The notes below are designed to give prospective readers an idea of what to expect from the book, and to aid in making a decision on whether to buy it.
Mudras: Yoga in Your Hands
Gertrud Hirschi
Introduction
This is an excellent guide containing 52 mudras with detailed instructions, diagrams, breathing techniques and possible impacts of the mudras as well as herbal impacts. Describing each of the 52 lies beyond the scope of this website, but if you’ve ever wondered about mudras, this is an excellent resource.
General Notes
A mudra is a mystic position of the hands, a seal, or even a symbol. The thumb is symbolic of the cosmic divine and the index finger is the symbol of the individual. The index finger represents inspiration (energy from the outside) and the thumb stands for intuition (inner energy).
The pressure of the fingers should be very light, and your hand should be relaxed.
Balance the use of the fingers. Too much or too little of any finger is dangerous and leads to imbalance.
Practice mudras in a good mood and in a bad mood.
The Indian mudra researcher Keshav Dev recommends holding one mudra per day for 45 minutes or in 3 periods of 15 minutes each.
Exhale vigorously at the start of the exhale to make room for what you want to achieve. Always lengthen the little pause after inhaling and after exhaling by a few seconds.
Envision colors with mudras:
Red stimulates circulation, makes us alert, warms and relaxes, but can also bring out aggression.
Orange improves the mood, promotes lightness, stimulates sexuality, but can also stimulate superficiality
Yellow stimulates digestion, makes us mentally alert, and lets life appear in bright light.
Green is generally calming, regenerates on every level, and gives us something new with which to start
Blue is calming and provides security, protection, and symbolizes the silent yearning for the incomprehensible.
Violet is the color of transformation, change, and spirituality
Brown is the color of stability and connection to the earth but too much can lead to stagnation.
White bears the entire spectrum of other colors from birth to death.
Black is the color of protection and retreat.
While holding a mudra, visualize a color or an object of that color.
Mudras have a wondrous effect on the emotional areas of our lives. People make fists when they are vehemently agitated.
In Ayurveda, the fingers have long had links to individual organs and elements associated with them. In traditional Chinese medicine the meridians or subtle energy systems were linked with areas of the hand.