Kshepana mudra or Letting go gesture
Hasta Mudras or Hand gestures
Probably you came across at least once either online or in a museum of the beautiful statues of ancient gods or goddess which are holding their hands in certain positions. Very often they are Hindu gods, like the many depictions of the dancing Krishna. Or you might have seen a picture of someone meditating and their fingers folded in a specific way. And you might had thought these strange hand positions are for these enlighten souls, not for us “the regular people”. Luckily for us, it is the quite the opposite. Mudras are practical tools which are typically easy to use and perform and they work wonders to our body and mind. Once you start practicing them you would wish you knew about them earlier. Every hand gesture has a specific purpose and moves the energy in a way throughout the body that creates subtle physical, mental, and emotional changes.
Hasta Mudras—translates as hand (hasta) and mudras as seals, stamps, or gestures. They have been used for thousands of years in different traditions. One of those traditions is Ayurveda, which is often described as the sister of yoga, believes everything is build on the five elements- fire, air, ether, water, earth. Think about them as the building blocks. In addition, based on the five elements we have the three constitutions Pitta, Kappa, Vata and we called them doshas. Each person has all three of them, however they are in different percentage and one or two are usually predominant. Pitta is consisted of fire and water, Vata is consisted of air and ether and Kapha is consisted of Water and Earth.
Now we all know about the existence of our DNA and we also know that the genes are what makes up our DNA. We also know that we have good genes and we have the so-called bad genes, which might not get the chance to play their negative role. Now in order to understand, imagine that the doshas are your energetic DNA and the five elements are the building blocks of this energetic DNA. Our blueprint. From how we look, to how we think and behave. In other words, the doshas are functional principles that help us to better understand ourselves, and the world around us. Let us translates this to the hand gestures or mudras. Each finger represents one of the five elements, thumb-fire, index finger-air, middle finger-ether, ring finger- earth, little or pinkie finger- water element. And when we bring the fingers in a specific way, we are influencing the five elements and from there the Doshas and from there our mind-body connections. We can for example stimulate or decrease them.
Those who are familiar with reflexology know that by stimulating certain pressure points in our hands or feet, can help to balance energy in varies parts of our body. When we position our fingers in different postures, we can influence how energy is channeled within. Mudras have been used for thousands of years and ads wonderfully to the ray of easy and practical tools available for us.
Design with Ease
Mudras are practical tools which are typically easy to use and perform and they work wonders to our body and mind.