What is in a Gesture? Nearly a Year with Mudra

by Baxter

Bhramara Mudra by Melina Meza

Late last year, my colleague Mary Northey gave me wonderful book on yogic hand gestures (hasta mudras) written by Joseph and Lilian LePage. As I first flipped through the pages, my curiosity was piqued. This book alone describes 108 hand mudras (there are other categories of mudra we won’t get into here, such as facial gestures, whole body gestures and others), and there are likely many more hand mudras out there. This was actually not my first exposure to the idea of the uses and potentials of specific hand gestures. Some years ago, I had attended a workshop with Richard Miller, PhD, in which we learned the famous Indian chant and prayer the Gayatri mantra, and the extensive series of hand mudras that are sometimes performed while chanting the mantra. And many of my teachers over the years used the most commonly done mudras at end of class or during a final sitting meditation, such as Anjali mudra (prayer position) or Jnana mudra (wisdom mudra). I also remember seeing hand mudras as part of an Indian classical dance performance on my trip to India in 2005, an art they have long been associated with. We even have had an excellent post on our blog by Beth Gibbs on mudra Mudras for Healthy Aging. 

So, as I started to regularly include mudra into my morning meditation practices in November and December of 2015, I very quickly discovered to my delight that my mind was more focused during meditation than it had been prior to introducing mudras. Regardless of the many other benefits that modern practitioners attribute to mudra, I was more than satisfied with this tangible initial benefit. With that personal discovery, I decided to share a new mudra each week with my local yoga classes as part of the initial meditation we do at the start of each class. We are now 9+ months into it, and my students love it! Many have reported back finding the mudra added to their home meditation and breath practices helpful in calming, energizing, and balancing their minds and bodies.

What I myself have delighted in discovering in my 10 months of mudra exploration is how many of the mudra have potential benefits for physical and mental-emotional wellbeing. There are mudras to address headaches, pain, anxiety, depression, stress, the health of the lungs and heart, and really almost every system of the body. The present challenge with all these “potential” health benefits is that to date we have no scientific studies looking at the outcomes of doing mudra regularly, nor how they might work. However, they are incredibly safe to practice and almost anyone can do the hand gestures, even if they cannot do full asana practice, as another way of experiencing yoga. And Joseph LePage suggests that they can also increase hand strength and finger dexterity as a beneficial side effect. As I observe my own mom’s gradual diminished abilities with hand dexterity, I am hopeful that including them in my practice can be both preventative now, and a form of treatment down the road if needed for my hands!

To recap, my discussion highlights the following upsides to learning and using mudras: they can deepen your concentration and focus in meditation and pranayama, they could potentially have a positive impact a wide variety of health conditions, and they have beneficial effects for your hands. 

One of my favorite mudras is Bhramara mudra, which is named after the bumblebee, and is related to the same word as the breath technique Bhramari (Buzzing Bee) Breath. I like this one because the position of the fingers and hands is just challenging enough to maintain that it works well of keep my focus on the here and now. (And it’s said to be useful for allergies and to help bolster your immune system, which would be great benefits for fall.) 

You can do Bhramara mudra in any seated, reclined, or even standing position, and can combine it with any meditation and pranayama techniques. 

To practice the Bhramara mudra:

1. With your palm facing up, curl the tip of your index finger to the base of your thumb, where your thumb meets your palm.
2. Touch your thumb pad to the edge of the last digit of your middle finger.
3. Extend your 4th and 5th fingers, as shown in the photo.
4. If you are sitting in a meditation position, place the back of your hands on your legs. Maintain a lifted spine, relax your shoulders, and let your arms be slightly away from sides of your torso.
5. Because this mudra can be a bit challenging to hold, start by holding the mudra for 2-5 minutes and gradually work up to longer holds of up to 45 minutes. You can repeat up to three times a day (but probably not for more than a total of 45 minutes/day).
6. When you are done, shake out your hands and wrists, and wiggle your fingers. 

For more information on mudra, see Mudra for Healing and Transformation by Joseph and Lilian Le Page. Other titles I recommend include Mudras of India by Cain Carroll and Revital Carroll, and Mudra, Yoga in Your Hands by Gertrud Hirschi. 

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About Mudras for Healthy Aging

by Beth Gibbs

From Mudras for Healing and Transformation by Joseph & Lilian LePage

When Joseph LePage, my primary yoga teacher, first introduced hand mudras into the Integrative Yoga Therapy Training program, I resisted. I simply did not get it. But having been raised a “good girl” with respect for teachers, I went along with the program. He introduced them. I listened. I practiced. And I felt nothing. Nada. No energy shifts, no sensations, no nothing. So much for mudras, I thought.

Then about three months later, I found myself in a stressful situation. My hands automatically moved into one of the grounding mudras I’d been practicing and WOW!!! There it was. My palms tingled, my breath slowed, and I felt a sense of calm in the middle of that most uncomfortable situation. It actually worked. I was amazed and delighted.

So, what are mudras exactly? The common English meaning of the word is “gesture,” or “seal.” The word in Sanskrit means “to bring forth pleasure or enchantment.” Mudras are thought to have arisen spontaneously from the deep meditative states experienced by the ancient Indian sages. Mudras can be used to recognize a quality, attitude, or energetic state that is already present within and waiting to be awakened. Examples of some desirable states for most of us modern humans are calming, energizing, focus, or balance. 

Gestures of the hands, face, and body are common in our everyday life. They can communicate moods and intentions that go beyond language. In some cultures crossed arms signal an attitude of defensiveness, palms together in front of the heart can mean devotion, and a bowed head can send a message of grief or sadness. Because I love metaphors as a way to help me understand new information, once I grasped the basic principle of mudras, I searched for a metaphor to make the information personal and memorable. It took a while but when I finally gave up my flip phone, bought a smart phone, and used the GPS function for the first time to get directions to a workshop I was attending, the light bulb went off. GPS! Global Positioning System! Simply put, at least for me, it goes like this:

Mudras can be thought of as a global positioning system for realizing a desired quality. Consciously place the hands in a particular position, pay attention, and allow the mudra to bring forth the quality. 

Now I practice mudras regularly and can definitely feel their effects. Here are three of my favorites.

Adhi Mudra 

The Sanskrit word adhi means “primordial” and refers to our natural state of being. The gesture is said to bring the breath to the base of the body, help with anxiety, and instill a deep sense of grounding and stillness. 

Instructions:

1. Sit with your spine comfortably aligned. 
2. Soften your chest and shoulders.
3. Close your eyes or keep them slightly open and gaze down at the floor. 
4. With both hands, form soft fists by placing your thumbs across your palms and folding your fingers around your thumbs.
5. Rest your hands, knuckles down, on your knees or thighs.
6. Hold the mudra and sit quietly for 2 - 5 minutes as long as you are comfortable.
7. Focus on your natural breathing process. 
8. When you are ready to come out, release the mudra and stretch your body in any way that your body needs to stretch.

Jnana Mudra

The Sanskrit word jnana means “wisdom.” Clear seeing, focus, and concentration are the qualities that this mudra brings to realization. Jnana mudra directs the awareness to the third eye, the space between the eyebrows. This is perhaps one of the most well-known mudras used for meditation. 

Instructions:

1. Sit with your spine comfortably aligned. 
2. Soften your chest and shoulders.
3. On both hands, touch the tips of your index fingers to the tips of the thumbs. Your thumbs and index fingers will form a soft round circle.
4. Relax the backs of your hands on your knees, with the middle, ring and pinky fingers extended.
5. Close your eyes or keep them slightly open and gaze down at the floor.
6. Hold the mudra and sit quietly for 2 - 5 minutes as long as you are comfortable.
7. Focus on your natural breathing process. 
8. When you are ready to come out, release the mudra and stretch your body in any way that your body needs to stretch.

Hakini Mudra 

The Sanskrit word hakini means “power, dominion or rule.” The quality realized here is balance and integration. This mudra facilitates full yogic breathing and supports overall health and healing. 

Instructions:

1. Sit with your spine comfortably aligned. 
2. Soften your chest and shoulders.
3. Hold your hands facing each other a few inches away from your solar plexus.
4. Touch the tips of the fingers and thumb of your left hand to the corresponding fingers and thumb of your right hand.
5. Create space between your hands as though you are holding a ball.
6. Relax your hands in your lap, with the pinky sides of your hands, your wrists, and your forearms on your thighs or in your lap. 
7. Close your eyes or keep them slightly open and gaze down at the floor.
8. Hold the mudra and sit quietly for 2 - 5 minutes as long as you are comfortable.
9. Focus on your natural breathing process. 
10. When you are ready to come out, release the mudra and stretch your body in any way that your body needs to stretch.

Mudras can be used in combination with an asanas or practiced on their own. They are also a go-to practice when your body requires long-term rest. With some exploration and practice you will find the ones that work best for you. For more information about mudras and their uses, I recommend Mudras for Healing and Transformation by Joseph & Lilian LePage.

Beth Gibbs, MA, E-RYT 500, is a certified yoga therapist through Integrative Yoga Therapy. She is a senior member of the IYT teaching faculty and directs the school’s Professional Yoga Therapist Internship Program. Beth has a Masters degree in Yoga Therapy and Mind/Body Health from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, and has served on the Educational Standards Committee for the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Her website is: proyogatherapeutics.com.

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Bhramari Pranayama with Mudras

by Timothy

Recently in a post (Pranayama for Everyone), I wrote about the "buzzing bee breath," Bhramari. I taught a simplified version so that people could get used to it, and feel this practice's almost immediately palpable soothing effects. A reader wrote in with a question about the mudra (in this case meaning a hand position) often taught as part of the practice. So today, I'll teach two more advanced versions of Bhramari, in which the hands are used to deepen the effects.

The fifth limb of the eight-limbed path of yoga as taught by Patanjali is pratyahara, which I like to translate as "turning of the senses inward." Most of us living in the modern world lead lives of nearly constant sensory overload. Phones ring and buzz, TVs blare in the background, and even gas pumps impose video commercials on us. It's hard to escape the visual and aural onslaught. A beautiful antidote is Bhramari, particularly when it's taught with Shanmuki mudra.

Shanmuki mudra is designed to close the gates of perception: the ears, eyes, nose and mouth. It noticeably heightens the power of Bhrmari to internalize the awareness, and you'll notice that the buzzing sounds louder. But before we try the full mudra, let's begin with a modified version.

Bhramari with Modified Shanmuki Mudra

Sit in a comfortable seated position, with the spine upright but relaxed. Place the pad of each index finger on its respective ear, on the tragus, the skin-covered tab of cartilage near the front of the ear, just above the earlobe.

Using gentle pressure, use the tragus to block sound from entering the ear. Try a few rounds of Bhramari, making a medium-pitched buzzing sound on each exhalation. Compare the effects when you occlude the ear and when you lift the fingers.

Bhramari with Full Shanmuki Mudra

In full Shanmuki mudra, instead of the index fingers, use the tips of the thumbs to push down the tragus. The index fingers exert mild pressure on the upper, inner eyelid. Be careful not to press too hard. You want the pressure to feel soothing to the eyes. The middle fingers are placed on either side of the nose, above the nostril and below the nasal bone. You'll know you're in the right place, when gentle pressure on the fingers slightly occludes the passage of air through each nostril. The ring and pinky fingers are placed on either side of the midline just above and below the lips, respectively.

Once you've successfully got the mudra in place, try anywhere from one to five minutes of Bhramari, then lower the hands. You may want to continue to sit in meditation for a few minutes after you finish.

Therapeutic Benefits

Bhramari very quickly shifts the autonomic nervous to parasympathetic dominance. The practice can be useful for anyone with a stress-related condition, and particularly when demands and sensory input make you feel overwhelmed. It may be especially useful conditions like anxiety and insomnia, and even autoimmune conditions.

If you're using Bhramari to reduce symptoms of a cold or sinus infection, either skip Shanmuki mudra entirely or only use the modified version above. Ditto if you feel claustrophobic with the mudra.

While high blood pressure can have multiple causes, many cases of so-called "essential hypertension" (which make up the vast majority of cases), are characterized by heightened activation of the stress response. Thus the regular, ideally daily, practice of Bhramari and other calming yoga techniques may be very effective both at keeping your blood pressure down, and helping reduce it if it's high.

Note from Nina: For more about the yogic approach to high blood pressure, please check out Timothy's upcoming webinar on Yoga U, at an online educational resource. It will be held on two consecutive Saturdays at 12:30 eastern and 9:30 pacific time, starting November 30, 2013. Click this link for more information.

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