An in-depth look at how our design process support us in our personal journey.

During the time this piece was inspired into fruition (July 2015), I was working on harmonizing my heart and throat chakras while working actively with a meditation by Lilian Eden for communicating entitled Unspoken: Breaking the Silence, to gain confidence in expressing my Highest Truth. I was also experiencing vivid lucid dreams, and wanted to interpret the symbolism within them. I also felt that amazonite was the right stone at this particular time for the intentions set in my yoga and to connect to my Highest Truth.

The intention was to design mala beads that could be worn actively during yoga practice, but also used in meditations for communication and for dream interpretation. I wanted a gemstone that had the touch and feel of raw and natural smooth rocks. I began the search and discovered this rare unpolished amazonite, with gradient colors of aqua green, blue, black and brown. These mala beads have a totally natural texture and colouring.

The meaning behind amazonite had a personal resonance for me too. Amazonite is a stone for communicating truth, finding harmony, and interpreting dream symbolism. It is believed to release fear of judgement, removes conflict, and allows one to speak the truth of the Higher Self. It awakens the heart centre to compassion and allows for expressing feelings without over-emotionalism. Amazonite is believed to make everything more conscious, and one can trust the visions, dreams, and intuitions while working with it.

I used a lotus guru bead in this design for its representation of transformation — the beautiful lotus emerging from muddy waters. At the time, my intention was to work through communicating and opening the heart for transforming my own actions with others.

This mala is an expression of a time when my meditation and yoga practice moved into deeper levels communication, compassion, higher knowledge, and expressing spirit through my own voice.