Note: this is a guest post by Meera Reid articulating her experience with yoga mudras and the benefits of yoga mudra therapy.
Mudras are a powerful practice for health and healing. Mudras have enhanced my life and altered my practice so profoundly, that I knew the next step in my yoga practice was to start sharing my love and experience with them, through my teachings.
Originally learning Mudras in India, I have taken my passion for teaching yoga and my fascination for this ancient healing practice to all those wanting to learn more about the deeper teachings of yoga, especially yoga mudra therapy.
My first experience with Mudras left me totally captivated and entranced with their power. I was travelling in the Himalayas and I was prone to headaches at the higher elevation. I finally confessed to my teacher I had been suffering with this headache for several days.
My teacher told me to put my fingers in a specific position and hold it, and before too long, I would start feeling some difference. I initially shrugged it off thinking it would never help, but all the same held my fingers in that position feeling I have nothing to lose. Within minutes I could feel the relentless pain in my head lessen to the point we’re eventually it was gone.
From that moment, onward I have studied Mudras and their age-old wisdom with curiosity, wonder and regard. It is with great honor for all my teachers that I am able to share this awe-inspiring and mystical branch of Yoga.
The Sakalya Mudra therapy workshops are a three-part study. You can take one or all three, but there are no requirements to take another segment if you feel complete with solely one. The first workshop will leave you with a strong foundation and over 20 Mudras and their uses.
The 3-part study is based on the ancient practice of Yoga Vigyan, a separate branch of Yoga which uses finger postures.
Mudras meaning “seals” or “gestures” date back to Vedic Times and we’re first mentioned in the Vedas, one of Yoga’s sacred texts. They were used to convey deeper truths, instill relaxation, enhance deep meditation, and to heal on many levels.
Mudras were also used as a symbol of wisdom and compassion which we can see with many representations of Buddha and Hindu Deities.
Mudras were used as a way to attract cosmic energy and activate higher states of consciousness. This separate branch of yoga was also used as one of the many healing modalities of ancient yogis. They understood that our hands were a source of tremendous power, and considered the hands sacred.
Hands are so much more than just functional. Our hands are the command center and energy map of our health and consciousness. Every point on the hand corresponds to a certain area of the body and particular meridian, that is responsible for our general wellness, along with our emotional and spiritual health.
With the practice of Mudras, we use our fingers and hands to effectively talk to the body. When making meaningful connections by curling, crossing, stretching, and touching the fingers and palms, we can effectively talk to the body and mind. The position the hand takes is called a Mudra, and is a technique for giving clear messages to the mind-body energy system.
These workshops are a rare offering, and will leave you with an immeasurable life tool. Mudras are for anyone, looking to enhance or deepen their personal practice, or begin one. These teachings are for all beings, all ages, all levels for those arriving in willingness.
The first part in the workshop series – Practical Mudras for Self Healing.
The first part focuses on Mudras the individual can use for physical regulation. Filled with compelling information, we study the elements, the planets, the meridians and how they correspond to the hands and how they are manipulated using Mudras.
We then, go into an all-encompassing practice that incorporates, Mudras, Mantra, Kriya, Asana for a powerful self-restoring Sakalya Yoga experience that teaches you how to incorporate Mudras into your everyday practice on all levels.
The second part in the workshop series – Mudras for Spiritual Unfolding.
In the first part we learned about practical Mudras for self-healing, along with the basic knowledge of our constitutional elements and how they are balanced when using these finger postures.
This second part, starts with a quick review of the part one “Mudras for self-Healing.” After a brief review, we move on to the more spiritual side of Mudras and learn how to use them to deepen our yogic practice, enhance, re-direct, and invigorate our Panic system and center our minds. These Mudras or finger postures can be used to enhance and deepen our pranayama practice, and heighten and expand our meditation practice.
In addition to Mudras, we will learn about our subtle energy channels known as the Nadis. It is through these Nadis, that life force (Prana) circulates. We will focus on three principal Nadis, and learn how to use the technique of Kundalini Yoga to support and awaken these vital energies.
We will discuss the link between the Pranic system and cosmic energy. Deepen our understanding of how to make important connections, and to stimulate specific energy pathways or the Nadis. Also, using this energy along with Mudras to provide a conscious shift in your personal practice.
We will use the Kriyas and Kundalini Yoga, to awaken our Prana (life force) to create movement through the Ida and Pingala down the base of the spine initiating energy shifts, stimulation and balance. We learn to move beyond the breath into our spiritual or ethereal bodies.
We will introduce Mudras to use with your pranayama and Mediatation practice that could have a profound effect for a heightened experience.
There will be an introduction to 12 new Mudras, and explanation of their uses and significance. We will then embark on an all-encompassing yoga journey to center, deepen and to awaken stored and stagnant energy, initiating a conscious connection to our spiritual centers using Mantra, Movement, Kriya, Asana and Mudras.
I invite you to join us on this exclusive journey through the senses using the ancient technique of Mudra’s and Yoga of energy. Coming together in life and love for the practice.
There will be a brief explanation at the end of the second part as an invitation to the third.
All sections have been lovingly designed to enhance and inspire your yoga practice extensively. These workshops are meant to provide you with ancient and modern yoga techniques that can be awakening, unifying and above all, bring you a surplus of joy and deep heartfelt wisdom.
I invite you to journey with me, from self, to self, through this mystical teaching of Mudra Vigyan.
Teachings from the Heart
Meera
ERYT-500 YACEP
Registered Yoga Therapist
Sakalya Yoga Lead Teacher
Mudra Therapy Mentor