Mudras

By discovering the magical world of yoga mudras, holistic health and harmony really can be found at your fingertips.

It's no new phenomenon that actions can speak louder than words, particularly when it comes to the use of hands. Different religions and nationalities throughout time have instinctively used hand gestures to silently externalise inner thoughts and feelings, or as a vehicle for facilitated healing.

Eastern traditions have told entire stories with delicate hand positions through traditional dance or energy-replenishing exercises such as Tai Chi and qigong, and used corresponding acupressure points to restore health and vitality. Many religions, particularly Buddhism and Hinduism, use the hands in various Ways to demonstrate piousness or prayer.


In daily life, it could be a simple clap, handshake or wave, holding hands with another, the healing touch of massage or Reiki—or perhaps less endearing symbols of anger or frustration. In yoga, however, it is the therapeutic act of mudras (pronounced mood-ras, meaning “seal”), an important practice commonly misunderstood—and sometimes forgotten—in yoga’s modern execution.


Hand mudras

Yoga mudras come in many forms, including eye and body positions and breathing techniques. Hasta mudras, or hand gestures, are perhaps the most common and accessible place to start when discovering their purpose and potential. While the spelling, meaning and execution of mudras deviates somewhat across lineages, their use shares a commonality of reconnecting practitioners with their internal source of prana, or life force, to achieve wellbeing and spiritual evolution.

“Hasta mudras channel prana emitted by the hands back into the body. This simple connection of the various digits creates a psycho-energetic resonance within,”

Many yoga greats believe hasta mudras can awaken kundalini energy, or coiled power, in advanced practitioners; guiding them toward deeper meditative states, self—realisation and ultimately enlightenment, particularly when used in conjunction with breathing exercises, postures, meditation and chanting.

“every area of the hand forms a reflex zone for an associated part of the body and brain”, and thus the hands can be a mirror for our mind and body. This reflects the age-old notion among yogis that mudras re-establish the link between our physical body (annamaya kosha), pranic body (pranamaya kosha) and mental body (manomaya kosha); essential connections that are often impaired in response to the hectic pace of modern living.


Science of mudras

For some, the notion of mudras may seem far fetched, but even modern science has begun acknowledging the role energy fields play within living things. One research paper published in the National Academy of Sciences revealed that hand gestures stimulate the same regions in the brain as language. Another study by the University of Pennsylvania discovered that performing the Kundalini Yoga practice of Kirtan Kriya—which for the most part combines mudra and chanting—for just 12 minutes daily over eight weeks significantly improved clarity, empathy, emotional equilibrium and memory. Such findings are no doubt impressive, but ancient yogis didn’t require science to identify the vast benefits of mudras. It was instinctively known that each finger corresponds to a specific universal element and chakra (energy centres in the body) that may awaken or heal associated characteristics via nerve endings and energy pathways in the fingertips, as show in the figure.

“Mudras channel prana emitted by the hands back into the body.”

Apan Mudra

How:
Middle finger and ring finger touch thumb.

Physical benefits:
Stimulates the wood element, linked with the energy of the liver and gallbladder. Assists digestion, removal of toxins, urinary infections. Psychological benefits: Serenity, harmony, inner balance, confidence.

Vayu Mudra

How:
Gently press the index finger down with thumb. Physical benefits: Helpful for wind, irritable bowel syndrome, gastrointestinal issues.

Psychological benefits:
Use the affirmation, “I am calm and serene at any time and in any place".

Ushas Mudra

How:
lnterlace fingers at the chest or abdomen. Men: right thumb pressing lightly on left thumb. Women: right thumb between left thumb and index finger. Physical benefits: Hormonal harmonisation.

Psychological benefits:
Stimulates sexual and creative energy of sacral chakra, evoking pleasure and mental alertness.

Pran Mudra

How:
Ring finger and little finger touch thumb.

Physical benefits:
Stimulates pelvic floor: reduces lethargy and nervousness; works against eye weakness and diseases.

Psychological benefits:
Activates root chakra, evoking grounding, clarity, focus, vitality, resilience.


Mudras for meditation

Gyan Mudra

How:
Gently press index finger tip to tip of thumb; other fingers straight and parallel: palm facing up.

Benefits:
Balances ego and elevates the energy toward soul qualities.

Uttarabodhi Mudra

How:
Lay one hand on other at navel; press index fingers together and point upward; join thumb tips and point them downward, creating a diamond shape.

Benefits: Useful for stirring insight, inspiration and decision-making.