What Are Mudras (those funny hand positions)?

Last night at Cottonwood Com Ed class, a student asked "What are those funny hand positions you keep using?" They are called mudras.  When you perform a mudra, you are aligning your etheric energy channels (or nadis) up in an exact way to achieve a specific result.  When you are meditating, for example, it is often difficult to quiet the mind.  The mind keeps chattering and chattering and won't let you tap into stillness.  If you first have a very comfortable and stable seated position, you will then choose a mudra to place your hands in.  The mudra will still the fluctuations of the mind or in yogic terms "the vrittis (fluctuations) of the chitta (mindstuff)".  

There are two mudras most commonly used in meditation.  The first mudra is gyan mudra. This mudra is commonly used by yogis.  The first finger rests gently on the thumb tip. The other three fingers point outward away from the body's aura.  The hands are resting palms upwards on the thighs.

  
This mudra allows the clean positive energy (prana) within the body to recirculate back into the auric body and etheric channels (nadis).  Thus it will continue to purify any remaining blockages.  This is accomplished with the circle created by the first finger and thumb.  The other three fingers allow any negative karma or prana (energy) to be removed.  The process of meditation purifies the body very quickly and therefore these 6 fingers are an outlet for any undesired elements to leave the aura.  This mudra is wonderful for calming the mind and entering deep states of awareness.

The second mudra is the classic zen meditation mudra, called "heart" mudra.  It not only calms the mind and enables one to concentrate easier, it also opens the heart, making the meditation more receptive to positive influences emanating from the divine realms.  

Both mudras are excellent for meditation purposes.  Most yogis don't use mudra much in their poses.  It is fun and interesting to incorporate them into the poses, because mudras definitely shift the energy inherent in the pose.  Try it and see if you can sense the different quality of the poses energy.  Pictures on the covers of yoga magazines often show someone in a pose doing mudra.  It isn't necessary, but it adds an element of beauty and grace to your practice.