Yoni Mudra (Gesture of the Source)

Hi, welcome to Yoga & You, I am Sanjana Prasad. Mudras, what are mudras? Mudras are gestures or attitudes that we adopt to redirect pranic energy to a particular part of the body because it needs the pranic energy to heal from a particular disease or to just strengthen that particular part of the body. When we think of mudras, we immediately think of only hand gestures, but they can also be performed with the entire body — your tongue, the eyes, the head, and so many other ways.

So today we are going to focus on three mudras that will really benefit you. Let's get into the practice.

The first mudra that we are going to be practicing today is Prana Mudra. Prana Mudra can be done in the mornings — ideally done in the mornings — and can be done for 30 minutes or even longer. It is one such mudra that can be safely practiced by everybody, as it cleanses the entire body, energizes the entire body, and gives it a kind of a receiving energy. So if you are practicing any other mudras to treat any ailments, your body will be able to accept the energy and accept the redirection of the prana given by the other mudras.

So how do we practice Prana Mudra? You are going to bend your little finger and your ring finger on both your hands, and then you are going to take your thumb and press these two fingers down towards your palm. From here you are going to turn the palms up towards the ceiling and place it on your thighs, close your eyes, roll your shoulders back, and let's take a few breaths.

So this was Prana Mudra, and like I said, it helps to improve the circulation in the body, it prepares the body for healing, and it can be safely practiced by anyone who just wants a little bit more energy through the rest of the day.

The second mudra that we are going to practice is extremely beneficial for women. Again, a very safe mudra, it can be practiced by anyone — it can also be practiced by men, especially when your wife or partner is pregnant, even the partner can practice this mudra. How do you practice Yoni Mudra? You are first going to join the tips of the index finger and the thumb.

Now from here you have two different options: either you bend all the other fingers and place the backs of the fingers against each other, or you can simply interlace the fingers this way. Now if I flip my hand, you see this diamond shape here — this is a representation of the womb, because Yoni means womb or the source. So you are going to either interlace the fingers or place the backs of the fingers this way, turn your palm the other way around, index finger pointing to the floor, and you are going to just rest it close to your abdomen. So this is how you practice Yoni Mudra.

Like I said, it is extremely beneficial for all women — it takes care of all women-related issues: PCOS, infertility; during your pregnancy it helps to protect the baby, it helps to improve nourishment to the baby. So it is very, very good for you to practice. And also, when you are interlacing the fingers or when you are bringing the two hands together, it is a representation of the brain — the right and the left hemisphere coming together — so it really brings in that one-pointedness and tranquility. So let's practice Yoni Mudra.

Yoni Mudra, especially during pregnancy, can be practiced along with Brahmari Pranayama — it makes it a very, very relaxing practice for the person. So you are going to place the palms this way, finger pointing to the floor, close your eyes, keep the chest open, inhale, and exhale with the humming sound.

Release the mudra, gently open your eyes.

The final mudra we are going to practice today is very good, again, for everyone to practice, but is specifically extremely beneficial for people with heart ailments. It is called Apana Vayu Mudra, also called Hridaya Mudra. You are going to practice it by bending your middle finger and your ring finger to the tip of the thumb; now you are going to bend your index finger to the base of the thumb. So let's start by doing this first — curl your index finger to the base of the thumb, then you are going to join the tips of the thumb, middle finger, ring finger — the side it looks like this, the front it looks like this. You are going to practice this on both hands and place it on your thigh.

What are the benefits of Hridaya Mudra? Another name for this is also Mrita Sanjivani Mudra. So this is beneficial for people, like I said, who have heart ailments, but can actually be used even when the person is having a heart attack — at that moment, when they have been taken to the hospital, this mudra can be practiced by them till they get to the hospital. So even in acute situations this mudra is very, very helpful — it helps to relieve any kind of issues with the heart, any heart-related issues, and even from a psychological perspective. Anything that is pulling you down, anything that is emotionally draining for you, that is making you feel heavy and weighing you down — this mudra helps to release all of these emotions, so you find more opening through that heart center, and it keeps your heart space and the Anahata Chakra open, so your sense of love and belonging is more strengthened.

We can practice this mudra, Apana Vayu Mudra, along with Yam chanting — Yam, again, is the bija mantra for the Anahata Chakra. So let's begin. We are going to join the index finger to the base of the thumb, middle finger and ring finger to the tip of the thumb, palm facing up, and palms on your thighs. Close the eyes and let's begin. Inhale, Yam, Yam, Yam, Yam.

Yam.

Release the mudra and slowly open your eyes.

This mudra can be practiced anywhere between 30 minutes and an hour — it is a very safe mudra, very, very good to practice. This Apana Vayu Mudra, or Hridaya Mudra, can be practiced every day, especially by people who have heart ailments, at least for 15 to 20 minutes, and in the case of a heart attack, in those acute situations, it can be done even longer, for up to 45 to 50 minutes, or till that person is able to get emergency help.

So why are mudras so beneficial for you? See, if you notice, not everybody can be given an asana practice, because some people might have illnesses, they might be bedridden. So in this case, mudras become very, very helpful, because they are very easy to do — you can even sit down while watching TV, you can practice while reading, your hands can constantly be in this position even when you are talking to someone or doing any other kind of work. So mudras work as a complementary method along with allopathic medication, and it helps to relieve a particular person's discomfort, and I really hope this video was helpful and informative.