Complete Guide To Mudras: Benefits And Use In Yoga, Meditation & Chakra Balancing

This article will detail the Mudras practice, its numerous benefits, and how to use them for Yoga or Meditation.

You may have seen hands and fingers take an interesting shape or form during yoga practice or meditation. The likes of hands in prayer position before Surya Namaskar or connecting the thumb and index fingers of both hands in meditation? Well, these positions of the hands and fingers are sacred gestures called mudras. Like other practices in yoga, they have purpose and significance.

In this blog, we’ll explore what mudras are, their importance in yoga and meditation, as well as a few of the best mudras for chakra balancing and everyday practice.

What are Mudras in Yoga?

A mudra is a gesture or seal used in yoga. The practice of these gestures and seals channel the flow of prana life force. There are many mudras. They are categorized as hand hasta mudras, body (kaya) and consciousness (citta) mudras. We commonly use hand mudras.

Ayurveda and Mudras

Ayurveda explains the body as being made up of five elements; fire, air, space, earth and water. A healthy body has a balance of these elements. Conversely, a dominating or weakening element would cause an imbalance in the body and have a negative impact on one’s health. This would express as illness or disease.

There are five elements and five fingers. Each finger represents an according element. In yoga philosophy, it is said that through each finger, runs the prana for each element. By manipulating the pranas we can increase or decrease the prana to a specific part of the body. That is why a mudra is also referred to as a seal. We are sealing or locking the pranas for a specific purpose.

When a specific mudra is used for a specific purpose, it can help restore the balance of the five elements of the body using prana.

The fingers represent, accordingly, each element:

1. The Thumb — represents the fire element
2. The Index finger — represents the air element
3. The Middle finger — represents the space element
4. The Ring finger — represents the earth element
5. The Pinky finger — represents the water element

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