Yoga mudras are "seals" or a hand gestures. There are close to 400 mudras that are practiced in yoga, meditation, and cultural dance. Mudras are used to balance, channel, and direct the flow of energy internally.
The hands are a map of our energy and consciousness.
—Sarah Kline
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Yoga Mudras: the Path to Consciousness & Health
Each of us has the power of healing our respective life. We are born with an innate wisdom that we must tap into, explore, and let guide us to our true nature. Yoga is a tool we use to do this. Many of us find yoga in search of enhancing our overall health— reducing stress, increasing flexibility, finding a state of calm.
The body is our vehicle of experiencing the world. The seven chakras, in our body's energy system, describe the different powers or forces that reside in different regions of the body. Each chakra is related to one of the five elements— earth, water, fire, ether, air.
Similarly, each finger of the hand is related to one of the five elements. The fingers also correlate to the planets, different organs, the pituitary, pineal, and hypothalamus glands, and our emotions.
Try this class, A Yoga Mudras Clinic, on YogaToday! Your first two weeks are always free.
Proprioception is the sense of where our body, our limbs, are in space. For example, being able to touch your nose without any of your other senses. Bringing the fingers to touch fires proprioceptor cells in the fingertips that talk directly to your brain in a matter of milliseconds.
With this mind-body connection, yoga mudras are said to increase vitality, stimulate the endorphin system, and have profound effects on your overall wellbeing, depending on how often and how mindfully you practice with them.
”By curling, twisting, touching, tapping, the fingers or the palms…we are talking to the mind-body.”—Sarah Kline
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A mudra will direct the flow of energy in the body and is linked to the chakra energy system mentioned above. Different yoga mudras can help to awaken or move through different chakras.
When we are out of balance in any way, we are victim to disease. In ancient Ayurvedic knowledge, the sister science to yoga, anything that doesn't lend itself to your health is a disease. As simple as that, in a way. Yoga mudras are another tool to help us find a state of equanimity and health.
Our hands become maps and pathways to our health when we use the qualities in different parts of the hand to come together in connection, to bring energy into movement, to heal.
Common Yoga Mudras
Take a peek at two common mudras below.
Padma Mudra or Lotus Seal
· Relaxes the Mind
· Inspires Preserverance
· Creates Loving Energy
Jnana Mudra or Chin Seal
· Boosts Memory
· Eases Nervous Tension
· Boosts Creativiy
Try this class, A Yoga Mudras Clinic, on YogaToday! Your first two weeks are always free.
