Mudras for Modern Life: Boost your health, re-energize your life, enhance your yoga and deepen your meditation

by Swami Saradananda

Overview

Discover how to integrate more than 60 mudras into your daily life for increased vitality and inner peace

Mudras are an ancient and often overlooked Eastern practice that involves making established hand gestures which direct subtle energy to boost health and wellbeing. This definitive, fully illustrated guide to the art of mudras provides a highly practical and inspirational overview of how to use these subtle and beautiful gestures to revitalize every aspect of your life, not just in your yoga or meditation practice.

The introduction lays the foundation for mudra practice with chapters showing why and how to do the mudras themselves. Chapters are also dedicated to different parts of the hand and their corresponding elements, illustrating holistic benefits, like boosting inner strength, relieving stress, enhancing creativity, and increasing concentration. Each mudra entry includes an accompanying chant, meditation, pranayama, asana, or visualization.

Mudras for Modern Life also provides a series of highly useful mudra routines for a range of both physical and emotional health issues from anxiety and chronic fatigue to arthritis and headaches.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780289984
Publisher:	Watkins Media
Publication date:	10/13/2015
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	531,558
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Swami Saradananda is an internationally renowned yoga and meditation teacher who has inspired thousands of people to practice. She has been teaching for almost forty years, and is the author of a number of books, including The Power of Breath,Chakra Meditation Relax and Unwind with Yoga, Yoga Mind and Body, The Essential Guide to Chakras and the upcoming Mudras for Modern Life.

For 26 years, she worked with the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres and directed their facilities in New York, London, New Delhi and the Himalayas. After an extended period of personal practice in the Himalayas in 2001, she was author in residence at the Peacemaker Community in Western Massachusetts, and she then went on to direct yoga and meditation retreat Haus Yoga Vidya, just outside of Cologne, Germany. For the past few years, she has lived between London and New York but she spends several months each year teaching in Germany and several more in India.

Swami Saradananda teaches yoga worldwide, leads pilgrimages to India and writes extensively. She is also a trustee of the Ganga Prem Hospice, a charity that is seeking to build a cancer hospice in Rishikesh, North India.

Table of Contents

Introduction 8

What mudras can do for you 10

Accessing your energy 12

Mudras and chakras 14

Mudras and the elements 16

Mudras and doshas 18

Integrating mudras into your life 20

1 Hand Health and Wellbeing: increasing flexibility and reducing stress 22

Power in your hands 24

Simple hard massage 25

Finger exercises 26

Hand exercises 27

Shoulder exercises 29

2 Fire Madras: Boosting inner strength and self-esteem 32

Thumb (Solar Plexus Chakra)

Introducing the fire mudras 34

Agni Mudra: Fire Gesture 36

Guru Mudra: Jupiter Gesture 37

Manipura Mudra: Solar Plexus Chakra Gesture 38

Linga Mudra: Mark of Siva 39

Surya Mudra: Sun Seal 40

Pushan Mudra: Giver of Good Health 42

Kamajayi Mudra Victory over Excessive Desires Gesture 43

Ashva-ratna Mudra: Jewelled Horse Gesture 44

Adho-mukha Mudra: Downward-facing Gesture 45

Shankha Mudra: Conch Shell Gesture 46

Pitta pacifying Mudra excess Heat-reducing Gesture 48

Pitta-energizing Mudra: Blues-banishing Gesture 49

Dhyana Mudra: Meditation Gesture 50

3 Air Madras: Encouraging freedom, joy and stress relief 52

Index Finger (Heart Chakra)

Introducing the air mudras 54

Vayu Mudra: Air Gesture 56

Anahata Mudra: Heart Chakra Gesture 58

Padina Mudra: Lotus Gesture 59

Hridaya Mudra Compassionate Heart Gesture 60

Chin Mudra: Unrestricted Consciousness Gesture 62

Vyana Mudra: Expansive Prana Gesture 63

Garuda Mudra: Eagle Gesture 64

Granthiu Mudra: Knot Gesture 65

Pranapana Mudra: taking In and Throwing Out Gesture 66

Kshepana Mudra: Letting Go Gesture 68

4 Ether Mudras: Enhancing inner peace, self- expression and creativity 70

Middle Finger (Throat Chakra) Introducing the ether mudras 72

Akasha Mudra: Touching the Void Gesture 74

Shunya Mudra: Silence of the Void Gesture 75

Vishuddha Mudra: Throat Chakra Gesture 76

Udana Mudra: Upward-flying Energy Gesture 77

Bhramara Mudra: Humming Bee Gesture 78

Shanmukhi Mudra: Turning into Silence Gesture 79

Bhuchari Mudra: Caring, into the Void Gesture 80

Nivedana Mudra: Deep Listening Gesture 81

Kaleshwara Mudra: Lord of Time Gesture 82

Sankalpa Mudra: Practice Intention Gesture 83

Matangi Mudra: Guardian of Wisdom Gesture 84

Kubera Mudra: Guardian of Wealth Gesture 86

Surabhi Mudra: Wish-fulfilment Gesture 87

Nadanasudhana: four Mudras in a Chanting Practice 88

5 Earth Mudras: Encouraging stability and grounding 90

Ring Finger (Root Chakra)

Introducing the earth mudras 92

Prithivi Mudra: Earth Gesture 94

Bhumi-sparsha Mudra: Earth Witness Gesture 95

Muladhara Mudra Root Chakra Gesture 96

Jnana Mudra: Wisdom Gesture 97

Bhu Mudra: Touching the Earth Gesture 98

Prana Mudra: Life-force Gesture 100

Apana Mudra: Cleansing energy Gesture 101

Sthira Mudra: Steady and Stable Gesture 102

Sukham Mudra Stress relief Gesture 103

Vishnu Mudra: Universal Balance Gesture 104

Kali Mudra: Black G adders Gesture 106

6 Water Mudras: Enhancing health and equipping you to move forward 108

Little Finger (Sacral Chakra)

Introducing the water mudras 110

Varuna Mudra: Water balancing Gesture 112

Jalodar-nashak Mudra: Water-reducing Gesture 113

Swadhisthana Mudra: Sacral Chakra Gesture 114

Mahatrika Mudra: Great Triangle Gesture 116

Shaktr Mudra: Essence of Power Gesture 118

Kilaka Mudra: Key to Good Health Gesture 120

Karana Mudra: Instrument Gesture 121

Kurma Mudra: Tortoise Gusture 122

Yoni Mudra: Seal of the Goddess 123

Masiki Mudra: Monthly-relief Gesture 124

Matsya Mudra: Fish Gesture 126

Makara Mudra: Crocodile Gesture 127

7 Mind Mudras: Increasing concentration and clarity 128

Palm of the Hand (Third Eye)

Introducing the mind mudras 130

Activating the Palm Chakras: Sensitizing the Hands 132

Ajna Muara: Brow Chakra Gesture 134

Nirvana Mudra: Liberation Gesture 135

Bhairava Mudra: Tierce Determination Gesture 136

Ganesha Mudra: Remover of Obstacles 137

Namaskar Mudra: My Essence Meets Your Essence Gesture 138

Anjali Mudra: Gesture of Offering 139

Abhaya Mudra: Have No Fear Gesture 140

Varada Mudra: Forgiveness Gesture 141

Handshake as Mudra: Shared Gesture 142

Hakini Mudra.: Problem-solving Gesture 144

Samasti Mudra Integrating Brain Hemispheres Gesture 145

Maha-shirsha Mudra: Overactive Mind Relief Gesture 146

Mandala Mudra: Circle Universe Gesture 147

Mushti Mudra: Closed-fist Gesture 148

8 Mudra Routines: Building optimal wellbeing 150

Daily routine for wellbeing 150

Headaches and migraines 151

Digestive problems 151

Menstrual problems 151

Asthma and skin disorders 152

Hay fever and allergies 152

Arthritis and stiff joints 152

Stress 153

Anger 153

Jet lag 154

Insomnia 154

Chronic fatigue 154

Glossary 155

Resources 156

Index 157

Acknowledgments 160