • Learn
  • Blog
  • Recipes

Search

Gratitude:

Thanks for visiting YOGUE! If you have any feedback, suggestions or burning questions, please email info@yogue.ca Namaste!

© Copyright 2014 | Yogue with Insiya · All Rights Reserved · Design by Lake ·