Mudra #
Mudras are usually understood as a certain gesture. This under-standing is formed under the influence of Buddhist tradition, where hand gestures were widely used. But strictly speaking, in classic yoga the term «mudra» is much wider: it can be performed with entire body, like the already mentioned yoga mudra, shaktichelani mudra and others, although they are more rare. Mudras can be performed by the eyes (like in sambhavi mudra, vaishnavi mudra), by the tongue (nabho mudra, khechari mudra) and even by the anus (ashvini mudra)¹ .
Mudras are mostly practiced in meditation techniques and are rarely involved in physical exercise. This is understandable, because mudras make a very subtle effect on people, on their emotional plane (astral body). Their mechanism of influence also has to do with psychosomatic correlation. To understand this mechanism let’s look at mudras’ closest relative — gestures. Good old gestures constitute an important part of communication. Gestures are directly related to the current emotional state and perform an energy movement in the aura.
Mudras use the opposite principle, intensifying movement of a needed energy, forming a needed state. Look, what are hand positions of people sitting in public transport. Sometimes their hands are interlaced in complicated exotic mudras, but not due to high popularity of exsoterism. This is one of the natural forms of body’s autoregulation, noticed and made to serve by ancient practitioners. The mudra’s capacity to activate emotions was used in classical Indian theatre and dancing art, where mudras were called «hastas».
In some «popular» sources about yoga you can find the belief that mudras influence the body by «enclosing our channels». By channels they mean meridians by Chinese medicine (acupuncture). Indeed, four of these channels end in our hands, but what good to enclose a channel of lungs with a channel of small intestine like in djanana mudra? I don’t know any cases, when mudras strongly influenced the physical body, vegetative system, i.e. etheric body, that is why I believe such an explanation is far-fetched.
Mudras have a very subtle influence on the body. If you compare our organism with a refurbishment in a house, mudras are the thin emery-paper, which you use after having worked with a plane, sandpa-pered and varnished, and now you get it polished, but, if you took a thin emery-paper when you still have splinters everywhere, the effect from it would be insignificant. Mudras are exercises of the advanced level.
By types there are enclosing mudras, blocking energy outflow from chakra; dhiana mudras, helping to keep a certain state in various meditations; and excretive, concentrating astral energy outside of the body.
Notes
1. Gherenda Samhita enlists 25 mudras, but, if to count those from other origins, they are a lot more.↑