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| Home > Mudras > Mudra Postures
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| | Mudra Postures
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Mudras are said to awaken the kundalini energy. They can be practiced either before or after other yoga practices like pranayama or asanas. Mudras are one of seven practices that yogis employ in order to aid the hearing of these inner sounds. Mudras can be practiced without any difficulty; especially the maha-mudra, which is performed to aid visualisation of the sushumna, is an easy one to practise.
Many Mudras are normally associated only with the hands, which are mostly used for Indian dancing like the Chit-mudra, denoting chit or wisdom of the highest consciousness. But when it comes for practicing Mudras for health, the word Mudra refers to the `seal` that closes and safeguards.
Maha-Mudra
To perform it, simply sit on the ground, and place the left heel on the perineum, being careful not to sit on it. The right leg is kept straight and at a right angle to the body. Clasp your right foot with both hands, not merely touching the foot but holding it firmly. Concentrate within, turning your attention to the eyebrow centre.
Now fix your gaze inwards, and clearly visualise the sushumna nadi as a radiant shell running vertically through the centre of your body from top to bottom. Inhale. Then drop your chin and press it firmly to the chest and hold the breath, continuing to visualise the sushumna nadi. The visualisation is only of the psychic tube and not of the individual chakras. Since the heel of the foot is on the perineum, and since your attention has also been focused on the eyebrow centre, you are immediately aware of where the sushumna begins and ends.
After holding the breath to your capacity, raise the chin and exhale slowly. This is the first half of the procedure. Repeat it but this time place the left leg out straight and the right foot on the perineum.
However, this is the second half of one complete rounds of the maha-mudra. If necessary, one can do several complete rounds of maha-mudra. It may be necessary to visualise the sushumna clearly. However, after finishing with maha-mudra, one should perform the maha-bandha.
Maha-Bandha
Place the left heel against the perineum. Place the right foot on the left thigh. Inhale, do  the chin lock, and place the palms on the floor. As part of the maha-bandha, you should perform the maha-bandha, contracting the muscles to close or "bind" the anus while also contracting the muscles in such a way so as to pull up the alimentary canal.
This maha-bandha must be firmly kept while you continue with the maha-bandha. Contemplation is of the eyebrow centre. And as in maha-mudra, you visualise the sushumna. As before, you raise the chin, and exhale slowly.
Finally, still assuming the maha-bandha, you perform the maha-vedha.
Maha-Vedha
Take a deep breath and hold it and, while dropping the chin again into jalandhara-bandha, you lift and raise your buttocks off the ground, your two palms pushing you from the ground. Then drop the buttocks, letting it gently strike the floor.
The Maha-mudra, maha-bandha, and maha-vedha are the three parts of one exercise and are practiced together. All three produce some effects upon the perineum. These are performed because they help create sensitivity about the beginning of the sushumna. The eyebrow centre is the terminus of the sushumna. The concentration should be free to move through the entire field of the sushumna because the sushumna is not just top, middle, and bottom but one field, one sushumna! Here, this meditation is not fixed upon one thing; there is movement of the mind or chitta. The movement may be limited to the extent that the meditation is upon the sushumna only, but there is no limit on the movement of consciousness within that field.
Kechari Mudra
The kechari-mudra is also very popular, since it promotes concentration. It involves rolling the tongue back so that it touches the posterior nares; though this is not an easy task to perform. This may not be easy to do.
Nabho Mudra
Other yoga texts like the Gerandha Samhita suggests the Nabho mudra where the tongue is turned back onto the palate towards the uvula as far as it will go. It is believed that mental agitation ceases when the tip of the tongue is turned up and back. Nabho mudra is considered a substitute for kechari mudra.
Yoni Mudra
Yoni-mudra is excellent for meditation upon the chakras because it completely blocks out or seals off all distractions. It gets its name yoni, meaning "uterus", because like the baby  in the uterus, the practitioner has no external contact with the world and, therefore, no externalisation of consciousness. In Yoni Mudra yogis not only visualise each one of the chakras, but also listen intently to inner sounds or what is popularly called "the mystic sounds". The yoga texts say that if you are right-handed, you will hear these sounds in your right ear and if you are left-handed, you will hear these sounds in your left ear. The physical posture that is recommended is siddhasana because it is considered the best for sealing off the lower apertures. However, if siddhasana is not possible, one should try the padmasana. The yogi then seals all the upper apertures.
First, putting the thumbs in the ears close the ear holes. Keep your back straight.
Next close the eyelids and place the tips of the index fingers on them. If the eyeballs feel disturbed by the pressure of the finger on the eyelids, try drawing the eyelid down with the index fingers so that the only place where the fingers apply pressure is just below the eyes at the cheekbone.
The middle fingers push in on the nostrils. The ring fingers rest on the upper lip, while the little fingers rest under the lower lip.
Each elbow should be pointed outwards: the right at a ninety- degree angle to your right side, and the left elbow at a ninety-degree angle to your left side. Keep them in this position throughout and do not let them drop.
There are two variations in the technique of breathing while doing the Yoni Mudra. The first is simply to stop pinching the nostrils with your middle fingers when you wish to breathe in and out. In the other procedure, the nostrils are held tightly shut. The ring and little fingers stay put also, but the lips open as if you are pouting, or, as if you are about to whistle.
Yoga-Danda
 A yoga-danda is a T-shaped stick, which keeps the elbows stationary. By putting pressure on the armpit, the yoga-danda is also supposed to change the flow of energy in the nadis. Every person has his own natural rhythm of alternation. But if this same gets restricted due to some disturbance somewhere in the body-mind complex, then this yoga-danda is for you. If this happens, the normal regulation of energy from one side of the body to the other would be very sluggish and the flow on one side would dominate for quite longer than usual. For encountering this pattern of low energy level, the yoga-danda is placed under the armpit on the side in which the energy flow is dominant. If the energy flow is dominant on the left (the ida), the yogi places the yoga-danda under the armpit on the left side and the flow will begin to shift, and will eventually start flowing in the pingala nadi on the right side.
Kaki Mudra
The Kaki Mudra refers to the breathing through the mouth. Some teachers have also recommended breathing through the nose. The practitioner should choose the most convenient method.
Sambhavi Mudra
Another Mudra practice that the yoga texts also recommend for the hearing of the inner sounds is Sambhavi Mudra. It is also more of a spiritual practice than a physical exercise. Yoga texts mention that you should sit in siddhasana, and close your ears with the thumbs (as in the Yoni Mudra). Although the eyes are kept open in Sambhavi Mudra, the practitioner is supposed to "look without wanting to see anything". The eyes remain open, but the attention is within. The practice is a `seal` in that consciousness is prevented from externalizing which, in turn, prevents the arousal of objects from within itself. When all externalisation ceases, there is the experience of great inner joy. This is the reason that some yogis, including the Tibetans, call Mudra the "fountain of joy".
Since these Mudras are intended for use in chakra meditation, it is recommended that they should not be combined with other types of meditation, or else it might compromise their effectiveness. For the committed student or practitioner, there are numerous purificatory practices numerous pranayama practices, asnas, Mudras, all providing varied opportunities for meditation and self-discovery. The great masters have spent lifetimes in the discovery of Mudras and with every passing day a little more is added to the vast repertoire of knowledge on the subject. Only some innocuous gesture of the fingers, a little prayer, a touch of visualisation and pronto one is transported to a new consciousness.
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