Mudras: The Sacred Language of the Hands in Yoga and Spiritual Practice
Your hands are speaking right now. Not in the language of gesture and signal that social life uses — not waving, pointing, or beckoning — but in a more fundamental language: the language of energy. The positions of your hands, fingers, and wrists influence the flow of prana (life force) through your body, affect the quality of your mental and emotional state, and communicate — both internally and, according to tantric tradition, to the broader field of consciousness — specific qualities of intention and awareness. This is the science of mudras (Sanskrit: mudrā , "seal," "mark," "gesture"): the deliberate positioning of hands and fingers to create specific energetic effects and to support specific states of consciousness. Mudras are among the most ancient and most enduring of yogic and Buddhist practices — appearing in Indian temple sculpture from the 2nd century BCE, codified in the Tantric and yogic texts of the 1st millennium CE, and still practiced d...