Are Meditation Beads the same as Worry Beads? What are Worry Beads?

Worry beads are traditionally from Greece. Everyone in Greece carries these glass or gemstone beads strung on a cord. They are usually strung very loose so they can be flipped around your hand throughout the day. Worry beads are very similar to the yoga bracelet and Buddhist prayer beads. When I visited Greece, I had to bring back several Worry Bead bracelets as gifts. Worry beads are great for people with anxious or busy minds. These are great to help you focus. Almost like a beaded fidget spinner. People who also love to leave them in their cars or bring them on the train.

Meditation beads or Buddhist prayer beads are generally strung into a necklace of 108 beads that are usually knotted between each bead and they are used for meditation. If making a meditation bracelet (or yoga bracelet) you would use 54 beads and go around twice during meditation, or you can use 36 beads and go around three times. There are many parts to a mala, which we go over in our “Anatomy of a Mala” post.

Since we at Beadworks love silk knotting, I naturally thought it would be fun to apply the beading technique to the tradition of Buddhist prayer bead bracelets and Greek worry beads. To make your worry beads you will need a strand of your favorite gemstone rounds (6mm or 8mm work best), the proper size silk cord for your gemstone rounds, a focal bead. To make your worry beads: Leaving a 5 inch tail before your first bead, knot as many beads as you would like to make you worry beads with(I usually use around 30 depending on what size beads), after you knot all your beads add your focal bead, feed the silk down through your focal bead so both ends of the silk are coming out of the bottom, tie a knot and add some Hypo-Cement glue. You can also add a tassel or add a few focal beads going down the bottom.