5 Mudras To Strengthen Your Confidence
apan mudra — energy mudra
Have you noticed how many gestures your hands make? Surely you’ve noticed the shapes of other people’s hands and how they can make you feel. The shapes we make with our hands, intentional or not, are often more powerful than our words. So it’s not really surprising that specific hand shapes affect the body and mind in specific ways that can promote healing.
“Every area of the hand forms a reflex zone for an associated part of the body and the brain. In this way, we can consider the hands to be a mirror of our body and our mind.”
According to Ayurveda, the life-knowledge sister practice to yoga, everything, including your body and mind, is made up of five elements called bhuta. This is echoed in the Moksha-Dharma in the Mahabharata when Bhishma says to Yudhishthira: “Earth, wind, ether, water, and light are great elements, [which are] the origin and the end of all beings. From that [conglomerate of elements] these [beings] have been created and into that they return again and again.”
Likewise, every illness is an imbalance of these elements that can be relieved by restoring their balance. Working with the hands intentionally helps because each finger is associated with an element, as also seen in acupressure, acupuncture, and reflexology. The elements have positive and negative expressions.
Ether - Middle Finger positive: truth/expression negative: deception/restriction
Air - Index Finger positive: calm/balance negative: anxiety/jealousy
Fire - Thumb positive: compassion/acceptance negative: hatred/rejection
Water - Pinky Finger positive: movement/action negative: apathy/indifference
Earth - Ring Finger positive: freedom/generosity negative: fear/grasping
If you’re not convinced that you can change your physical or emotional state with the hands, try this simple exercise now. Put your phone down. Clap your hands about ten times in a rhythm. Any Rhythm. Now clap the same rhythm with the backs of your hands. Next clap the inner sides of the hands, then outer sides, the wrists, knuckles, fingertips, etc. Find as many different ways to clap the hands or parts of hands as you can think of noticing all the different sensations and sounds. When you’ve finished playing your mini hand drum session, stop and notice how you feel.
“The word ‘mudra’ is derived from Sanskrit word Mud + Dhra or bliss dissolving[,] meaning that which dissolves duality[.] Mudras are hand, body, or eye positions that facilitate certain energy flows in the body and by forming a specific mudra one can induce certain states of mind and consciousness.” Mohini A. Mudras for Women in Enhancing the Level of Oomph - A Pilot Trial in Virudhunagar. Int J Humanit Soc Sci Invent. Dr. Mohini writes:
When we practice mudras the nadis and chakras constantly radiate prana which normally escapes from the body and dissipates into the external world. By creating barrier within the body through the practice of mudra, the energy is redirected within. The aim of practicing mudra is to bring good health and equanimity of mind to its practitioners at all times under various pressure, inadequate sleep, depression and tensions.
You can use mudras to support therapy or healing of a specific ailment or issue just like you would medication. Think of it as bringing the hands to therapy. When you do this, use the mudra as you would use any other medication — regularly for as long as needed. There are specific lengths of time recommended for different mudras, but generally it is recommended at first to practice a given mudra three times a day for at least ten minutes while sitting or lying down. A 2018 scientific study, Classification of Electrophotonic Images of Yogic Practice of Mudra through Neural Networks (nih.gov), confirmed that sitting quietly with eyes closed for 5 minutes showed slight difference in measurable energy, but when mudras were practiced for more than 20 minutes, more detectable changes were measured. The practice is also portable. You can do it almost anywhere. But it’s especially easy to do when lying in bed waking up or while falling asleep. Also in yoga nidra, or savasana at the end of a physical yoga practice. Most important is to relax the body.
When you first start working with the hands, you may notice the flexibility, or lack thereof, of hands and fingers, just like you notice the body when you practice yoga. Your unique hands make some shapes more easily than others. And the hands may feel tired when holding shapes for awhile. Like the body, the hands need to rest after practice too. And like the body, the hands will become more stronger and more flexible with practice in time.
The following mudras and affirmations can be used for confidence and help when you’re feeling fear, uncertainty, or doubt also known as FUD. Try them now and see which one resonates most with you. Do it for at least 20 minutes a day for a week. Feel the difference. I learned these from a beautiful little book that fell into my hands called Mudras, Yoga in your Hands. As I practiced what I like to call Hand Yoga, I realized that mudras are also modalities for accessibility. Why limit options to blocks and straps? And though we often think of accessibility as physical, accessibility works on other levels too. Creative blocks are wonderful opportunities for an assist, a prop, or a modification instead of assuming that one is simply not creative. Case in point, while practicing one of these mudras myself, it occurred to me that I would never write that article about mudras if I didn't actually write it. So, with the help of the following mudras, here it is.
Shankh Mudra (Shell Mudra)
Affirmation: My thoughts and words are about strength and love. Everything I think and speak comes back to me.
Apan Vayu Mudra
Affirmation: There is time and ease to see the beauty and enjoy the silence.
Kubera Mudra
Affirmation: I give and receive what is good.
Apan Mudra (Energy Mudra)
Affirmation: I plant seeds, care for nature, and enjoy a rich harvest.
Atmanjali Mudra
Affirmation: I greet the divine and receive all that is good.