Metaphysical Descriptions of Mala Beads

This time we want to offer some information about the different types of beads used to make the wholesale malas we sell.  For many centuries, minerals, crystals and gemstones have been used by civilizations in spiritual rituals and for their energetic healing properties. Each is believed to carry it’s own individual quality or “personality.” While different traditions ascribe different traits to them, they are, almost always, held as sacred and used to strengthen particular energies inside the person wearing them.

Wholesale Aquamarine malas at greateasternimports.com

Wholesale Amazonite malas at greateasternimports.com

Wholesale Apatite Malas at greateasternimports.com

Wholesale Tourmaline malas at greateasternimports.com

Wholesale Fluorite Malas at greateasternimports.com

Wholesale Jadeite malas at greateasternimports.com

For a (mala) rosary, the best substances are jewels. Seeds are second best. Then clay, stones, bone, and wood.

African Jade activates the heart chakra to calm anxiety and high emotions as well as strengthens capacity to share love.

Agate is known for its grounding, centering and balancing properties and it improves mental concentration and perception.

Amazonite is said to balance feminine and masculine energy, promote the inclination to kindness, to aid in clear communication, balance emotions, and increase physical stamina.

Amethyst is considered sacred to Buddha, possibly due to its ability to activate and balance the 6th chakra (third eye).

Apatite is said to enhance creativity, acceptance, balance, healing, and to help us to see the truth about ourselves.

Aquamarine is known for its ability to clear the mind, aid creativity and to balance the emotions.

Aventurine is said to be the stone of luck, and to increase perception and creative insight.

The Bodhi Seed signifies the Buddha’s attainment of enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree. While especially revered by Buddhists, a bodhi seed mala is considered auspicious to use for all practices, and represents spiritual promise, dedication and faith.

Bone is a traditional material used in malas in both Nepal and Tibet.

Brass promotes healing, attracts prosperity, and provides protection against negative energy. This powerful metal promotes friendship, love and inner goodness.

Carnelian is said to open the second (sexual) chakra to promote passion, creativity, motivation, self-confidence and self-esteem. It also is believed to help heal physical wounds, cure blood disorders, treat sexual disorders, and to stop bleeding.

Citrine is both physically and mentally energizing, stimulating openness and accelerating the awakening of the mind. Citrine symbolizes light-heartedness, joy, happiness, wisdom and peace, and is said to enhance creativity.

Coral is an aid to meditation and it brings happiness. It can ease depression and protects against curses and nightmares. Coral brings courage and can help one avoid violence.

Crystal Quartz is know as a stone of harmony, and is referred to as a “Master Healer” stone. It is also said to clarify thought processes and emotions, which can increase inspiration and creativity. It can also help particularly with concentration, studying, and memory retention.

Ebony is a dark durable wood that has strong protective qualities, especially for the home and one’s love life. Traditionally used for sacred objects, Ebony has long been the favorite wood among the royalty in India.

Fluorite is purported to help the evolution of harmonious, peaceful and organized spiritual growth.

Garnet lends vitality and strength, aids in raising and directing the flow of kundalini energy and increases sensuality.

Gold brings wealth, success and good health. It increases confidence and will power.

Green Garnet is considered a powerful healing gemstone for the heart chakra, and is able to remove toxins, negativity and traumas.

Hematite is said to protect the vital energy of the body.

Howlite opens and prepares the mind to receive the energies and wisdom of attunements. Howlite is a lovely stone to use when needing to reduce anxiety, tensions and stress. Howlite can be used to facilitate awareness, encourage emotional expression and assist in the elimination of pain, stress and/or rage.

Jade helps one cherish ones desires and to build ones dreams in this physical reality, inspiring one to accomplishment. Yellow Jade cultivates inner peace, joy and happiness, and helps one to realize the interconnectedness of all Life. Yellow Jade is also known to improve assimilation, digestion, understanding and empathy. White Jade and Green Jade carry the properties of turning dreams into reality and inspiring one to accomplishment.

Jasper is thought to bring one what they need, aid in attaining a sound sleep, increase the ability to feel joy and carries a protective power. It is a stabilizing and balancing stone.

Kunzite is said to release stress, anger and fear, smooth out knotted muscles, and calm nerves.

Kyanite is a powerful stone to align all of the 7 chakras, and it also has a strong effect on the third eye to facilitate deep states of meditation and visualization. Kyanite is also known to promote communication, honesty, tranquility and dream recall.

Labradorite creates mental and physical balance while helping to purge negative thought patterns. It is also said to detoxify the body and is believed to elevate consciousness and promote meditation.

Lava Stone is solidified fiery volcanic rock that embodies strength and fertility, and helps to dissipate anger.

Lapis lazuli is an ancient spiritual stone reputed to bring about harmony in relationships and to cleanse the mental body while releasing old karmic patterns.

Lepidolite is sometimes referred to as the Peace Stone, as it’s know for protecting from negativity and outside influences, relieving stress, and attracting good luck!

Lotus Seed symbolizes spiritual growth and the ability to rise above obstacles on the path to spiritual enlightenment. Lotus seed also promotes spiritual and material prosperity.

Magnesite is known to cultivate resilience and patience as well as helping to improve creative visualization and imagination.

Mawsitsit is one of the rarest green gemstones on the planet. It’s only found in one location in the world. It is famous for its deep lush greens with black streaks or spots and is often compared with Jadeite because both stones are mined in the same location.

Moonstone is thought to bring good luck and the ability to grant wishes. Considered sacred in India, this stone is known for its ability to soothe and balance the emotions and for healing all female health problems.

Mother of Pearl has been prescribed for thousands of years to treat heart palpitations, dizziness and high blood pressure.

Obsidian is very often used for gaining clear insight into problems and is considered a stable stone, bringing stability to its owner.

Onyx is purported to help eliminate apathy, stress and negative thinking. It is used to change habits, in addition to helping concentration levels and aiding absent-mindedness.

Palmwood is said to symbolize evolution and growth.

Pearls symbolize purity, love and happiness and are said to attune all 7 chakras and bring a soft, healing energy during meditation. They represent grace, purity, truth, happiness, compassion, and integrity. Pearls promote healing power, soothing the nervous system and promoting self-esteem and emotional balance. Pearls can be Pink, White or Black.

Pyrite is a powerful protection stone which shields and protects against all forms of negativity.  Commonly called “fool’s gold,” this prosperity stone allows one to see behind false facades and enhances intellect and memory.

Quartz is said to be the universal healing stone, reputed to promote hope, happiness and optimism.

Rosewood (Red Sandalwood) is used to call upon Lord Ganesh “the remover of obstacles” and the Divine Mother.  Rosewood is warming, improves circulation and protects one from negative energy.

Rubies are a symbol of devotion and love and are considered to stimulate sexual passion and creation. Rubies are extremely powerful for healing chakras and to promote health, wealth and wisdom.

Rudrakshas are known to promote inner peace, knowledge, power and enlightenment and represent the meditative powers of Shiva to focus the mind and remove the demons of desire, lust and attachment.

The fragrance of the Sandalwood is said to be one of the most pleasing to the Gods and is considered cooling, calming and soothing. Sandalwood also promotes humility and focuses the mind to aid in meditation.

Silver is soothing, cleansing and is is also purported to attract, enhance and store the energies of gemstones.

Sodalite stimulates the pituitary gland, which opens up your spiritual perception.

Tigers Eye is said to help focus the mind, bringing protection, good fortune/luck, and insight

Tourmaline is known to have strong protective and healing powers. Green Tourmaline inspires creativity and attracts success and prosperity. Black Tourmaline is a grounding stone helps to balance the body and mind to cultivate physical healing and good health.

Turquoise is said to open all chakras, promoting the sense of unity of the self and oneness with all that surrounds us.

Veriscite is said to be beneficial in finding solutions to problems, and to be an aid to generating feelings of inner peace, love and compassion.

Stock Up On Meditation Cushions!

If you’re looking for meditation cushions to sell in your store, or for your meditation center, we can help!  Our meditation cushion covers are made with a durable 12oz. (100% cotton) canvas, in your choice of 35 different colors, with a minimum order of only 10 pieces total, 5 per color!  The Zafu’s & Zabuton’s we sell are available as either a shell (to be stuffed), or zippered cover (to fit over an existing cushion).  Zafu’s can be ordered in traditional style (with pleats), in “Pillbox” style (without pleats), or in “Half Moon Crescent” shape.  And our gomden style meditation cushion covers are available in full size (13″ x 18″ x 6″ high), or half size (13″x 18″ x 3″)  All the Zafu’s and Gomden’s we sell can be ordered in a single color or two-tone pattern (as shown below).

Zafu Meditation Cushions

Pillbox style Zafu Meditation Cushions

Half Moon Crescent Zafu

Gomden and Zabuton

These are perfect for re-covering old, worn out cushions that you already have at your meditation center.  If you have a store and you want to cut down on costs, you can order the covers from us and then fill them yourself to save on the cost of shipping the batting/filler material.

Most zafu and zabuton cushions are filled with cotton or kapok batting, which can be purchased at local craft or fabric supply stores.  Zafu meditation cushions are also sometimes filled with buckwheat hulls, which can easily be inserted to fill your cushions.  Zabutons can also be made (filled) with felt pads instead of cotton or kapok batting.  We recomend using two inches of felt padding to make sure it’s thick enough to provide a soft base to protect people’s knees and ankles when they sit on them.  Gomden style meditation cushions are usually filled with rebonded foam, and often have a thin pad of soft foam on the top to provide a soft surface area with an excellent, firm base.  Rebonded foam is quite heavy, however.  Recently we’ve also seen good quality industrial strength (firm and durable) hard “foam” available, which provides a lighter (weight) alternative for filling your gomden style cushions.

Rebonded Foam for Gomden’s

Felt Padding for Zabuton’s

If you’re not yet signed up for a wholesale account with us, click on the link to our website at https://greateasternimports.com/customer/account/create, and fill out a few details so we can get you set up and ready to go!

Is Your Shop Ready For Valentines Day?

Valentine’s Day is almost here, and people will be splurging on gifts. Last year, spending hit the second highest in 15-year history, as per the National Retail Federation’s survey.

About 55% of the population will likely celebrate the day this year with the biggest spending by millennials (25-34 age group). The top spending category is usually jewelry!

Given an uptick in seasonal sales, companies selling Valentine’s Day products will see a boost in sales no doubt.  Show your love, and exploit the near-term trend…  Stock up your shop with some of our best selling products!

Rose Gold is one of the hottest trends in jewelry within the last 6-12 months, and it’s perfect for Valentine’s Day!  We’ve got some great ideas to help you stock up for gifts to provide something for every budget

 

Rose Quartz mala with Rose Gold plated accents

Ruby mala with Aquamarine and Emerald

Peach Moonstone mala with Strawberry Quartz, Grey Agate & Eagle Eye Agate

Sandalwood wrist malas with faceted Shell, Pearl, Matte Crystal and Lepidolite

Faceted pink jade and gold plated druzzy agate lobster clasp wrist mala

Black Sapphire, Lepidolite, Kunzite, hematite and Pave CZ’s wrist mala

Rose Quartz and Sandalwood malas & wrist malas make great, low priced gift items.  Add on a few Rose Gold plated accents, or pink tassels, and you’ll be in tip-top shape!

Peach Moonstone, Rhodonite, and Lepidolite are great mid-priced items to keep your sales “in the pink”.

Last year Americans spent an average of $143.56 (or a total of $19.6 billion) on Valentine’s Day.  This is up from $18.2 billion the previous year but lower than the recent record of $19.7 billion in 2016.

For those customers who may want to spend a little more for some really exclusive gifts, check out our Kunzite and Ruby malas & wrist malas.

If you’re not yet signed up for a wholesale account with us, click on the link to our website at https://greateasternimports.com/customer/account/create, and fill out a few details so we can get you set up and ready to go!

Get Your Brand On

 

 

The market trend dubbed retailpocalypse is transpiring at an alarming rate as we head in to May 2018, and the retail casualties are piling up.  Meahwhile, interest in meditation and yoga is still growing rapidly.  The inspiring, stylish design details that adorn the places where people go to chill out—like meditation and yoga studios, are  adorning living rooms, and are as poplular as ever in fashion. According to Wikipedia, the main factor cited in the closing of retail stores in the retail apocalypse is the shift in consumer habits towards online commerce. While the retail trend shifts from brick-and-mortar shops to online sales, not all types of shops are closing.  While Toy’s R Us just closed all 735 of its U.S. stores, Build-A-Bear Workshop remained as the only major toy retailer surviving the retail apocalypse.  Could it be that shops that offer more tailored, customized products are in a better positon to thrive?  We believe that this is a time for differentiation and standing out in the market if there ever was one.  Are you taking steps to set yourself apart? At Great Eastern Imports, we’re here to help with a solution:  Custom products that we can deliver to you with low MOQ’s, and quick turn-around times. For malas, wrist malas, shamballa bracelets and wrap bracelets:  Perhaps your customers prefer a certain color scheme or combination of stone, wood, or seed beads.  With our large variety of (over 180) bead types and versatility in mixing & matching them, you’ll definitely find what you’re looking for here!  With our low minimum quantity order requirements (2 pieces per bead type & 10 pieces total), you can get a variety of different bead types in each of these products, to help you hone in to find out which ones sell best with your customers.  We’re also completely capable of handling larger orders, so even if you’re a large established brand, we can produce the quantities you need in a short time frame.  Our normal turn-around times for orders of up to 500 pieces is 10-14 days. For our textile products: We have a wide variety of (over 35) colors available in the cotton canvas material we use to make our meditation cushion covers.  We can also make custom designed tote bags and rakusus cases, or you can choose from our selection of popular designs.  Did you know that we can do custom tags (with your logo) and/or embroidery on all the meditation cushion covers, tote bags, mala bags and rakusu cases we sell? For jewelry type items; If you don’t see what you’re looking for in our catalog, and you’d like to make something special, we can create custom rings, earrings, pendants, amulets, or cuff links for your design!  All you have to do is send us your artwork or graphic files, and we’ll create a new mold, model and master (prototype) for your piece, which we can use to produce them whenever you want to (re)order.  The set-up charges for making them is fairly minimal, so you don’t have to worry about spending a fortune to test out your designs.  And, the minimum quantity order for the production of your pieces is also reasonable.  For rings, we require a minimum of 5 pieces per size, and for earrings, pendants, etc., you can order with a minimum of just 10 pieces total per design.  We can make them for you in all the different metal types available, and they can also be finished with plating, oxidation, or enamel. So you have your own brand? Want to put a tag with your logo on your products?  We do custom tags!  After you’re set up as a wholesale customer with us, send us your AI graphics and we’ll give you a quote on getting your own personalized logo tags made, which we’ll apply to the products we make for you on all sucessive orders.  For textile products, we make tags that can be sewn on to the sides of the meditation cushions you order, on inside the bags.  For jewelry type items, we can make brass, pewter, silver, or gold logo tags that can be applied on the the malas, wrist malas, wrap bracelets, or shamballa bracelets you order from us. Great Eastern Imports has been serving yoga and meditation stores and centers for 14 years.  We sell only high quality, authentic products, and we understand the meaning of these products as practitioners ourselves. When you’re ready to check out all we have to offer and place an order, go to our website and get your custom products!

Winter Is Coming… It’s Holiday Stocking Time!

While you’re out there enjoying the beautiful fall time, old man winter is right around the corner.  Before you know if it it’s going to be November, and that means the start of the holiday shopping season.  Get your shop stocked up for the holidays with lot’s of great gift ideas and practical practice gift items from Great Eastern Imports.  Our normal processing times on new orders is 1-2 weeks, and shipping takes 3 -5 days for FedEx, or 2-3 weeks for post office airmail.  If you do the math, you’ll be glad you’re reading this now.   Get your order in now, and then sit back and relax, knowing that you’ll be covered for the start of holiday shopping season on Black Friday.

 

Mala Fashion Trending in 2017

The huge surge in the popularity of yoga and meditation over the past few years seems to have increased the popularity of malas in general, so much that the mala tassel has even taken on a life of its own!  Tassels are all the rage… on malas, wrist malas, and even just by themselves!  Tassels on earrings, tassels on necklace chains, tassels on tassels on tassels.  Ha ha.  No joke  We’ve seen multi-tassel necklaces just on a chain.  There’s just a huge resurgence in demand for tassels on everything in jewelry lately.  Maybe it’s connected to the “dream catcher” motif.  Tassels; they’re like a feather for jewelry!

Matte Amazonite wrist mala with Gold Sandstone & etched brass accents

Remember that post we wrote back in January 2013, “Brass is Back“?  Yeah, well it’s truer now than ever… told ya so!  Now we’re seeing a huge popularity with the mixing of metal beads in with stone, wood, and seed beads. We’re getting lots of requests for malas with silver plated pewter accent beads, brass accent beads, and gold-plated brass.

Another trend is matte beads.  Everything matte is popular right now. Matte Crystal, matte onyx, matte sardonyx agate, and matte fire agate are the most common.  Lava rock qualifies in the matte category, and it’s still very popular!  Faceted beads are still popular as well, but that contrast is where it’s at.

Matte Green Fire Agate with Matte Crystal Quartz & silver plated pewter accents

Then there’s Druzzy Agate;  You’re own personal jewelry Geode.  We put up a line of druzzy agate beads on our malas & wrist malas page a few months ago, and those are also increasing in popularity. Druzzy agate is like a matte and faceted bead all rolled up in one with their crystal geode inclusions!  Those geodes are also becoming a focal point of necklace pendants, and bracelets as well.  It’s a new addition to the wrist game bling, matte vs. shiny match.

Peacock Druzzy Agate wrist mala with faceted opalized glass & hematite

The King of Bling; pavé set beads with CZ’s or gemstones in them is really mainstream.  Thank goodness people are opting out of the clay “shamballa” beads that have crystals glued onto them.  Those are really tacky, and the crystals fall off easily.  The wide-spread production of metal (brass or pewter) beads with micro pavé set stones on them has driven the prices down to where it’s now more common to see these than the clay & glue version that were all over the place a few years ago.

Golden Hematite with gold plated pavé CZ’s bead

Last but not least, is wood and seed beads.  Rudraksha seed beads became the rage after that Julia Roberts movie, Eat, Pray, Love a few years ago.  When it came to malas, basically it was Rosewood, Sandalwood, Bodhi Seed, Lotus Seed and Rudraksha, and that was it.  Now people are looking for other options.  We’re seeing a huge surge in popularity in many other types of wood beads including Ebony wood, Palm wood, Bayong wood, Robles wood and Coconut Shell beads.  Now we’re also looking at a few new types of wood beads, including Jackfruit wood, White wood, and a light pink colored Philippine Rosewood!

Phillipine Rosewood mala with Cherry Quartz

We sell (wholesale) custom design malas, wrist malas, yoga & spritual jewelry. If you’re looking for a manufacturer to help you with production for your beaded jewelry designs, we can help! We use geunine, hand selected, high quality beads on all our products! We have 12 years experience in the industry… Click on this link to sign up for an account, and start working with an experienced wholesale supplier who delivers the quality you expect!

Looking for unique products for your store?

Are you looking for unique products for your store? We sell wholesale meditation and yoga products, including custom made yoga jewelry, wrap bracelets, malas, statues, meditation cushions, and other related accessories. We’re located in Bangkok, Thailand, which is one of most prominent location in the world for gemstone manufacturing & trading. We have a large variety of precious & semi precious gemstone bead types, in addition to wood, seed, and bone beads! Weather you’re looking for a manufacturer to help you with production for your own designs, or wanting a talented & experience team to come up with the beaded jewelry designs for you, we can help! Great Eastern Imports has 12 years experience in the industry, and we offer a wide variety of choices in high quality materials on all our products! Please take a look at http://www.greateasternimports.com and sign up for an account, to start working with an experienced wholesale supplier who delivers the quality you expect!

The Wrist Game

Men’s and women’s beaded bracelets are an ongoing trend, in and throughout the different sectors of style and fashion that are currently prevalent worldwide.  As an adaptation to the usual malas, wrist malas (in varying designs) and Shamballa bracelets we’ve been selling (over 10 years in the game), we can also make them in combinations of different stone, wood, seed, and metal beads.  We really enjoy coming up with new styles and designs, which we’re obliged to test!  We use them, wear them (you’re welcome, our pleasure), to see how they work, how they look, how they feel, and how they endure, and then find ways to improve them!  We don’t feel that fashion and spirituality need to be separate, and yet we’re always aware of the problem of spiritual materialism (aka- how “spiritual” products are marketed as a solution to the first noble truth, dukkha).  Hard pill to swallow for retailers, I know, but let’s not try to win the game by foiling the audience.  Let’s win the game by inspiring wakefulness!  And the good news is that we are seeing a lot of really great advertising and promotions throughout the retail sector in the yoga/boho/spirituality marketplace.  The mindfulness and yoga revolution is in full force folks!  Take a look at what we’re vibing on these days, and let us know what we can do to help you get some of our products into your store.  As always, our focus is on custom designs for wholesale supply, so please feel free to come to us with your own designs, and we’ll make them!  So, dear shop owners, save yourself the time, energy, labor, etc., and order them from us!  Sign up to be a retailer by filling out the request on our website at greateasternimports.com/customer/account/create.

Come Visit Our New Website!

Come by, take a look, and get registered to order online!

We’re very exited to have finally launched our new website, just in time for holiday ordering.   Come by, take a look, and get registered (wholesale customers only) to order online!  Our new website makes shopping for products with us a whole lot easier, and we have a huge selection of products, all ready to be custom made for your order.  Looking for wholesale mala beads?  We have over 130 different bead types for wrist malas, and over 100 bead types for our full length malas, all of which can be custom made to fit your target audiences preferences!  We also have a huge selection of meditation supplies, shrine and altar supplies, sacred symbols dharma and yoga jewelry, and other related goods and accessories.  We have the products you need, and the quality you expect.

We Think Outside the (Shipping) Box!

Importing products from overseas can be costly, let’s face it! Shipping costs aren’t getting any cheaper, that’s for sure. When you buy from us, you can rest assured that you’re in good hands! We think outside the box when it comes to packing and shipping your order!  We must have played too much Tetris when we were younger, because we’re maniacs when it comes to packing a box full.  We want to make sure that you get the maximum bang for your shipping bucks, and that’s why we’re so innovative about packing and shipping products to our customers.

It all starts when you order.  The first thing we do is to coach our customers to “order smart”.  If you order a combination of  larger, bulkier items, smaller items, and light weight, textiles, then we don’t have to use as much packing and padding materials; the textiles can provide the padding for the larger items, and the smaller items can be used to fill in the gaps.  In a promotion rate express box by FedEx, they allow up to 10 kg’s in the small box (which is 15.81″ x 12.94″ x 10.19″ [40.16 cm x 32.86 cm x 25.88 cm]), or 25 kg’s in the big box (which is 21.56″ x 16.56″ x 13.19″ [54.8 cm x 42.1 cm x 33.5 cm]).  For most of our customers, these are the ideal shipping boxes.  The rate they offer is cheaper than post office shipping at those weights, and they also deliver faster than post office or other courier services.   We can fit a lot of products into a 25 kg (55 lbs.) box @ ~$9/kg (depending on the country), and it’s a better value than the 10 kg (22 lbs.) box @ ~ $14/kg (depending on the country).  For customers who only want to order smaller items, like malas, wrist malas & jewelry, we ship by post office express mail (EMS) flat rate boxes, or by regular airmail.  The tracking capabilities of EMS shipping are also better than your average post office shipping, and they usually deliver within one week.  For customers who want to order in smaller quantities, there’s always the standard airmail shipping, which delivers in 2 weeks, and also has tracking capabilities, and is reasonably priced.  Anything under 2 kg’s can be sent by a classification called “Small Packet Airmail”, which is even cheaper.  For those of you who are good at planning ahead, there’s an economy airmail (SAL) service through the post office, which is a cheaper rate, and delivers within three to four weeks.  And for those rare few who are really good at planning ahead, there’s a surface mail service through the post office, which is an ultra low rate, for delivery within three to four months!  The nice thing about post office mail and FedEx, UPS, or DHL shipping is that there’s no external agent to deal with regarding customs clearance, which means you get the shipment delivered to your door without going through a bunch of hassles!  Post office shipping can be great for items like meditation cushions, which are big and bulky, but not all that heavy considering the size.  Since post office shipping is based on the weight, those big bulky items can be sent in a big box, and if you plan far enough ahead, then you can get them sent for a very cheap rate in relatively small quantities.

Since we know all the pros and cons of all the different shipping methods, we can help you figure out the best service for the products you want, to get them to you in the time frame you need them in!  If you’re a meditation and/or yoga products retailer who’s looking for an innovative supplier, you’ve come to the right place!