by JenYoga! | Jun 29, 2016 | Mudras, Tips for Managing Stress
“My Inner Smile awakens the Bliss that is always present.”
I love how the pinky fingers are like the uplifted corners of the mouth as in a smile in this mudra! You can rest the backs of your hands on your lap; or with elbows at your waist float your hands chest height; or try Hansi Mudra in yoga postures like Warrior – Virabhadrasana or Bridge – Setu Bandhasana.
Practicing Hansi helps me to remember that not only feelings of bliss, but also positive qualities are always within me, no matter what else is going on in life, or how I may feel one moment to the next. This strengthens knowing one’s True Self.
Compassion, Empathy, Unconditional Love, Joy, Contentment, Kindness, Connection, Trust, Openness – to name a few of the unending positive qualities that are always within us, and underlie everything else. Practicing Hansi ‘waters your good seeds’ as Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh likes to say, allowing you to feel and act from the higher states of being.
Hansi Mudra:
- instills a positive mood
- brings breath to chest area stimulating the thymus gland
- supports the immune system
- can help release tension from the jaws
- reveals inherent positive qualities within
Begin with 5-10 natural breaths and increase the number of breaths weekly to your practice.
These mudras and information provided are modified from Mudras for Healing and Transformation by Joseph and Lilian LePage, Integrative Yoga Therapy.
by JenYoga! | May 28, 2016 | Mudras
“I allow everything to be exactly as it is.”
Our possibilities increase when we allow everything to be exactly as it is in each unfolding moment. Allow Mudra came to me from an experience of feeling boxed in within my own self-imposed expectations. I was trying to make everything unfold according to how I wanted it – never a good idea. It’s a good idea to set one’s intention, then let the dance of the universe flow with you!
This mudra helps me to sense the openness of my heart. The chest expands to optimize full and proper breathing. Palms facing upward are a gentle surrender to this present moment, however it unfolds!
The lung energy channel according to traditional Chinese medicine runs under the collarbones, across the shoulders and down the arms to the thumbs, and is stretched and opened by practicing Allow Mudra. Heart and pericardium energy channels and energy points that run through the arms and also center of the palms, are opened to the sky, in a posture of receptivity. This allows both lung and heart to come into greater health and wellness.
My understanding of the flows of life have changed since I’ve been regularly practicing Allow Mudra . I find myself practicing it when I remember it — and in those moments I’m usually amazed that life in that moment is FAR better than I could have ever imagined! The beauty of the day, observing my students coming into balance, green things growing, birds chirping, the air almost seeming to dance with energy and aliveness!
The other times I practice this mudra are when things are not going my way. This is my sweet medicine! In those moments, it truly helps me to let go of the ‘outcome’, and to be in the process of life’s momentary ups and downs. Thankfully, it helps me to somehow see the humor in these moments as well!
Hold the mudra for 5-10 natural breaths. Repeat the affirmation aloud and silently to yourself. Practice Allow Mudra numerous times a day to help bring you back into the natural order and flow of life’s movements that you are an important part of.
by JenYoga! | May 3, 2016 | Five Element Yoga®
With Jala Mudra.
Lay on your back and draw your knees into your chest. Rock side to side to massage your back- yummy! Soften and loosen your neck and back muscles.
Place your feet down close to your buttocks and close together so they almost touch. You may like to place a block between your thighs on the narrowest level to help you feel more grounded and stable. Reach your fingertips toward your heels, palms up and come into Jala Mudra (little finger presses against thumb).
Press down into your feet firmly like you are about to stand up to activate your legs. Lengthen your tailbone towards your heels and slowly lift your hips up into the air as you inhale. Then as you exhale, lower one vertebrae at a time, like a string of pearls softly lowered onto a table.
- Inhale lengthen tailbone, press into feet, float hips upward silently stating “Tuned to my rhythms…”
- Exhale roll slowly down stating “I flow into Inner Harmony.”
- Repeat many times.
Finish on your back with knees into your chest and rock side to side again. Notice your body’s natural rhythms.
Possible Benefits
- Stretches the chest, neck, and spine; strengthens thighs, glutes, and triceps.
- May calms the mind to alleviate stress or mild depression.
- Stimulating and balancing for thyroid, lungs, reproductive and elimination systems.
- Good for symptoms of menopause and menstrual discomfort; anxiety, fatigue, back soreness and insomnia.
- Can be therapeutic for asthma, osteoporosis, and sinusitis.
Make sure your doctor knows you are practicing yoga and has given you the okay to do so. If you have a neck injury, please use caution or practice this with a certified yoga teacher.
by JenYoga! | May 3, 2016 | Mudras, Tips for Managing Stress
“I flow with the rhythms of the rivers within.”
This is one of my all time favorite Mudras! Perhaps because its so simple and yet so powerful at bringing me back into my natural flow. It helps me to sense my navel and breath naturally flowing more deeply and fully there.
My breath is a representation of the rhythms of nature inside me and in the Five Elements all around me that move together to bring me into harmony and balance. Then I remember that I AM nature and like a tuning fork to the macrocosm of nature, I am one again.
I have found in my Shiatsu practice that it can help to nourish the kidney energy channel, helping the body to deal with stress and adrenal overload to come back into harmony and health.
Hands are placed in Jala Mudra (little finger presses against the thumb) resting on the lap facing upward, or elbows at the waist hands also facing upward. Begin with 5-10 natural breaths and increase the number of breaths weekly to your practice.
These mudras and information provided are modified from Mudras for Healing and Transformation by Joseph and Lilian LePage, Integrative Yoga Therapy.
by JenYoga! | Mar 29, 2016 | Mudras, Tips for Managing Stress
“Fully present in my body, I am here now.”
Murti means body, form, in Sanskrit, and allows the breath to settle into the pelvis to support balance, stability, and comfort within the body and mind. Grounding, rooting and feeling your connection to the Earth helps to support feeling present and embodied. The exhalation will be enhanced leading to greater relaxation and softening within the body. This is a great antidote for a busy mind and overactive energy output. Hands are placed in Murti Mudra resting in the lap. Begin with 5-10 natural breaths and increase the number of breaths weekly to your practice. These mudras and information provided are modified from Mudras for Healing and Transformation by Joseph and Lilian LePage, Integrative Yoga Therapy.
