HOW do I Count the Omer?
1. Some begin with a meditation that states one’s intention to fulfill the commandment. This serves to focus the individual on the task at hand and to remind him/her/them of the biblical basis of the commandment:
“Behold, I am ready and prepared to fulfill the mitzvah of counting the omer, as it says in the Torah: You shall count from the eve of the second day of Pesach, when an omer of grain is to be brought as an offering, seven complete weeks. The day after the seventh week of your counting will make fifty days.”
Alternatively, one can begin with a personal meditation or thought having to do with counting one’s blessings, and/or the change one intends to make going forward.
2. One traditionally stands when counting the omer, and recites the following blessing: “Barukh ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melekh ha’Olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tizivanu al sefirat ha’omer. Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who has sanctified us with your commandments and commanded us to count the omer.” However, you may choose to make this part of a bedtime routine for which you are already horizontal, or part of a bedtime routine with children after they are already in bed.
3. And finally, one recites the appropriate day of the count, e.g.:
“Today is 12 days, which is one week and five days of the Omer.”
[2018 only: “Today is 12 days, which is one week and five days of the April” also works through day 30. :-)]
Ahava: A Spiritual Experience in the Jewish Tradition 