Add Flavor to your Asana with Mudras

Mudra is a term most commonly referring to gestures with the hands. More broadly it signifies a seal. Many mudras are ingrained culturally and speak much of the way humans around the world relate to each other in different ways. Sometimes are hands say more than the mouth! Consider how much you can tell about a person by how and where they place their hands. Yoga uses Mudra as a concentration technique, to invoke certain qualities of consciousness, and to stimulate the energetic systems. Keeping the fingers placed in these fascinating gestures requires a heightened sense of kinesthetic awareness that can lead you more naturally into meditative states.

Chin Mudra is most often used for meditation and contains special significance. The thumb, representing cosmic consciousness, is met by the index finger which represents the individual. When you practice mudras, keep a light steady contact with your connecting digits. The free fingers extend out as much as you want while maintaining that graceful poise that let’s you enjoy the unique feeling of your hands.

Joint Mudra Chin Mudra Apan Mudra

The hands relate to our whole body in the Chinese Medicine system and reflexolgy. Mudras are said to activate specific types of healing when practiced regularly. In my personal experience, mudras can change the feeling of subtle internal energies. When used during an Asana practice they can increase our sensitivity to the alignment of the larger joints of the body and how we are using our muscles. Here are two of my favorites.

Joint Mudra in Warrior II helps to open the shoulders and creates an anchored drishti.