Mudras in Yoga
This text is an excerpt from Nubia’s book Yoga and the Art of Mudras.
Mudras, literally imprints, stamps, seals, or gestures, are a powerful set of physical tools that can be used to influence and activate the flow of pranic energy within the yogi’s subtle body, mind, and psyche. These gestures can function like electrical plugs, granting access to the energy of whatever you want to connect with. For example, by assuming Shiva’s mudra and meditating on it, you will be plugging into Shiva’s domain and accessing information from his spiritual legacy. In the Tantric tradition, from which hatha yoga derives, mudras combine with the chanting of a mantra and the visualization of a yantra during sacred and secret rituals.
Although in hatha yoga mudras are of two types— hasta mudras, or hand gestures, and kaya mudras, or postural mudras—in this book, we will focus only on the yogic hand gestures and how these hand gestures work as keys to unlocking inner states of awareness, turning on spiritual abilities, and awakening some specific qualities within our psyches.
Focusing on the hands as an extension of the Anahata chakra (the heart), where the element of air is more present, we can enter the realm of interconnection with all forms of life and connect to the flow of life force. In the center of the chest, we witness a constant dance of contraction and expansion, revealing the pulsation of life and the power of movement. Depending on its quantity and quality, the prana that circulates in the chest supports and inspires transformation and allows us to connect with the realm of the spirit.
In the physical body, the element of air (vayu) is felt by the skin (organ of perception or jnanendriya), activated by the hands (organ of action or karmen- driya), and sensed by touch (sparsha). The yogini will feel the well of life force in her heart’s vortex, and she will focus on developing the qualities of the heart and on expanding her extrasensory abilities.
Air links the invisible to the visible and carries the forces of mystical reality into our material world. The sense of touch can be felt physically, energetically, mentally, and spiritually. Within our hands and hearts is a vast sky, and the connection to the heavenly realms and celestial beings can be established through mudra.
Mudras in the practice of Bhakti Yoga become offerings from your individual soul to the universal soul. When you hold a mudra of a specific deity, you don’t become that deity but your action allows you to come closer to their domain. The key gestures become a conduit for their auspiciousness to flow to you, so you can feel their presence within you. The mudras grant you access to experience the grandiosity of these gods and goddesses—in small doses—and, by way of transmission, to become their instrument.
The Book
Yoga and the Art of Mudras is a guided journey into the alchemy of asana (yoga pose) and mudra (symbolic hand gesture). Nubia Teixeira fuses her passion for yoga and dance with her love for bhakti (devotion). Learn how to use the medium of your hands to bring about spiritual connection and manifestation.