Start with one round.

I — Sit

Anywhere you will not be interrupted. Early is traditional — the hours before sunrise are considered the best for it — but the tradition is unanimous that chanting at a bad time beats not chanting at a good one. Phone face down and out of reach. The whole point is that for these minutes nothing can summon you.

II — Hold the beads

A mala is held in the right hand, the thumb and middle finger moving each bead as you finish its mantra. The index finger is kept off the beads. You start at the bead beside the large head bead and work around; when you reach the head bead again that is one round, and you turn around and go back rather than crossing it.

No beads yet? Use the mala on this site — it keeps the count for you, in your own browser, and nothing is sent anywhere. A physical mala is better eventually. It is not a reason to wait.

III — Say it, and hear it

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Once per bead, aloud or under your breath, slowly enough to actually hear the words. Not fast. There is no score. The instruction everybody gives is to listen to it rather than perform it — what the names mean is worth reading once, and then not thought about while you chant.

IV — When your mind wanders

It will wander. Bringing it back is the practice.

Every account of japa, from beginners and from people fifty years in, says the same thing: the attention goes, you notice it has gone, you return it to the sound. That loop is not an interruption of the exercise. It is the exercise. Nobody graduates out of it.

What this is not