7 Days 7 Mudras – Day 7 Namaskar Mudra

One of the powerful technologies I’ve learned is mudras. And I want share them with you because they are super-easy, you can do them anywhere and they work instantly. 

Mudras are a tool to create certain energies within the body. My next chakra series gives you an introduction into working with mudras in your everyday life, to increase vitality, instantly create calm and work with the multitudes of health giving effects mudras bring to your body, mind and spirit. 

The use of mudras, in the practice of yoga are a powerful tool for self-care and empowerment. With yoga the intention is to draw oneself inward. Mudras allow us to go inward and recharge our energy levels. The term mudra applies to the use of hand (also eye and full body) gestures that carry specific goals of channeling your body’s energy flow.

I like to think of it as our Sacred circuitry. 

Join me for a 7 week immersion into your sacred circuitry.

Check out the upcoming Power Mudra + Chakra Yoga series here

NAMASKAR MUDRA

Practising Namaskar Mudra is an excellent way to induce a meditative state of awareness. It is a gesture of reverence, benediction, salutation.

The practice of Namaskar Mudra brings an experience of unity, sacredness, wholeness, and fullness of life. You are unifying the divine feminine and divine masculine. It creates harmony, balance, silence, and peace of mind.

HOW TO DO THE NAMASKAR MUDRA

Sit cross-legged (or any easy seated position), bring the base of the palms together at the heart centre, Press the hands firmly but evenly against each other. Make sure that one hand (usually your right hand if you are right-handed, your left if left-handed) doesn’t dominate the other. If you find such imbalance, release the dominant hand slightly but don’t increase the pressure of the non-dominant hand.

Bow your head slightly, drawing the crease of the neck toward the center of your head. Lift your sternum into your thumbs and lengthen down along the back of the armpits, making the back elbows heavy.

Close your eyes and take several deep, long breaths.

MUDRA PRACTICE

Although mudras show immediate effects, most need time 30-45 minutes (this can be spread throughout the day) over an extended period of time.

Practising Namaskar Mudra is an excellent way to induce a meditative state of awareness. Start your practice sitting in meditation in Namaskar Mudra for 5 minutes.

You can also use this hand position in Tadasana prior to beginning the Sun Salutation sequence, contemplating the “sun” or light of awareness that resides in your heart.

Surya Namaskar, Salute to the Sun, or Sun Salutation, is a yoga practice incorporating a sequence of gracefully linked asanas or postures. It is best done early in the morning on an empty stomach.

Surya Namaskar practice video

BENEFITS

By doing the Namaskar Mudra (joining of palms), a greater level of Divine consciousness is absorbed into the body. All the elements are connected and balanced as well as balancing the masculine and feminine energies.

The practice of Namaskar Mudra brings an experience of unity, sacredness, wholeness, and fullness of life. You are unifying the divine feminine and divine masculine. It creates harmony, balance, silence, and peace of mind.

WHAT ARE MUDRAS AND WHY ARE THEY POWERFUL?

In Sanskrit, mudra means “seal”, “mark” or “gesture.” Mudras are gestures (often of the hands but in Sattva Yoga we also use mudras of the eyes and tongue, and other body techniques).

Mudras act as psychic energy seals that create energetic shifts in the mental, physical and energetic body through guiding the energetic flow and harnesssing the bodily reflex stimulus to the brain.

The tips of your fingers, crown of your head, and feet are where energy leaves your body. You can practice mudras to channel that energy back into your body.

THE ELEMENTS OF THE HAND

The hand has three gunas, or qualities, and every finger has its own energy and its own elements.

In yogic philosophy the three gunas, fundamental forces, are tamas, rajas, and sattva. They interact to create all of the known Universe (Prakriti), and can be increased or decreased by using mudras.

Sattva manifests as balance, inspiration, and knowledge of what is real. Tamas is a heavy, mindless energy that causes ignorance and inaction. Rajas is the energy of change, manifesting as passion, pain, desire, and effort, and it can lead you to sattva or tamas but is often characterized as attachment to outcomes and unsteadiness.

Your hand has each of these three guna characteristics, and each finger is associated with an element.

Thumb Divine activator, Agni (Fire), Manipura chakra

Index Finger Individual Soul (Jiva), Vaayu (Air), Anahata chakra

Middle Finger Sattva Guna (Purity/Light), Akasha (Ether/Space), Vissuddha chakra

Ring Finger Rajas Guna (Passion/Fire) Prithvi (Earth), Muladhara chakra

Little Finger Tamas Guna (Inertia/Darkness) Jal (Water), Swadisthana chakra

A MUDRA FOR EVERYTHING

You can use mudras to increase, decrease or stabilise the gunas and specific elements. Whatever you need in your life, there is a mudra for it!
Some mudras show immediate effects, yet most need time 30-45 minutes (can be spread throughout the day) over an extended period of time.
You may notice some of the names I use are different from what you may be used to. My teacher comes from the Himalayan yoga tradition and so I use the names as he teaches them. Teachers from other traditions may used varied terminology.

Mudras are a powerful component of Sattva Yoga as well as a technology you can use on their own.

Over the next 7 days I am going to share my favourite mudras with you. And talk about how mudras work and what they can do for you.

I recommend trying each mudra for a day and at the end of the 7 days, if you feel inspired, choosing a mudra to practice with daily for a 21 day meditation practice or sadhana.

Drop me a comment and let me know how you go. I love hearing stories of the effects of these subtle but powerful practices.

Hari om tat sat. Namaste. Blessings.

Christina at Raw Mojo

One of the powerful technologies I’ve learned is mudras. And I want share them with you because they are super-easy, you can do them anywhere and they work instantly. 

Mudras are a tool to create certain energies within the body. My next chakra series gives you an introduction into working with mudras in your everyday life, to increase vitality, instantly create calm and work with the multitudes of health giving effects mudras bring to your body, mind and spirit. 

The use of mudras, in the practice of yoga are a powerful tool for self-care and empowerment. With yoga the intention is to draw oneself inward. Mudras allow us to go inward and recharge our energy levels. The term mudra applies to the use of hand (also eye and full body) gestures that carry specific goals of channeling your body’s energy flow.

I like to think of it as our Sacred circuitry. 

Join me for a 7 week immersion into your sacred circuitry.

Check out the upcoming Power Mudra + Chakra Yoga series here

Check out upcoming Sattva Yoga and Chakradance classes here

Imagecredit: yogapedia.com

7 Days 7 Mudras – Day 6 Kamala Mudra

One of the powerful technologies I’ve learned is mudras. And I want share them with you because they are super-easy, you can do them anywhere and they work instantly. 

Mudras are a tool to create certain energies within the body. My next chakra series gives you an introduction into working with mudras in your everyday life, to increase vitality, instantly create calm and work with the multitudes of health giving effects mudras bring to your body, mind and spirit. 

The use of mudras, in the practice of yoga are a powerful tool for self-care and empowerment. With yoga the intention is to draw oneself inward. Mudras allow us to go inward and recharge our energy levels. The term mudra applies to the use of hand (also eye and full body) gestures that carry specific goals of channeling your body’s energy flow.

I like to think of it as our Sacred circuitry. 

Join me for a 7 week immersion into your sacred circuitry.

Check out the upcoming Power Mudra + Chakra Yoga series here

KAMALA MUDRA

The Kamala (lotus) Mudra opens the heart chakra and is a symbol of purity. A lotus flower sits on the surface of the pond, opening to the sun as its roots remain deeply embedded into the muddy bottom, holding it firm and strong. It is the symbol of light and beauty emerging from the darkness.

The Goddess Kamala is located in the heart chakra, the place of devotional worship. She is the image of the heart’s delight and the heart’s wisdom for perfect beauty and happiness. Visualise this perfect fulfilment as the Divine grace that naturally comes for the heart of all beings.

The message of the lotus mudra is to stay connected to your roots, open yourself to the light and realize that the greatest sense of steadiness in life is an open heart.

HOW TO DO THE KAMALA MUDRA

Sit cross-legged (or any easy seated position), bring the base of the palms together at the heart centre, touching the thumbs and pinky fingers together. Spread the rest of the fingers out like the lotus flower opening toward the sunlight. Close your eyes and take several deep, long breaths.

It is highly recommended to practice this mudra in a quiet setting while meditating and focusing on the breath. If possible, this should be done for 30 to 45 minutes a day, this can be broken down into shorter sets.

MUDRA PRACTICE

Although mudras show immediate effects, most need time 30-45 minutes (this can be spread throughout the day) over an extended period of time.

I recommend using this mudra in a meditation practice, either 30 minutes, two lots of 20 minutes, three lots of 15 minutes or five rounds of 5 minutes across the day.

BENEFITS

This mudra opens and cultivates heart chakra.

It symbolises purity, light and beauty emerging from the darkness.

After practising this mudra you should feel grounded and strong like a lotus flower, while opening your heart to the joys of life.

The Kamala Mudra drains out misunderstanding, helps to release tension, and is also practiced to enhance the fire element in the body. It is a great reminder of the beauty and grace that is within you and those around you.

You can use it for cultivating love and affection, to ease loneliness, and can also be practiced when one feels drained, exploited or misunderstood.

Take some time to open your heart.

Practising this mudra opens you to the love that is always available, deepening your capacity for compassion and detachment, increasing acceptance, surrender and trust.

WHAT ARE MUDRAS AND WHY ARE THEY POWERFUL?

In Sanskrit, mudra means “seal”, “mark” or “gesture.” Mudras are gestures (often of the hands but in Sattva Yoga we also use mudras of the eyes and tongue, and other body techniques).

Mudras act as psychic energy seals that create energetic shifts in the mental, physical and energetic body through guiding the energetic flow and harnesssing the bodily reflex stimulus to the brain.

The tips of your fingers, crown of your head, and feet are where energy leaves your body. You can practice mudras to channel that energy back into your body.

THE ELEMENTS OF THE HAND

The hand has three gunas, or qualities, and every finger has its own energy and its own elements.

In yogic philosophy the three gunas, fundamental forces, are tamas, rajas, and sattva. They interact to create all of the known Universe (Prakriti), and can be increased or decreased by using mudras.

Sattva manifests as balance, inspiration, and knowledge of what is real. Tamas is a heavy, mindless energy that causes ignorance and inaction. Rajas is the energy of change, manifesting as passion, pain, desire, and effort, and it can lead you to sattva or tamas but is often characterized as attachment to outcomes and unsteadiness.

Your hand has each of these three guna characteristics, and each finger is associated with an element.

Thumb Divine activator, Agni (Fire), Manipura chakra

Index Finger Individual Soul (Jiva), Vaayu (Air), Anahata chakra

Middle Finger Sattva Guna (Purity/Light), Akasha (Ether/Space), Vissuddha chakra

Ring Finger Rajas Guna (Passion/Fire) Prithvi (Earth), Muladhara chakra

Little Finger Tamas Guna (Inertia/Darkness) Jal (Water), Swadisthana chakra

A MUDRA FOR EVERYTHING

You can use mudras to increase, decrease or stabilise the gunas and specific elements. Whatever you need in your life, there is a mudra for it!
Some mudras show immediate effects, yet most need time 30-45 minutes (can be spread throughout the day) over an extended period of time.
You may notice some of the names I use are different from what you may be used to. My teacher comes from the Himalayan yoga tradition and so I use the names as he teaches them. Teachers from other traditions may used varied terminology.

Mudras are a powerful component of Sattva Yoga as well as a technology you can use on their own.

Over the next 7 days I am going to share my favourite mudras with you. And talk about how mudras work and what they can do for you.

I recommend trying each mudra for a day and at the end of the 7 days, if you feel inspired, choosing a mudra to practice with daily for a 21 day meditation practice or sadhana.

Drop me a comment and let me know how you go. I love hearing stories of the effects of these subtle but powerful practices.

Hari om tat sat. Namaste. Blessings.

Christina at Raw Mojo

One of the powerful technologies I’ve learned is mudras. And I want share them with you because they are super-easy, you can do them anywhere and they work instantly. 

Mudras are a tool to create certain energies within the body. My next chakra series gives you an introduction into working with mudras in your everyday life, to increase vitality, instantly create calm and work with the multitudes of health giving effects mudras bring to your body, mind and spirit. 

The use of mudras, in the practice of yoga are a powerful tool for self-care and empowerment. With yoga the intention is to draw oneself inward. Mudras allow us to go inward and recharge our energy levels. The term mudra applies to the use of hand (also eye and full body) gestures that carry specific goals of channeling your body’s energy flow.

I like to think of it as our Sacred circuitry. 

Join me for a 7 week immersion into your sacred circuitry.

Check out the upcoming Power Mudra + Chakra Yoga series here

Check out upcoming Sattva Yoga and Chakradance classes here

Imagecredit: yogapedia.com

7 Days 7 Mudras – Day 5 Prithvi Mudra

One of the powerful technologies I’ve learned is mudras. And I want share them with you because they are super-easy, you can do them anywhere and they work instantly. 

Mudras are a tool to create certain energies within the body. My next chakra series gives you an introduction into working with mudras in your everyday life, to increase vitality, instantly create calm and work with the multitudes of health giving effects mudras bring to your body, mind and spirit. 

The use of mudras, in the practice of yoga are a powerful tool for self-care and empowerment. With yoga the intention is to draw oneself inward. Mudras allow us to go inward and recharge our energy levels. The term mudra applies to the use of hand (also eye and full body) gestures that carry specific goals of channeling your body’s energy flow.

I like to think of it as our Sacred circuitry. 

Join me for a 7 week immersion into your sacred circuitry.

Check out the upcoming Power Mudra + Chakra Yoga series here

PRITHVI MUDRA

Prithvi means “the vast one” and is also the name for the earth element in Sanskrit.

It is believed that the prithvi mudra is capable of increasing the earth element within the individual, which strengthens and heals the physical body.

The prithvi mudra is considered to be a very powerful mudra that is capable of healing many ailments, some of which include chronic fatigue, osteoporosis, weight loss, convalescence or paralysis, burning sensations throughout the body, ulcers, and nail, hair or skin issues.

When used as part of a spiritual practice, the prithvi mudra is thought to influence the muladhara (root) chakra, which governs the individual’s sense of stability, rootedness and security. This chakra is also associated with instincts and one’s primal nature.

HOW TO DO THE PRITHVI MUDRA

The tips of the ring fingers are pressed to the tips of the thumbs on each hand, while the other fingers are kept straight.

As with any hasta (hand) mudra, Prithvi mudra can be practiced while seated, prone, standing or even walking – as long as the body is relaxed and the posture is symmetrical. It is particularly beneficial when meditating.

Therapeutic mudras are believed to balance the elements in the body within 45 minutes.

Because this is a grounding mudra, it is highly recommended to practice this mudra in a quiet setting while meditating and focusing on the breath. If possible, this should be done for 30 to 45 minutes a day, this can be broken down into shorter sets.

WHAT THE FINGER PLACEMENTS REPRESENT

The ring finger represents the earth element. It represents stability, firmness, sturdiness. Earth is called Prithvi. Hence the hand gesture made with ring finger is called Prithvi Mudra.

The thumb agni (fire) and ring finger prithvi (earth) are brought into a balanced state as the tips are joined.

MUDRA PRACTICE

Although mudras show immediate effects, most need time 30-45 minutes (this can be spread throughout the day) over an extended period of time.

I recommend using this mudra in a meditation practice, either 30 minutes, two lots of 20 minutes, three lots of 15 minutes or five rounds of 5 minutes across the day.

Because this is a grounding mudra, it is highly recommended to practice this mudra in a quiet setting while meditating and focusing on the breath. If possible, this should be done for 30 to 45 minutes a day, this can be broken down into shorter sets.

BENEFITS

Prithvi mudra has a long list of benefits including:

• Balances the element Earth in your body

• Increases and stabilises the energy in your root chakra

• It improves body weight, blood circulation, digestive power and vitamin deficiency associated problems

• Regular practice of this mudra helps to improve the body strength

• It keeps the body stable

• Improves self confidence, gets rid of confusion, anxiety, fearfulness, fickle mindedness

• Makes the body and mind more stable and concentrated

• It is famously known for improving weight and hair growth, conditions skin, nails and bones

• Menstrual problems

• Assists throat problems including sore throat, hoarse strained voice

• Assists overactive thyroid/hypothyroidism

• Chronic fatigue

• Issues relating to the nose

• Sinusitis

• Influenza

• Varicose veins

• Urticaria or hives, rashes

• Ulcers

• Inflammation

• Piles

• Premature aging

• Memory loss

• Reduces all physical weaknesses

• Promotes body functionality

• It enhances love, compassion, tolerance and joy

WHAT ARE MUDRAS AND WHY ARE THEY POWERFUL?

In Sanskrit, mudra means “seal”, “mark” or “gesture.” Mudras are gestures (often of the hands but in Sattva Yoga we also use mudras of the eyes and tongue, and other body techniques).

Mudras act as psychic energy seals that create energetic shifts in the mental, physical and energetic body through guiding the energetic flow and harnesssing the bodily reflex stimulus to the brain.

The tips of your fingers, crown of your head, and feet are where energy leaves your body. You can practice mudras to channel that energy back into your body.

THE ELEMENTS OF THE HAND

The hand has three gunas, or qualities, and every finger has its own energy and its own elements.

In yogic philosophy the three gunas, fundamental forces, are tamas, rajas, and sattva. They interact to create all of the known Universe (Prakriti), and can be increased or decreased by using mudras.

Sattva manifests as balance, inspiration, and knowledge of what is real. Tamas is a heavy, mindless energy that causes ignorance and inaction. Rajas is the energy of change, manifesting as passion, pain, desire, and effort, and it can lead you to sattva or tamas but is often characterized as attachment to outcomes and unsteadiness.

Your hand has each of these three guna characteristics, and each finger is associated with an element.

Thumb Divine activator, Agni (Fire), Manipura chakra

Index Finger Individual Soul (Jiva), Vaayu (Air), Anahata chakra

Middle Finger Sattva Guna (Purity/Light), Akasha (Ether/Space), Vissuddha chakra

Ring Finger Rajas Guna (Passion/Fire) Prithvi (Earth), Muladhara chakra

Little Finger Tamas Guna (Inertia/Darkness) Jal (Water), Swadisthana chakra

A MUDRA FOR EVERYTHING

You can use mudras to increase, decrease or stabilise the gunas and specific elements. Whatever you need in your life, there is a mudra for it!
Some mudras show immediate effects, yet most need time 30-45 minutes (can be spread throughout the day) over an extended period of time.
You may notice some of the names I use are different from what you may be used to. My teacher comes from the Himalayan yoga tradition and so I use the names as he teaches them. Teachers from other traditions may used varied terminology.

Mudras are a powerful component of Sattva Yoga as well as a technology you can use on their own.

Over the next 7 days I am going to share my favourite mudras with you. And talk about how mudras work and what they can do for you.

I recommend trying each mudra for a day and at the end of the 7 days, if you feel inspired, choosing a mudra to practice with daily for a 21 day meditation practice or sadhana.

Drop me a comment and let me know how you go. I love hearing stories of the effects of these subtle but powerful practices.

Hari om tat sat. Namaste. Blessings.

Christina at Raw Mojo

One of the powerful technologies I’ve learned is mudras. And I want share them with you because they are super-easy, you can do them anywhere and they work instantly. 

Mudras are a tool to create certain energies within the body. My next chakra series gives you an introduction into working with mudras in your everyday life, to increase vitality, instantly create calm and work with the multitudes of health giving effects mudras bring to your body, mind and spirit. 

The use of mudras, in the practice of yoga are a powerful tool for self-care and empowerment. With yoga the intention is to draw oneself inward. Mudras allow us to go inward and recharge our energy levels. The term mudra applies to the use of hand (also eye and full body) gestures that carry specific goals of channeling your body’s energy flow.

I like to think of it as our Sacred circuitry. 

Join me for a 7 week immersion into your sacred circuitry.

Check out the upcoming Power Mudra + Chakra Yoga series here

Check out upcoming Sattva Yoga and Chakradance classes here

Imagecredit: yogapedia.com

7 Days 7 Mudras – Day 4 Varun Mudra

One of the powerful technologies I’ve learned is mudras. And I want share them with you because they are super-easy, you can do them anywhere and they work instantly. 

Mudras are a tool to create certain energies within the body. My next chakra series gives you an introduction into working with mudras in your everyday life, to increase vitality, instantly create calm and work with the multitudes of health giving effects mudras bring to your body, mind and spirit. 

The use of mudras, in the practice of yoga are a powerful tool for self-care and empowerment. With yoga the intention is to draw oneself inward. Mudras allow us to go inward and recharge our energy levels. The term mudra applies to the use of hand (also eye and full body) gestures that carry specific goals of channeling your body’s energy flow.

I like to think of it as our Sacred circuitry. 

Join me for a 7 week immersion into your sacred circuitry.

Check out the upcoming Power Mudra + Chakra Yoga series here

VARUN MUDRA

The Varun Mudra helps you to clearly and intuitively communicate. It also helps to balance the water content in your body by activating fluid circulation through the body, keeping it moisturized. This leads to healing for many skin conditions, blood conditions, osteoarthritis, digestive issues and to a natural glow of the skin.

Varun mudra is associated with mental clarity. It is based on a simple principle that communication is vital. We need to communicate clearly and assertively in order to achieve a healthy and fruitful life.

Varun mudra is also known to balance the water element in the body, and is named for Varun the Hindu god of water.

HOW TO DO THE VARUN MUDRA

The little (pinky) finger and thumb tips are lightly touching, and the remaining three fingers are held out gently, but not rigid.

There is no time limit on this mudra, you can do it any time and anywhere, however, sitting cross-legged is recommended and I recommend you remain in the mudra for at least five minutes.

As with any hasta (hand) mudra, Varun mudra can be practiced while seated, prone, standing or even walking – as long as the body is relaxed and the posture is symmetrical. It is particularly beneficial when meditating.

Because therapeutic mudras are believed to balance the elements in the body within 45 minutes, it is recommended that Varun mudra be practiced three times daily for 15 minutes each time to obtain its health benefits.

WHAT THE FINGER PLACEMENTS REPRESENT

The Varun Mudra is known as the “seal of mental clarity”. When the two fingers are placed together it is meant to symbolize and encourage openness and fluid communication.

MUDRA PRACTICE

Although mudras show immediate effects, most need time 30-45 minutes (this can be spread throughout the day) over an extended period of time.

I recommend using this mudra in a meditation practice, either 30 minutes, two lots of 20 minutes, three lots of 15 minutes or five rounds of 5 minutes across the day. You can practise mudras sitting, standing, lying down, walking. Almost anywhere really.

This mudra is best practiced sitting. I suggest trying at least 5 minutes in meditation and then you can bring the mudra in to other parts of your day, sitting at your desk.

BENEFITS

Practising Varun mudra is thought to cure or provide relief from a range of diseases and ailments that result from a lack of water in the body, including:

• Digestive issues like indigestion and constipation

• Skin disorders such as eczema and psoriasis

• Osteoarthritis

• Anemia and other blood-related problems

• Disorders related to the bladder and kidneys

• Dehydration

Varun mudra is also beneficial for dry mouth, dry eyes, dry skin and dry hair, as well as a loss of taste and other tongue disorders.

Anyone who has a problem with water retention or who is suffering from a severe cold or cough should avoid this mudra.

WHAT ARE MUDRAS AND WHY ARE THEY POWERFUL?

In Sanskrit, mudra means “seal”, “mark” or “gesture.” Mudras are gestures (often of the hands but in Sattva Yoga we also use mudras of the eyes and tongue, and other body techniques).

Mudras act as psychic energy seals that create energetic shifts in the mental, physical and energetic body through guiding the energetic flow and harnesssing the bodily reflex stimulus to the brain.

The tips of your fingers, crown of your head, and feet are where energy leaves your body. You can practice mudras to channel that energy back into your body.

THE ELEMENTS OF THE HAND

The hand has three gunas, or qualities, and every finger has its own energy and its own elements.

In yogic philosophy the three gunas, fundamental forces, are tamas, rajas, and sattva. They interact to create all of the known Universe (Prakriti), and can be increased or decreased by using mudras.

Sattva manifests as balance, inspiration, and knowledge of what is real. Tamas is a heavy, mindless energy that causes ignorance and inaction. Rajas is the energy of change, manifesting as passion, pain, desire, and effort, and it can lead you to sattva or tamas but is often characterized as attachment to outcomes and unsteadiness.

Your hand has each of these three guna characteristics, and each finger is associated with an element.

Thumb Divine activator, Agni (Fire), Manipura chakra

Index Finger Individual Soul (Jiva), Vaayu (Air), Anahata chakra

Middle Finger Sattva Guna (Purity/Light), Akasha (Ether/Space), Vissuddha chakra

Ring Finger Rajas Guna (Passion/Fire) Prithvi (Earth), Muladhara chakra

Little Finger Tamas Guna (Inertia/Darkness) Jal (Water), Swadisthana chakra

A MUDRA FOR EVERYTHING

You can use mudras to increase, decrease or stabilise the gunas and specific elements. Whatever you need in your life, there is a mudra for it!
Some mudras show immediate effects, yet most need time 30-45 minutes (can be spread throughout the day) over an extended period of time.
You may notice some of the names I use are different from what you may be used to. My teacher comes from the Himalayan yoga tradition and so I use the names as he teaches them. Teachers from other traditions may used varied terminology.

Mudras are a powerful component of Sattva Yoga as well as a technology you can use on their own.

Over the next 7 days I am going to share my favourite mudras with you. And talk about how mudras work and what they can do for you.

I recommend trying each mudra for a day and at the end of the 7 days, if you feel inspired, choosing a mudra to practice with daily for a 21 day meditation practice or sadhana.

Drop me a comment and let me know how you go. I love hearing stories of the effects of these subtle but powerful practices.

Hari om tat sat. Namaste. Blessings.

Christina at Raw Mojo

One of the powerful technologies I’ve learned is mudras. And I want share them with you because they are super-easy, you can do them anywhere and they work instantly. 

Mudras are a tool to create certain energies within the body. My next chakra series gives you an introduction into working with mudras in your everyday life, to increase vitality, instantly create calm and work with the multitudes of health giving effects mudras bring to your body, mind and spirit. 

The use of mudras, in the practice of yoga are a powerful tool for self-care and empowerment. With yoga the intention is to draw oneself inward. Mudras allow us to go inward and recharge our energy levels. The term mudra applies to the use of hand (also eye and full body) gestures that carry specific goals of channeling your body’s energy flow.

I like to think of it as our Sacred circuitry. 

Join me for a 7 week immersion into your sacred circuitry.

Check out the upcoming Power Mudra + Chakra Yoga series here

Imagecredit: yogapedia.com

7 Days 7 Mudras- Day 3 Yoni Mudra

image

One of the powerful technologies I’ve learned is mudras. And I want share them with you because they are super-easy, you can do them anywhere and they work instantly. 

Mudras are a tool to create certain energies within the body. My next chakra series gives you an introduction into working with mudras in your everyday life, to increase vitality, instantly create calm and work with the multitudes of health giving effects mudras bring to your body, mind and spirit. 

The use of mudras, in the practice of yoga are a powerful tool for self-care and empowerment. With yoga the intention is to draw oneself inward. Mudras allow us to go inward and recharge our energy levels. The term mudra applies to the use of hand (also eye and full body) gestures that carry specific goals of channeling your body’s energy flow.

I like to think of it as our Sacred circuitry. 

Join me for a 7 week immersion into your sacred circuitry.

Check out the upcoming Power Mudra + Chakra Yoga series here

YONI MUDRA

Yoni represents the womb, the creative potential of existence. It is a classical meditation mudra and enhances creativity, receptivity, detachment and equanimity.

It helps you in redirecting your attention inward and brings spiritual calmness, balance and peace to the heart and mind.

The Yoni Mudra helps in quieting the mind. Practicing this helps your nervous system to be calmed and stabilized, allowing you to redirect your attention inward.

To perform yoni mudra, assume a comfortable posture, like seated cross-legged, remembering to always keep your head and back straight and upright.

Bring the tips of the thumbs together pointing upward and the tips of the index fingers together and let them point downward.

You can either interlace the other fingers or turn the pinky, ring and middle fingers inwards so that the back of the fingers are touching. Find what is most comfortable for you, I like to interlace.

Hold the mudra in front of swadisthana, the sacral chakra, at your lower belly. Tuck in the chin, close the eyes and focus on the swadisthana and the mudra. Take slow, deep breaths.

You should remain in the mudra for at least five minutes.

WHAT THE FINGER PLACEMENTS REPRESENT

Yoni Mudra helps to cultivate creative energy and detachment from the chaos of the outer world.

The downward-pointing triangle shape that this mudra makes between the hands is the symbol of Shakti as the manifesting current of energy. It enhances apana vayu, the downward grounding wind.

The practice of Yoni Mudra where the fingers are touching each other is said to bring balance within the body in relation to prana. The two most important nadis – ida and pingala are said to work in harmony encouraging balance.

Use this mudra anytime you need to detach from daily life, anchor yourself, and plug in to your infinite feminine creative power.

MUDRA PRACTICE

Although mudras show immediate effects, most need time 30-45 minutes (this can be spread throughout the day) over an extended period of time.

I recommend using this mudra in a meditation practice, either 30 minutes, two lots of 20 minutes or five rounds of 5 minutes across the day. You can practise mudras sitting, standing, lying down, walking. Almost anywhere really.

This mudra is best practiced sitting. I suggest trying at least 5 minutes in meditation and then you can bring the mudra in to other parts of your day, sitting at your desk.

BENEFITS

• Promotes flow of energy

• Calms the mind

• Alleviates stress

• Promotes mental clarity

• Strengthens the nervous system

Yoni mudra is an excellent practice to be combined with meditation as it blocks distractions of all sorts.

The Yoni Mudra is dedicated to the feminine power Shakti. ‘Yoni’ means ‘womb’. Hence the practice of Yoni Mudra brings strength and power like the feminine Shakti (power).

This mudra is equally relevant for all genders as it works on the metaphysical level with the archetype of the womb and the creative force of Shakti.

In Indian Vedic and yogic philosophy the creative energy that manifests all life is the feminine power of Shakti. The origin of all life, of Shakti, is the great unmanifested cosmic womb, known in Sanskrit as Hiranyagarbha.

Yoni Mudra is sometimes referred to as Feminine Adi Shakti Primal Power Mudra. Given below are some of the important benefits that are derived when one practices Yoni Mudra.

1. Connection to the Earth: The practice of Yoni Mudra teaches one to go back to where one started – the earth – the birth. Bringing a sense of connection to where we belong. It is done on a very spiritual level.

2. Female Energy: The practice of Yoni Mudra helps women to connect to the innate female energy. The main source of life creation embedded deep in the womb.

3. Balance in the energy: The practice of Yoni Mudra where the fingers are touching each other is said to bring balance within the body in relation to prana. The two most important nadis – ida and pingala are said to work in harmony encouraging balance.

4. Fertility in women improves: With the practice of Yoni Mudra when done regularly for good duration, is said to help women finding difficulties with infertility. Helps women gain the energy back into their bodies to help improve fertility.

5. Women during menopause: The practice of Yoni Mudra is also good for women fighting symptoms related to menopause due to hormonal imbalance. This practice helps to bring this balance the right way, making menopause smooth.

WHAT ARE MUDRAS AND WHY ARE THEY POWERFUL?

In Sanskrit, mudra means “seal”, “mark” or “gesture.” Mudras are gestures (often of the hands but in Sattva Yoga we also use mudras of the eyes and tongue, and other body techniques).

Mudras act as psychic energy seals that create energetic shifts in the mental, physical and energetic body through guiding the energetic flow and harnesssing the bodily reflex stimulus to the brain.

The tips of your fingers, crown of your head, and feet are where energy leaves your body. You can practice mudras to channel that energy back into your body.

THE ELEMENTS OF THE HAND

The hand has three gunas, or qualities, and every finger has its own energy and its own elements.

In yogic philosophy the three gunas, fundamental forces, are tamas, rajas, and sattva. They interact to create all of the known Universe (Prakriti), and can be increased or decreased by using mudras.

Sattva manifests as balance, inspiration, and knowledge of what is real. Tamas is a heavy, mindless energy that causes ignorance and inaction. Rajas is the energy of change, manifesting as passion, pain, desire, and effort, and it can lead you to sattva or tamas but is often characterized as attachment to outcomes and unsteadiness.

Your hand has each of these three guna characteristics, and each finger is associated with an element.

Thumb Divine activator, Agni (Fire), Manipura chakra

Index Finger Individual Soul (Jiva), Vaayu (Air), Anahata chakra

Middle Finger Sattva Guna (Purity/Light), Akasha (Ether/Space), Vissuddha chakra

Ring Finger Rajas Guna (Passion/Fire) Prithvi (Earth), Muladhara chakra

Little Finger Tamas Guna (Inertia/Darkness) Jal (Water), Swadisthana chakra

A MUDRA FOR EVERYTHING

You can use mudras to increase, decrease or stabilise the gunas and specific elements. Whatever you need in your life, there is a mudra for it!
Some mudras show immediate effects, yet most need time 30-45 minutes (can be spread throughout the day) over an extended period of time.
You may notice some of the names I use are different from what you may be used to. My teacher comes from the Himalayan yoga tradition and so I use the names as he teaches them. Teachers from other traditions may used varied terminology.

Mudras are a powerful component of Sattva Yoga as well as a technology you can use on their own.

Over the next 7 days I am going to share my favourite mudras with you. And talk about how mudras work and what they can do for you.

I recommend trying each mudra for a day and at the end of the 7 days, if you feel inspired, choosing a mudra to practice with daily for a 21 day meditation practice or sadhana. And join me for the upcoming Power Mudra + Chakra Yoga series here

Drop me a comment and let me know how you go. I love hearing stories of the effects of these subtle but powerful practices.

Hari om tat sat. Namaste. Blessings.

Christina at Raw Mojo

Check out the upcoming Power Mudra + Chakra Yoga series here

One of the powerful technologies I’ve learned is mudras. And I want share them with you because they are super-easy, you can do them anywhere and they work instantly. 

Mudras are a tool to create certain energies within the body. My next chakra series gives you an introduction into working with mudras in your everyday life, to increase vitality, instantly create calm and work with the multitudes of health giving effects mudras bring to your body, mind and spirit. 

The use of mudras, in the practice of yoga are a powerful tool for self-care and empowerment. With yoga the intention is to draw oneself inward. Mudras allow us to go inward and recharge our energy levels. The term mudra applies to the use of hand (also eye and full body) gestures that carry specific goals of channeling your body’s energy flow.

I like to think of it as our Sacred circuitry. 

Join me for a 7 week immersion into your sacred circuitry.

Check out the upcoming Power Mudra + Chakra Yoga series here

The wisdom of the body

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You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Mary Oliver

I love this quote. Reading Mary Oliver feels like lying down on lush, damp grass, taking a deep breath and sinking in. But how often do we take the time to sink in and really inhabit our body?

The modern lifestyle creates a disconnect with the body, we become like a head with hands, thinking, thinking, doing, doing. Unless we habitually stop and practice meditation, dance or yoga, or spend time in nature, we may never really arrive in our body all day.

The wisdom of the body – with its endless and varied cacophony of signals and mechanisms – is our projection of spirit. This is our vehicle for incarnation. And like any vehicle, our body provides a stream of signals to guide and inform us. It provides the physicality, the flesh, the medium though which we interact with our physical, emotional and spiritual world.

From the soft lub-dub of our heart beat, to our churning guts, our racing pulse, our cold feet, the body conveys a series of messages, if we would only listen. 

From the cold knife-to-the-heart sensation of heartbreak and shame, to the butterflies of excitement, the soft animal of our body knows what it loves. It feels our pleasure and our pain.

The body contains truths unique to our being. Just as one person may enjoy eating peanut butter by the spoonful, another may fall into analphylactic shock at the smallest trace of nuts. We are similar, but not the same and neither are our bodies. As you embrace this, you can settle into a beautiful relationship with the unique body, the exquisite system of flesh and senses, that is you.

The yogis have always known this, that the stresses of the body must be smoothed out and soothed with yoga poses before the mind can be still and spirit can be heard. The yoga tradition is all about purifying the vessel to achieve union of body and spirit.

The spirit likes to dress up like this: ten fingers, ten toes, shoulders and all the rest… It could float, of course, but would rather plumb through matter. Airy and shapeless thing, it needs the metaphor of the body… To be understood, to be more than pure light that burns where no one is. Mary Oliver

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The first chakra, located at the base of our spine, is called Muladhara in Sanskrit, meaning root support. Like the root system of a tree, our root or base chakra energetically grounds us in the physical world.

Linking the chakras are a series of energy channels that, in their purest and unimpeded form, constantly flow and spiral up and down the spinal column, keeping our energetic system in connectivity to both the earth and ethereal energy above, with the chakras like little hubs in between.

Caroline Myss describes these channels and the chakras as our ‘energy anatomy’ and a ‘blueprint for managing spiritual power’ and that the purpose of most spiritual teachings – though often misunderstood – is to teach us how to manage this system of power.

Anodea Judith calls the chakras the ‘architecture of the soul.’ She says a chakra is a centre of organisation for the reception, the assimilation and the expression of life force energy. The chakras are the portals, the mediators, between the inner world and the outer world. 

Chakras can be described as processing centres of energy and information, as well as gateways for this energy and information to flow into, out of, and through. Note that when I refer to ‘energy’ I use the term to describe the concept used in many esoteric traditions of the vital life force energy, or spiritual energy, also known as prana or qi.

Many of us have sustained emotional and physical traumas in life which may have affected the formation and flow of our chakras. This biography of experience is energetically recorded in our chakra system (as well as the cells in our bodies.) This can cause our chakras to compensate by either restricting energy flow, becoming deficient or under active, or by becoming over active and excessive. Or even a combination of both. 

‘So what?’ You ask, ‘it’s only energy,’ read on, and I’ll tell you why this kind of imbalance can have deep and far reaching effects on your life.

Your biography becomes your biology. Caroline Myss

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Linked to physical realities of life – security, shelter, sustenance, family, tribe – Deedre Diemer writes that the first chakra is associated with primordial trust. It is the chakra associated with our basic instincts for food, shelter, sex and survival.

Developmentally this chakra emerges between conception and eighteen months, and is informed by our environment during that time. If we felt safe and nurtured and our needs were taken care of, if we were held lovingly by our mothers, and picked up when we cried, chances are this chakra is embedded with a core sense of security.

However up to 50% of people report that they either suffered birth trauma or there were significant stressors in their family of origin or community – war or poverty, for example – to inhibit this secure bonding from occurring. Not mention subsequent life trauma that can affect our sense of security. As such, we may have an overreactive first chakra, that is out of balance and causes us to compensate in a variety of ways.

If we are imbalanced in this chakra it can manifest as a lack of physicality, being underweight, spacey and anxious. Or it may manifest as an excessive physicality in being overweight and overly attached to the physical by hoarding, over eating and indulgence in pleasure, or over-accumulation of stuff.

I often wondered how I could be both spaced out and have a tendency to over-indulge. Anodea Judith points out that as these extremes are both compensatory behaviours to address an issue in this chakra we may experience symptoms of both.

This very body that we have, that’s sitting here right now… With its aches and pleasures… is exactly what we need to be fully human, fully awake, fully alive. Pema Chodron

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If you imagine the root chakra like a plant in a pot, it needs a degree of support to keep the soil and moisture in, but too tight a restraint will not allow it to grow.

In the same way a deficient base chakra contracts too tightly into its core, not allowing enough room for energy to come in, to have, to hold, to manifest. In this scenario we are literally strangling our energy flow, the earth energy that needs to flow up and through our base chakra is restricted and bottlenecked, creating blockages that may literally prevent us from manifesting or maintaining physical things, including our own healthy robust body, as there is no room to receive. This kind of person can be literally disembodied, spacey, anxious, ungrounded.

The person who compensates for an unbalanced base chakra though physical over-indulgence, allows excessive earth energy into their system. They may feel heavy, lethargic, they may be overweight, overeat, hoard and covet possessions, money and power. It is as if they use physical things, including their own body weight to compensate for deficiencies in this chakra, perhaps to literally compensate for a lack of maternal holding in their formative years.

Again this results in a blockage. Too much energy, when it is held and hoarded in this way impedes the flow just as much as constricted energy. It’s akin to the Buddhist concept of attachment, it is the attachment to our desires that causes suffering. It causes us to get stuck in a unmanageable mess of our own making.

As Albert Einstein once said, the most fundamental decision we make in life, is whether to see this world as inherently good and beneficent or not. This worldview informs everything we think, feel, and do. How we perceive and thus operate in the world. The base chakra question, is this world safe for me to embody?

Erik Erickson wrote that this first stage of psychosocial development – from birth to eighteen months – is a time when either trust or mistrust of the world around us is established. This informs our behaviour at the most fundamental level. If I can trust the world, I can allow myself to have it. I’m not suspicious. I am accepting.

If something is not safe, we won’t allow ourselves to have it, you wouldn’t drink poison, in the same way if your inherent world view is of an unsafe place, you won’t fully allow yourself to engage in it. You may stay detached, non-committal, risk-avoidant, and fearful.

We either master the fundamentals of survival or we become one of life’s victims. Ambika Wauters

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So much of our sense of our body and our self comes from the initial holding experience provided by our parents. Anodea Judith says that this initial holding wires up our brain body interface, it literally teaches us awareness that we have a body, we are in a body. This all comes through touch. Here we get imprinted with a cellular message of safety and security. Our instincts are quietened, not alarmed. This is a good grounding in the first chakra.

But what if you didn’t get this. What if you grew up in fear uncertainty, violence, instability? What did you have to do to yourself in order to survive this fundamental stage? If our needs are not met, our survival instincts start freaking out, our central nervous system is wired in a permanent state of anxiety, our body gets over-amped. We become over-vigilant, fearful, unable to settle, insecure. This kind of person doesn’t know how to calm down.

This may explain why so many people depend on alcohol, drugs, sex, food and shopping to self-soothe. They simply have no mechanism to return to a state of calm without external stimulus. Hence researchers into addiction like Gabor Mate suggest there are significant and demonstrable links between unresolved childhood trauma and addiction.

Nothing records the effect of a sad life as graphically as the human body. Naguib Mahvouz

The lesson of Muladhara chakra is grounding, a full inhabiting of our physical bodies as the embodiment of our connection to the element of earth. To cease existing primarily in our heads and inhabit our bodies. To cease grasping onto people, places and things as the source of our security.

Here we can experience pleasure and pain, connect with our feelings, and release these accumulated emotional energies through our connection with the physical.

Movement through our bodies allows energy to flow, it can trigger blockages to shift and cause accumulated energies to be released or redistributed and balanced.

Movement brings us into our physicality, brings our energy down from our heads into our roots, allowing a real connection with not only our physical selves, but the physicality of the world around us.

For those who, like myself, have a lifetime’s accumulated negative body issues, this takes patience and self-compassion. Making peace with the body I have despised, abandoned and abused for many years is a process that does not come overnight.

After several years of Chakradance practice, alongside many years of yoga and mindful meditation, I have found a degree of peace and comfort in my own skin that I have never before known. At times my body even brings me immeasurable joy. 

Here in this body are the sacred rivers, here are the sun and the moon, as well as all the pilgrimage places. I have not encountered another temple as blissful as my own body. Saraha Doha 

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To encourage our vital energy to flow freely we must let go of our attachments and defences. The chakras can be blocked by our learned defences, either something we want to keep out or something we don’t want to let out. What kinds of things would cause these defences? Toxic energy, fear and violence are all things we may shut down to avoid. Similarly we may repress our own ‘negative’ emotions – anger, sorrow, exuberance – having learned it was unsafe to express these. 

Sometimes the residue from trauma gets stored in our body and our energy system. While traditional psychotherapy may assist at a mental and behavioural level, we also need to release these wounds energetically, in order to release the attachments and defences they cause us to act out – often unconsciously – in our lives.

As in all things balance is the key. An over-amped base chakra may cause us to be frozen in fear or rushing about in a heightened state of anxiety. What we ideally want is movement that is grounded and purposeful. We need to reconnect with the nurturing aspects of Mother Earth.

To ground we invite this energy back down through our body and reconnect ourselves energetically with the earth.

Traditionally humans spent most of their lives in direct contact with the earth, walking, living and sleeping on the ground. In the modern world we are so disconnected from the earth in layers of buildings, shoes, vehicles. 

I thought the earth remembered me, she took me back so tenderly, arranging her dark skirts, her pockets full of lichens and seeds. Mary Oliver

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In Chakradance we reconnect our base chakra to the earth by dancing to earthy tribal beats, moving powerfully through our legs and feet. We may visualise ourself as a seed planted in the earth, provided with all the sustenance, support, and security it needs to grow. We see ourselves setting down strong roots as we grow into the world, like a giant majestic tree firmly rooted in the soil, so our branches can safely reach up and out into the sunshine.

Anodea Judith says that the best way to restore balance to the base chakra, is to open the leg channels. The legs connect us to the earth and the energy flows up through our feet and legs and into the base chakra. Our legs are like two prongs of an electric plug – we need to plug in to the earth energy to ground, receive and release.

Grounding exercise by Anodea Judith

This exercise will work whether your base chakra is deficient excessive or both, even if you feel your base chakra is balanced, grounding is always energising and restorative.

1. Stance

Stamp your feet a little to get the energy moving, then stand with your feet shoulder width or even a little further apart.

Make sure your feet are pointing straight or even slightly pigeon-toed, bend your knees slightly so your knee sits directly above your second toe.

Press down and out with your feet, as if you are trying to push apart two floorboards with your feet. So you want your feet firm and active.

2. Exercise

As you inhale gently bend your knees deeper, keeping your upper body upright, shoulders above hips.

As you exhale, slowly push down and out through your feet to straighten your knees, ensuring you do not lock your knees at the top. Do this very slowly.

Remember to keep the tension and engagement, the pushing sensation through your legs and feet.

3. Visualisation

As you exhale and push down, visualise energy from the base chakra in your pelvic floor pushing down through the core of your legs and feet and down into the earth.

(if your legs begin to tremble this is a good sign – you are shifting blockages and allowing energy to flow. If there’s any pain, stop)

If you feel you have deficient energy visualise drawing energy up through your legs and into your base chakra. 

If you feel you have excessive energy, visualise pushing that excess down into the earth.

If you’re not sure, just visualise both. Releasing in the exhale, receiving on the inhale.

4. Affirmation

As you exhale say ‘I am in here’ then ‘I am in here, and this is mine’ – really feeling yourself in your body.

You can do this up to 10 times. Trust your body, stop when you’ve had enough. You will build up your strength over time.

Practise this exercise daily and notice the difference after a week. Ideally this exercise will clear your channels, allow you to ground, release and receive energy through your base chakra.

I am one with the source, in so far as I act as a source, by making everything I have received flow again. Raimon Panikkar

I’m running a 10 day online Base Chakra retreat Reboot Your Base Chakra starting Friday 21 August. Bookings essential. Click here. Limited spaces.

I’d love to meet you there.

Namaste,

Christina

Christina is a Chakradance facilitator, Sattva yoga teacher, holder of sacred space, and wellbeing writer. She is passionate about wellbeing and brings her extensive knowledge though studies in the chakra system, yoga and shamanism to her practice.

Pranayama – breathe better, feel better


What’s the big deal about pranayama and breath work?

Pranayama or breath work, in all its forms, has gained a ton of credibility—and popularity—as a stress management and healing tool.

In their book, The Healing Power of the Breath, doctors Richard P. Brown and Patricia L. Gerbarg write:

“Studies are revealing that, by changing the patterns of breathing, it is possible to restore balance to the stress response systems, calm an agitated mind, relieve symptoms of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), improve physical health and endurance, elevate performance, and enhance relationships.”

Physical well-being. Lightness of heart. Clarity of mind. Inner and outer health and fulfillment. Purpose, intention, and direction.

If you could produce these sorts of results with a daily breath and meditation practice, would you be interested?

Research suggests even just 10 minutes of meditation a day over one month is enough to help you feel more focused, present, self compassionate, happier, less stressed and support you in flourishing in life. Increasing this to twice a day with some pranayama breath practice will really get results.

It seems crazy because we are doing it all the time but most of us don’t know how to breathe effectively.

Many people breathe from their chests instead of their diaphragms, resulting in shallow breathing which over time both reduces their oxygen intake and their ability to fully empty their breath, and detox their body.

Every cell in our bodies needs oxygen to function properly. So it’s no surprise that research shows that a regular practice of controlled breathing can decrease the effects of stress on the body and increase overall physical and mental health.

Learning diaphragmatic breathing and slowing the rate of breathing are the first steps in managing the symptoms of anxiety, anger and panic.

When someone is upset to the point of hyperventilating we get them to regulate their breathing. Pranayama is taking this even further by using very sophisticated breathing techniques that have very precise effects. 

Pranayama has immediate effects on the nervous system so is wonderful for calming, balancing and uplifting our mood in the moment. But practiced regularly pranayama has deeper and more long term effects. 

The ancient sages of India discovered these breathing techniques which are simple to practice and brought great relaxation to the body and mind, in preparation for meditation.

These breathing techniques can be practiced with ease and at any time of the day, ideally on an empty stomach.

Is your mind buzzing with activity? Can’t stop thinking about what someone said about you? Find a quiet corner and try the Bhramari pranayama (Bee breath) to apply brakes in the buzzing mind. This breathing technique is wonderful for those with hypertension.

Among the breathing techniques, Kapal Bhati pranayama (Skull Shining breathing technique) is considered the most important and effective for detoxifying the body and clearing the energy channels.

Low energy levels? Three rounds of Bhastrika pranayama (Bellow breath) will get your energy levels soaring!

Can’t concentrate on the task at hand? Try nine rounds of Nadi Shodhana pranayama (Alternate nostril breathing technique.)

Nadi Shodhana pranayama calms and centres the mind by bringing into harmony the left and right hemispheres of the brain which correlates to the logical and emotional sides of our personality.

If you would like to learn these techniques, see the details of my Pranayama and Meditation workshop below.

From reducing stress to getting better rest, these techniques have a demonstrated positive impact on quality of life.

Over 70 independent studies conducted on four continents and published in peer-reviewed journals, have demonstrated a comprehensive range of benefits from practicing Himalayan Yogic Pranayamas.

Pranayama techniques can restore balance to the stress response systems, calm an agitated mind, relieve symptoms of anxiety, improve physical health and endurance, elevate performance, and enhance relationships, improve confidence and decision-making, and provide relief from negative thinking and depression.

Pranayama is the art and science of yogic breathing techniques, and these techniques will reliably produce the above benefits when practiced consistently.

Breathing is something we do on a daily basis. The body, in a living state, breathes involuntarily whether we are awake, sleeping, or actively exercising.

Breathing is living. It is a vital function of life. In yoga, we refer to this as pranayama. Prana is a Sanskrit word that means life force and ayama means extending or stretching. Thus, the word “pranayama” translates to the control of life force. It is also known as the extension of breath.

Pranayama is also the practice of tuning and aligning our breath and our life force with the natural intelligence at work in all manifested reality. Everything in this world that appears static is actually vibrating. When we tune our prana we ensure that our whole being is vibrating at its optimal level.

There are a variety of breathing techniques that are known to reduce stress, aid in digestion, improve sleep, and calm you down.

If you would are interested to learn these techniques, see the details of my Pranayama and Meditation workshop below.

Introduction to Pranayama and Meditation, April 28, 10:30am-12:30pm at Raw Mojo.

In this two hour workshop we will explore simple yet powerful breathing techniques that you can bring into your daily life.

We will use breath to activate our prana, our vitality, balance and calm our mind and body and finish with a simple meditation practice.

You will leave with a variety of techniques that you can practice at home. There will be some gentle movement and stretching to ensure you remain supple and comfortable during the session.

There are limited spaces in our intimate studio so book in early to save a spot.

Totally suitable for beginners.

Bookings here

Hari om tat sat. Namaste. Blessings.

Christina at Raw Mojo

“Weak gut, foggy mind.” How the Solar Plexus Chakra activates our gut intelligence.

The solar plexus chakra is known as Manipura in Sanskrit, which means lustrous gem. This truly is the shining jewel of your vital life force energy.

Manipura regulates our pranic – or life force – energy throughout our body, controlling our energy balance, vitality and strength. It governs our digestive fires and heat regulation in the body.

The solar plexus chakra is the seat of our personal power and will. Energetically, it is the fire that fuels our metabolism, and when activated it increases our energy, drive, and sense of purpose.

And really, who couldn’t use some of that?

The seed mantra for Solar Plexus Chakra is RAM. Its element is Fire. Manipura is considered the centre of dynamism, energy, willpower, and achievement (iccha shakti), which radiates prana throughout the entire body. It is also associated with the sense of sight and the action of movement. 

Through meditating on Manipura, we can turn on this inner power and release this optimal flow of prana.

Scientists have begun to call the solar plexus and gut area the ‘second brain’ of the body. Serotonin, the neurotransmitter that is linked to depression, is largely found in the intestinal tract.

As my teacher Anandji says “Weak gut, foggy mind.” Our metabolism, digestion, growth, and healing all take place in the network of nerve plexus below the waist.

This ‘second brain’ is the place change and transformation is created.

In the ancient yogic texts, it states that “all yoga starts in the Navel Point”. The navel is an important centre of energy transformation in the body.

A strong navel brings many blessings including better circulation throughout the body, an overall feeling of well-being, more courage, and a deeper ability to meditate and transform on energetic levels.

A weak navel reflects a fatigued body, anxious mind, and restless spirit.

In Sattva Yoga we awaken the intelligence of your navel point through various simple yet sophisticated yogic techniques.

Navel activating kriyas and breath work have traditionally been used as a way to stoke the digestive fire, clean unnecessary fat from the belly, improve organ functioning, and balance the solar plexus chakra, manipura.

Ultimately this practice can bring you lots of powerful energy which can be used for very real transformation.

Let’s begin with a breathing exercise or pranayama called the Breath of Fire. This exercise will really tune you into your inner power source and get your solar plexus chakra pumping.

Place your hands on your belly. As you breathe in through your nose, your lungs fill with air and your belly pushes out.

Feel your belly pushing into your hands. As you exhale through your nose, empty your lungs and flatten your belly. At the end of your exhalation, gently pull your navel towards your spine.

Then, breathe in gently through your nose, feeling your belly expand. Exhale through your nose as you press your navel towards your spine, gently using your abdominal muscles. 

Begin to do this quickly, almost like a dog panting, only through your nose. Feel your belly bounce. Do this rapid breath about 30 times, making sure that you breathe in and out of your nose each time. If you feel comfortable with this breathing, you can repeat the 30 breaths up to 4 times. 

Fire breathing is a powerful way of cleansing and energising your solar plexus and your whole energetic field. 

Now let’s centre ourselves for the mantra meditation. Play the video.

Begin by grounding yourself, either sitting on the floor or on a chair and feel your spine or your feet rooted to the earth.

Feel the crown of your head connected to the energy of the divine or the source.

Imagine the line of energy that extends from your crown to your root chakra, and then bring your awareness to a point on this line around your belly and diaphragm.

Now repeat the mantra RAM as you keep your attention on your solar plexus chakra. Manipura.

(Note: this video goes for about an hour so you may want to set a timer for a shorter period of time, say 5-10 minutes)

When you have finished. Again draw your awareness back to your root chakra and your connection to the earth.

Sit quietly for a moment before going about your day. Be aware of your energy, power and inner fire throughout the day.

Let your entire day become a chakra meditation.

Hari om tat sat. Namaste. Blessings.

Try Sattva Yoga – Solar Plexus Chakra Flow on Friday 22 March


7 Days 7 Mudras Day 5 Prithvi Mudra

PRITHVI MUDRA

Prithvi means “the vast one” and is also the name for the earth element in Sanskrit.

It is believed that the prithvi mudra is capable of increasing the earth element within the individual, which strengthens and heals the physical body.

The prithvi mudra is considered to be a very powerful mudra that is capable of healing many ailments, some of which include chronic fatigue, osteoporosis, weight loss, convalescence or paralysis, burning sensations throughout the body, ulcers, and nail, hair or skin issues.

When used as part of a spiritual practice, the prithvi mudra is thought to influence the muladhara (root) chakra, which governs the individual’s sense of stability, rootedness and security. This chakra is also associated with instincts and one’s primal nature.

HOW TO DO THE PRITHVI MUDRA

The tips of the ring fingers are pressed to the tips of the thumbs on each hand, while the other fingers are kept straight.

As with any hasta (hand) mudra, Prithvi mudra can be practiced while seated, prone, standing or even walking – as long as the body is relaxed and the posture is symmetrical. It is particularly beneficial when meditating.

Therapeutic mudras are believed to balance the elements in the body within 45 minutes.

Because this is a grounding mudra, it is highly recommended to practice this mudra in a quiet setting while meditating and focusing on the breath. If possible, this should be done for 30 to 45 minutes a day, this can be broken down into shorter sets.

WHAT THE FINGER PLACEMENTS REPRESENT

The ring finger represents the earth element. It represents stability, firmness, sturdiness. Earth is called Prithvi. Hence the hand gesture made with ring finger is called Prithvi Mudra.

The thumb agni (fire) and ring finger prithvi (earth) are brought into a balanced state as the tips are joined.

MUDRA PRACTICE

Although mudras show immediate effects, most need time 30-45 minutes (this can be spread throughout the day) over an extended period of time.

I recommend using this mudra in a meditation practice, either 30 minutes, two lots of 20 minutes, three lots of 15 minutes or five rounds of 5 minutes across the day.

Because this is a grounding mudra, it is highly recommended to practice this mudra in a quiet setting while meditating and focusing on the breath. If possible, this should be done for 30 to 45 minutes a day, this can be broken down into shorter sets.

BENEFITS

Prithvi mudra has a long list of benefits including:

• Balances the element Earth in your body

• Increases and stabilises the energy in your root chakra

• It improves body weight, blood circulation, digestive power and vitamin deficiency associated problems

• Regular practice of this mudra helps to improve the body strength

• It keeps the body stable

• Improves self confidence, gets rid of confusion, anxiety, fearfulness, fickle mindedness

• Makes the body and mind more stable and concentrated

• It is famously known for improving weight and hair growth, conditions skin, nails and bones

• Menstrual problems

• Assists throat problems including sore throat, hoarse strained voice

• Assists overactive thyroid/hypothyroidism

• Chronic fatigue

• Issues relating to the nose

• Sinusitis

• Influenza

• Varicose veins

• Urticaria or hives, rashes

• Ulcers

• Inflammation

• Piles

• Premature aging

• Memory loss

• Reduces all physical weaknesses

• Promotes body functionality

• It enhances love, compassion, tolerance and joy

WHAT ARE MUDRAS AND WHY ARE THEY POWERFUL?

In Sanskrit, mudra means “seal”, “mark” or “gesture.” Mudras are gestures (often of the hands but in Sattva Yoga we also use mudras of the eyes and tongue, and other body techniques).

Mudras act as psychic energy seals that create energetic shifts in the mental, physical and energetic body through guiding the energetic flow and harnesssing the bodily reflex stimulus to the brain.

The tips of your fingers, crown of your head, and feet are where energy leaves your body. You can practice mudras to channel that energy back into your body.

THE ELEMENTS OF THE HAND

The hand has three gunas, or qualities, and every finger has its own energy and its own elements.

In yogic philosophy the three gunas, fundamental forces, are tamas, rajas, and sattva. They interact to create all of the known Universe (Prakriti), and can be increased or decreased by using mudras.

Sattva manifests as balance, inspiration, and knowledge of what is real. Tamas is a heavy, mindless energy that causes ignorance and inaction. Rajas is the energy of change, manifesting as passion, pain, desire, and effort, and it can lead you to sattva or tamas but is often characterized as attachment to outcomes and unsteadiness.

Your hand has each of these three guna characteristics, and each finger is associated with an element.

Thumb Divine activator, Agni (Fire), Manipura chakra

Index Finger Individual Soul (Jiva), Vaayu (Air), Anahata chakra

Middle Finger Sattva Guna (Purity/Light), Akasha (Ether/Space), Vissuddha chakra

Ring Finger Rajas Guna (Passion/Fire) Prithvi (Earth), Muladhara chakra

Little Finger Tamas Guna (Inertia/Darkness) Jal (Water), Swadisthana chakra

A MUDRA FOR EVERYTHING

You can use mudras to increase, decrease or stabilise the gunas and specific elements. Whatever you need in your life, there is a mudra for it!
Some mudras show immediate effects, yet most need time 30-45 minutes (can be spread throughout the day) over an extended period of time.
You may notice some of the names I use are different from what you may be used to. My teacher comes from the Himalayan yoga tradition and so I use the names as he teaches them. Teachers from other traditions may used varied terminology.

NEW YEAR NEW YOU

Why a new you? There’s nothing wrong with the ‘old you’ but the only real constant in life is change. So you can make this change conscious, harnessing intention and practice to steer change in an evolutionary direction, or you can just be at the mercy of old, unconscious behavioural patterns and programming.

New Year is a wonderful time to set the intention of renewal. But really our cells are renewing constantly so we can renew our body anytime.

Mudras are a powerful component of Sattva Yoga as well as a technology you can use on their own.

Over the next 7 days I am going to share my favourite mudras with you. And talk about how mudras work and what they can do for you.

I recommend trying each mudra for a day and at the end of the 7 days, if you feel inspired, choosing a mudra to practice with daily for a 21 day meditation practice or sadhana.

Drop me a comment and let me know how you go. I love hearing stories of the effects of these subtle but powerful practices.

Hari om tat sat. Namaste. Blessings.

Christina at Raw Mojo

Check out upcoming Sattva Yoga and Chakradance classes here

Imagecredit: yogapedia.com

7 Days 7 Mudras Day 4 Varun Mudra

VARUN MUDRA

The Varun Mudra helps you to clearly and intuitively communicate. It also helps to balance the water content in your body by activating fluid circulation through the body, keeping it moisturized. This leads to healing for many skin conditions, blood conditions, osteoarthritis, digestive issues and to a natural glow of the skin.

Varun mudra is associated with mental clarity. It is based on a simple principle that communication is vital. We need to communicate clearly and assertively in order to achieve a healthy and fruitful life.

Varun mudra is also known to balance the water element in the body, and is named for Varun the Hindu god of water.

HOW TO DO THE VARUN MUDRA

The little (pinky) finger and thumb tips are lightly touching, and the remaining three fingers are held out gently, but not rigid.

There is no time limit on this mudra, you can do it any time and anywhere, however, sitting cross-legged is recommended and I recommend you remain in the mudra for at least five minutes.

As with any hasta (hand) mudra, Varun mudra can be practiced while seated, prone, standing or even walking – as long as the body is relaxed and the posture is symmetrical. It is particularly beneficial when meditating.

Because therapeutic mudras are believed to balance the elements in the body within 45 minutes, it is recommended that Varun mudra be practiced three times daily for 15 minutes each time to obtain its health benefits.

WHAT THE FINGER PLACEMENTS REPRESENT

The Varun Mudra is known as the “seal of mental clarity”. When the two fingers are placed together it is meant to symbolize and encourage openness and fluid communication.

MUDRA PRACTICE

Although mudras show immediate effects, most need time 30-45 minutes (this can be spread throughout the day) over an extended period of time.

I recommend using this mudra in a meditation practice, either 30 minutes, two lots of 20 minutes, three lots of 15 minutes or five rounds of 5 minutes across the day. You can practise mudras sitting, standing, lying down, walking. Almost anywhere really.

This mudra is best practiced sitting. I suggest trying at least 5 minutes in meditation and then you can bring the mudra in to other parts of your day, sitting at your desk.

BENEFITS

Practising Varun mudra is thought to cure or provide relief from a range of diseases and ailments that result from a lack of water in the body, including:

• Digestive issues like indigestion and constipation

• Skin disorders such as eczema and psoriasis

• Osteoarthritis

• Anemia and other blood-related problems

• Disorders related to the bladder and kidneys

• Dehydration

Varun mudra is also beneficial for dry mouth, dry eyes, dry skin and dry hair, as well as a loss of taste and other tongue disorders.

Anyone who has a problem with water retention or who is suffering from a severe cold or cough should avoid this mudra.

WHAT ARE MUDRAS AND WHY ARE THEY POWERFUL?

In Sanskrit, mudra means “seal”, “mark” or “gesture.” Mudras are gestures (often of the hands but in Sattva Yoga we also use mudras of the eyes and tongue, and other body techniques).

Mudras act as psychic energy seals that create energetic shifts in the mental, physical and energetic body through guiding the energetic flow and harnesssing the bodily reflex stimulus to the brain.

The tips of your fingers, crown of your head, and feet are where energy leaves your body. You can practice mudras to channel that energy back into your body.

THE ELEMENTS OF THE HAND

The hand has three gunas, or qualities, and every finger has its own energy and its own elements.

In yogic philosophy the three gunas, fundamental forces, are tamas, rajas, and sattva. They interact to create all of the known Universe (Prakriti), and can be increased or decreased by using mudras.

Sattva manifests as balance, inspiration, and knowledge of what is real. Tamas is a heavy, mindless energy that causes ignorance and inaction. Rajas is the energy of change, manifesting as passion, pain, desire, and effort, and it can lead you to sattva or tamas but is often characterized as attachment to outcomes and unsteadiness.

Your hand has each of these three guna characteristics, and each finger is associated with an element.

Thumb Divine activator, Agni (Fire), Manipura chakra

Index Finger Individual Soul (Jiva), Vaayu (Air), Anahata chakra

Middle Finger Sattva Guna (Purity/Light), Akasha (Ether/Space), Vissuddha chakra

Ring Finger Rajas Guna (Passion/Fire) Prithvi (Earth), Muladhara chakra

Little Finger Tamas Guna (Inertia/Darkness) Jal (Water), Swadisthana chakra

A MUDRA FOR EVERYTHING

You can use mudras to increase, decrease or stabilise the gunas and specific elements. Whatever you need in your life, there is a mudra for it!
Some mudras show immediate effects, yet most need time 30-45 minutes (can be spread throughout the day) over an extended period of time.
You may notice some of the names I use are different from what you may be used to. My teacher comes from the Himalayan yoga tradition and so I use the names as he teaches them. Teachers from other traditions may used varied terminology.

NEW YEAR NEW YOU

Why a new you? There’s nothing wrong with the ‘old you’ but the only real constant in life is change. So you can make this change conscious, harnessing intention and practice to steer change in an evolutionary direction, or you can just be at the mercy of old, unconscious behavioural patterns and programming.

New Year is a wonderful time to set the intention of renewal. But really our cells are renewing constantly so we can renew our body anytime.

Mudras are a powerful component of Sattva Yoga as well as a technology you can use on their own.

Over the next 7 days I am going to share my favourite mudras with you. And talk about how mudras work and what they can do for you.

I recommend trying each mudra for a day and at the end of the 7 days, if you feel inspired, choosing a mudra to practice with daily for a 21 day meditation practice or sadhana.

Drop me a comment and let me know how you go. I love hearing stories of the effects of these subtle but powerful practices.

Hari om tat sat. Namaste. Blessings.

Christina at Raw Mojo

Check out upcoming Sattva Yoga and Chakradance classes here

Imagecredit: yogapedia.com