Mantra Issues

This post is directed at anyone knowledgable or experienced in mantra remedies.

I'm trying to do a small, modest Mrityunjaya mantra upaya for astrological reasons.

I know it is ideal to do it very early in the morning before sunrise, right after bathing, and using a 108-bead rudraksha mala. And to also abstain from sexual activity, alcohol, and non-vegetarian food. But most info i could find also says you can make at least some alowances for modern times, and for your own needs, abilities, and limitations.

- Do you still have to practice complete sexual abstinence (from any kind of sexual activity or orgasm) for the whole 40-day period or else it will become completely inneffective, or even worse than not chanting it at all?

- Right now I can only manage 21 Mrityunjaya repetitions per day, but the only 21-bead mala i have is not rudraksha, it is conch. Would chanting it with a 21-bead conch mala be inneffective, or even worse than not chanting the MJM at all? (Since Lakshmi and Vishnu prefer conch and Shiva/Rudra prefers rudraksha.)

- If I cannot chant it at exactly the same time of day would that be worse than not chanting it at all, or at least make it inneffective?

- Do we need to decide, upon starting, whether to chant it either out-loud or mentally, and then just pick one or the other and do that for the entire 40 days without deviation. Because for me, some days it feels right to do it out loud, and then there are days when if feels more appropriate to just do it mentally, otherwise it drains my energy. So would doing it mentally some days and vocally on other days, without sticking to one or the other for the entire 40-day period, render the whole thing useless or even worse than never chanting at all?

- While I read that it is ok to do 21-reps per day instead of 108, I could not find out whether it is ok to do it over a 21-day period instead of a full 40-day discipline. Would doing it for just 21 days instead of 40 cause worse results than never chanting it in the first place? Would it just be inneffective, or only less effective? 

- I recently only made it to 15 days in what I thought would be a 40 day, 21-rep discipline. Then I missed a day and now have to start all over again. Will I be "punished" for doing only 21 days next time, since I originally aimed for 40, even though I only made it to 15?

- It is better to start MJM on a waxing Moon, and the Moon is waxing now. But this time when the Moon reaches fullness, it will be also be fully eclipsed. Is it bad luck to start the MJM when it is waxing into an eclipsed Moon? I know it is good to do Shiva mantras around the lunar eclipse if you are already experienced with them. But what if you've never done them in a systematic committed way before?

- Also, when sitting on the floor doing mantras, they lose effectiveness if you just sit on a bare floor. Is it ok to just sit on a couple of towels or a folded blanket or cushion? Or does it have to be made of a certain material?

- What if my printer doesn't work and I can't print out a free image or yantra of Mrityunjaya Shiva to have in front of me? Can I go on without one?

- I am not even going to try to find a really good muhurta for any remedies as it is just too tedious and hard and they are so rare anyway!

Thanks in advance for the feedback and sorry for the long post.

S.

P.S. Can you still do a Sun mantra discipline if the Sun is heading south from June 21st through December 21st? Or will Sun Mantra only be effective during its northward journey?

P.P.S. It is best to face either north or east during mantra recitation but I've read that it is better to face north if you practice later in the day or night instead of morning. The way things are arranged in my room, I will only be able to face east. Would doing it facing east later in the day or night be ineffective or even cause worse results than not doing it at all?

Thanks,

S.