Yoga Mudras

Mudras are a powerful way to incorporate yoga into your everyday life without even stepping onto your mat. They are poses for the hands.

You might be familiar with gyan mudra, which brings the thumb and index finger together. This is a common one you'll see with yogis seated in lotus pose or cross-legged for meditation. Gyan mudra cultivates wisdom and insight.

I recommend incorporating mudras into your day. The more you practice them, the more powerful their resonance and the more quickly you can drop into your meditative practice.

In addition to practicing gyan mudra during seated meditation, I often utilize it while driving, if my mind is wandering during a meeting or conversation, or if something stressful pops up into my day. Creating this shape in the palm of my hand immediately gives me a single point of focus; it almost feels like a whoosh of energy into my body and my mind. Boom. I'm present. I'm focused.

Recently I discovered an awesome book called Yoga and the Art of Mudras by Nubia Teixeira. She is a yogini and dancer and has been teaching traditional yoga and classical Indian Odissi dance for over 26 years. Nubia is founder of the Bhakti Nova School of Yoga and Dance and leads classes, workshops, and teacher trainings internationally, independently, and in collaboration with her husband, kirtan artist Jai Uttal, who is one of my absolute favorite kirtan singers!

I'll continue to read this book and learn more about mudras and hope to incorporate them more into my classes when I teach. There are so many available to us! They pair well with different themes, chakras, and specific areas of healing.

I highly recommend this book and suggest that if you are going through a particular area of healing-- whether it's physical, emotional, mental or spiritual -- to use this book as a resource. Let mudras be a simple tool you can use to find more mindfulness. Drop into your practice in an instant, simply using the shape of your hands.

Namaste.