Mudras

Mudras are hand gestures usually used during meditation and alternate nostril breathing to channel your body’s flow of energy. Some asanas like Dancer also use mudras.

Ancient peoples believed everything was made from five elements: air, fire, water, earth, and ether. They believed the hands have energy points for those elements. Using mudras was one way of channeling those elements. The association between the elements and the hand is:

Thumb – ether

Index finger – air

Middle finger – fire

Ring finger – water

Little finger – earth

The following photos are some commonly used mudras. Like adjusting poses for your body, there are no right or wrong mudras. Using mudras is a personal choice.