10 Powerful Yoga Mudras: Types and Health Benefits

Yoga mudras or hand signs that everybody should perform daily in order to keep a balance between their physical and mental health.

Mudra is a Sanskrit word that is further divided into two words: ‘Mud’ means joy and ‘ra’ means to produce.

The complete meaning of the word mudra is postures that produce joy or balance in our bodies. Mudras are a silent language that consists of hand or finger gestures.

Our physical body is made up of five elements (fire, air, space, earth, and water) and every finger represents a different element.

1. The thumbs represent the fire element.
2. The index fingers represent the air element.
3. The middle fingers represent the space element.
4. The ring fingers represent the earth element.
5. The pinky fingers represent the water element.

Imbalance of these 5 elements can disturb our immunity system. To get the balance between these five elements, our fire element (thumb) is brought into contact with other elements (fingers), which is known as MUDRA.

Mudras aren’t just for meditation but have subtle effects on the body and mind that can be used for healing purposes.

Daily practice of appropriate mudra from 5 to 20 minutes, can help you to cure your diseases.

These mudras can be practiced at any time while sitting, standing, walking, or traveling but the best results you can get if you practice mudra in sitting posture (Padmasana, Sukhasana, or Vajrasana) with breathing. 

Apart from mudra practice, eating habits, diet, and lifestyle play an important role in your overall health.

Top Yoga Mudras are:

1. Chin or Gyan Mudra (Mudra of Knowledge)

Chin means consciousness in Sanskrit. This mudra stimulates the brainpower and its concentration level.

This mudra connects us to our higher self, helps lift dull energy, creates a more receptive state, calms the mind, and brightens the overall mood.

It is often used in meditation, pranayama, and asana. To many, it has served the purpose of connecting the supreme soul to their soul and unifies with ‘the ultimate’.

How To Do:

Peacefully sit in a lotus posture or Sukhasana and keep your hand on knee then touch thumb tip with your index fingertip and keep the remaining three fingers free like straight or close.

2. Adi Mudra (Primal Mudra)

Adi mudra is a symbolic, ritualistic gesture of the hands often used in spiritual yoga practice to calm and quiet the mind and nervous system. It can also help prepare the practitioner for breathing exercises.

If you are suffering from the habit of snoring, make Adi Mudra a part of your lifestyle regime. It helps to reduce the snores gradually by improving the flow of oxygen ideal for relaxation of your nervous system and also improves the function of lungs.

How To Do:

Peacefully sit in a lotus posture or Sukhasana and first fold your thumb and then fold all fingers together over the thumb.

3. Prithvi Mudra (Mudra of Earth)

Prithvi mudra helps to calm the mind and make it free from irrelevant beliefs and thoughts. It is beneficial in strengthening the body and decreases exhaustion.

Earth is the major component of bones, skin, hair, nails, flesh, muscles, tendons, internal organs, etc. The practice of Prithvi mudra strengthens these tissues.

How To Do:

First of all, you touch the tip of your ring finger with the tip of the thumb and then pressing both fingers with each other then kept the remaining fingers extended out.

4. Vayu Mudra (Mudra of Air)

Vayu Mudra is favorable for people suffering from arthritis, paralysis, cervical spondylitis etc. And, as the name suggests, it helps to balance the air inside the body. If someone feels uneasy or bloating after having the meal, they should practice the Vayu mudra.

How to do

Fold Your index finger towards palm show like above image and the press with the base of the thumb. And rest of the three fingers keep extending as much as possible.

5. Varun Mudra (Mudra of Water)

Varun Mudra is useful in balancing the water content in the body by activating the fluid circulation. It also makes the vocal cords clearer and facilitates improved communication. It’s also beneficial in skin problems. Performing Varun mudra will make your skin glow naturally and will leave it spotless.

How To Do :

Simply touch the little fingertip with the tip of the thumb and don’t press the fingers and then keep the rest of the fingers straight like shown above picture. The preferable position is sitting cross-legged.

6. Surya or Agni Mudra (Mudra of Fire)

As the name suggests, this mudra is helpful in generating heat in the body. If you feel very cold during the cold weather, this is the one ideal mudra for you.

Surya Mudra helps in improving the metabolism of body and aids in digestion issues. In addition, it works to reduce the excessive fat content in your body.

How To Do :

Close the ring finger towards palm and press the second phalanx with thumb base and the rest of the fingers keep extend outside like straight. Do it in the early morning with an empty stomach for the best results. Those who are suffering from acidity don’t do this Agni mudra.

7. Shunya Mudra (Mudra of Emptiness):

Shunya mudra, also known as Akash Mudra, as it balances the excess of space element in our body. Since this mudra can be performed with a full belly, hence, you can perform it at any hour of the day.

It helps to get relief from a range of ENT problems, prevents motion sickness, cures numbness, helps in a thyroid problem.

How To Do :

Sit comfortably in either Padmasana (lotus position), Vajrasana (thunderbolt pose), or Shukhasana (easy pose). Fold the middle finger of both hands and touch them to the base of the thumb.
Now, gently press the second phalanx (middle part of a finger) of the middle finger with the thumb.
Leave the other three fingers extended.

Related:

14 types of yoga and choose which kind is for you

8. Apana Mudra

When the waste and toxins accumulate in the body, it creates an imbalance in our physical & mental state. The Apana mudra is good for mental or physical digestion and for eliminating waste material from the body.

People suffering from regular stomach pain, gas, constipation can relieve by practicing this mudra, it strengthens leg joints and it is also beneficial for women during the menstrual cycle to get rid of cramps.

How To Do :

Sit comfortably in a meditative posture (Sukhasana, Padmasana & Siddhasana, etc.). Fold your both hands middle and ring finger towards the thumb and bring your thumb closer to the folded fingers. Gently press folded finger’s tip against the tip of the thumb. Keep rest two fingers straight, as extended as possible.

9. Prana Healing (Mudra Mudra of Life)

Prana means ‘energy’ or life. This energy manifolds and stimulates the entire human body. It makes you feel more energetic, helps boost the body’s immunity, prevents tiredness.

It recovers vision and treats eye irritation like burning red dry eyes, cataract. In this mudra, earth, the water, plus fire elements are attached, so this helps remove the obstacles and impurities present in the blood, ensuing in enhanced blood movement.

How To Do :

Sit comfortably in a meditative posture (Sukhasana, Padmasana & Siddhasana, etc.). First, bend your little finger and ring finger then touch these two fingers tips to the tip of the thumb. All other fingers must be extended straight.

10. Dhyana mudra

Dhyana mudra is sometimes also called yoga mudra or samadhi mudra. The Buddha is often pictured doing this gesture. This mudra represents the gesture of total balance.

The person using this mudra during meditation is immersed in the limitless space, completely untouched by the outside world. 

How To Do :

Simply sit with your hands facing upward, right hand resting on top of your left palm. The right hand symbolizes wisdom and awareness and the left one symbolizes the illusion of existence.

If you are practising any of these yoga mudra and experienced any benefits, please share with us in the comment section below.