Effectiveness of Mudras

[humbleone]

Hello, I have a question about the use of mudras to enhance well being.

 

I am interested in their use in mostly non-meditative format. So holding a mudra during work, problem solving or walking etc. From what I understand, touching of fingers in a certain way activates different parts of the brain.

 

The more I look into it, the subject appears to be very complex. There are Hindu, Buddhist from India, China and Japan etc forms of mudras.

 

Could anyone please share their experience on the use of mudras? Thanks very much.

[寒月 Hanyue]

Get qi first. Then if you haven't had spontaneous mudra, playing with them will make sense.

 

There are many systems and often with conflicting theories about how or why they work, pick one stick with it, but.

 

No qi, they don't do a lot. My two penneth,

 

Best

[Gerard]

The following mudras are excellent for purging off the junk we all accumulate, lifetime after lifetime:

 

http://www.newyorkinternalarts.com/blog/?p=143

[wayki]

kuji-in is pretty good

[adept]

San Ti

[humbleone]

Thank you all for your replies.

 

I tried some basic mudras in the last few days with interesting results. The effect seems immediate.

From what i have read, the hand is a micro-cosom representing the five elements. There is a energy center in the palm. Thus the 'healing hands'. Apparently Buddha was very familiar with these properties.

 

Alas much of the knowledge has been lost. I have read conflicting accounts, the subject seems very complex.Thanks.

[zerostao]

San Ti

excellent link.

[zerostao]

Thank you all for your replies.

 

I tried some basic mudras in the last few days with interesting results. The effect seems immediate.

From what i have read, the hand is a micro-cosom representing the five elements. There is a energy center in the palm. Thus the 'healing hands'. Apparently Buddha was very familiar with these properties.

 

Alas much of the knowledge has been lost. I have read conflicting accounts, the subject seems very complex.Thanks.

keep doing your homework, alot of great knowledge is available.

[Friend]

Edited November 16, 2011 by Friend

[Trunk]

Prayer mudra variations.

[寒月 Hanyue]

I tried some basic mudras in the last few days with interesting results. The effect seems immediate.

From what i have read, the hand is a micro-cosom representing the five elements. There is a energy center in the palm. Thus the 'healing hands'. Apparently Buddha was very familiar with these properties.

 

Alas much of the knowledge has been lost. I have read conflicting accounts, the subject seems very complex.Thanks.

 

The self is a micro of the macro, the hands can be seen as a micro of that micro, so can the feet and other areas. As a general view the 'posture' of the hands can be viewed as symbolically representing the whole body, the body in ritual can be felt as representative of the universe etc.

 

There are various systems of understanding the symbology of the hands, not just the five elements, and there are MANY versions of the five element symbology of the hands.

 

NO the knowledge has not been lost, but many will claim to know what they don't like the kuji in.

 

Yes, the information is conflicting. Find a system geared towards your goals (spiritual, healing etc) and stick with that, ignore everything else it will just add confusion.

 

Mudra (asana, kriya etc)are meant to occur naturally through cultivation, the use of replicated specifics is ONLY an attempt to reverse engineer the experience of Being that brought them out. Now if it was YOUR experience of Being then with the correct approach you may be able to find that again. If it is someone elses', without their help (transmission) good luck.

 

Why do you think different lineages transmit specific postures for use? Whether whole body or hands or specific movements?

 

True mudra are far more than self hypnosis using anchor and triggers which is nothing more than Ericksonian hypnotism on the self. Yes it works, yes it does something but it is NOT the same.

 

So, first cultivate self properly

 

Second, study a system that makes sense, in time both will bear fruit

 

Remember that the mudras used are only ever a SMALL part of a whole total system (something the kuji nuts forget )

 

Best,

[effilang]

I know for a fact they must be effective, because my body does them spontaneously.

By the time i randomly lower my eyes for whatever reason it's already been at least 40 mins - 60 mins since i've been holding a mudra.

 

Weird at first when it started happening, now i just let it do it's thing.

[humbleone]

Thank you all for your kind replies. Very useful information, frankly much of it is beyond my understanding.

 

Interesting comments about anchoring, pavlov conditioning. I think at my basic level, this is what is probably happening. What is working for me is intention + mudra. Without the intention the mudra seems less effective.

 

I did order couple of books from Amazon. Thanks.

[taoey]

I'm thinking that spontanious mudras can probably also be very pleasent. (Contrary to horror stories that you can find anywhere and almost nowhere where you can find positive experiences. Which is extremely weird in my opinion because it shouold all be good and not bad. It;s probably to do with the trapped and negatively hypnotized mind only that people "look for those" "kind of experiences" ????

[Mark Foote]

When I finally sat down to write something about zazen, I wrote an essay about "the mudra of zen". I didn't know what I was going to say about that, but I wrote anyway. As it happens, I still use the practice I wrote about even today, six years later. And yet, it's an oddball thing!

 

So here it is. As consciousness occurs, we have a sense of our location in space. This sense is keyed to the three motions possible in space; these motions are pitch, yaw and roll, just like with an airplane:

 

 

 

As regards the mudra commonly employed in Soto Zen practice, here's what I wrote:

 

"If the little fingers leave the abdomen, awareness of the forward and backward motion wherever consciousness takes place and relaxation of the activity of the body in awareness can restore the little fingers to the abdomen.

 

If the elbows lose their angle from the body, awareness of the side-to-side motion wherever consciousness takes place and relaxation of the activity of the body in awareness can restore the angle.

 

If the shoulders lose their roundedness, awareness of the turn left and right wherever consciousness takes place and relaxation of the activity of the body in awareness can help restore the round to the shoulders."

 

(from The Mudra of Zen)

 

So that's a bit different, it says that the correct mudra just depends on an awareness of pitch, yaw, and roll wherever consciousness takes place and relaxation of the activity of the body in awareness. The trick is the recognition that consciousness moves, and has place, and activity follows out of that sense of place even in the absence of volition, yet this is as simple as a feeling for pitch, yaw, and roll where I am right now. And I have that feeling without trying, but I think it's also possible to bring mindfulness of this feeling forward to good effect, especially in relationship to our form/posture/carriage at the moment.

 

("At the Zendo" by Clay Atchison, by permission)

Edited April 3, 2011 by Mark Foote

[aridus]

I'm thinking that spontanious mudras can probably also be very pleasent. (Contrary to horror stories that you can find anywhere and almost nowhere where you can find positive experiences. Which is extremely weird in my opinion because it shouold all be good and not bad. It;s probably to do with the trapped and negatively hypnotized mind only that people "look for those" "kind of experiences" ????

Hmm. I think it depends on the person and what they are doing, their health etc, as well as mindset.

 

I started experimenting with these things at a very young age. I don't know why, I guess I spontaneously somehow learned about internal energies and how doing different things effected them. This was before I knew about meditation or qi or anything. Then I got into Wu tai chi and started gaining some structure and 'formalizing' things here and there, learning about it.

 

Anyway, to get to the point... I think, with internal energies taken seriously, that it is possible in some cases to inadvertently direct them the wrong way. I never did stop experimenting, and I've had it happen before. I've gotten lost, given myself temporary psychosis, given myself ailments... so I do understand the caution of some since I've experienced ill effects that can happen.

[unmike]

Really helpful link describing some of the effects of many common mudras.

 

Enjoy!

[Friend]

Edited November 16, 2011 by Friend

[Maddie]

I experimented with mudras today during meditation. The Gyan mudra made me sleepy, and dizzy. The "meditation" mudra seemed to wake me up after I switched to it, but can't say I noticed any difference than simply just resting my hands on my legs like I usually do. Is there a good mudra to help you to focus in meditation?

[ChiDragon]

It doesn't matter what one does, nothing has any effect without breathing in meditation. All focus shall be on the breathing.

Edited April 27, 2013 by ChiDragon

[Maddie]

It doesn't matter what one does, nothing has any effect without breathing in meditation. All focus shall be on the breathing.

 

Yes this I realize, what I'm wanting to know is if there is a mudra which helps that to happen.

[ChiDragon]

Yes this I realize, what I'm wanting to know is if there is a mudra which helps that to happen.

 

I think I had excluded in my statement above.

[dawei]

I have only done Mudras in clinical settings for healing others...

 

IMO, You should just practice it on others and not yourself, if what you want is some response from others.

[JustBHappy]

Mudras are extremely powerful. They all have different effects regardless of breathing or other factors, although adding a harmonious breathing pattern to them absolutely intensifies their effects.

Not a day goes by where I don't use mudras. It usually takes about 2-3 minutes then I start to feel the effects. I happen to be a very sensitive person though, and I know that many, if not most people, are quite numb and unaware and therefore will not feel the effects. This doesn't mean that there is no effect or benefit, just that most people may not be aware of any change at the conscious level.

For those who do not have teachers with this knowledge I would recommend the work of Mary Burmeister and her book on Jin Shin Jyutsu. The hand and finger work alone is worth the time and money spent on acquiring her book. Although I have been doing the finger holds for many years I am still blown away by the quick transformations they cause. A quick bathroom break during a difficult and stressful day (doing a mudra) makes instant energetic changes that for sensitive people will be quite dramatic. Then you can slowly start to expand your knowledge until your using the whole body. I can't say enough good things about her book and the effects of her Jin Shin Jysutu. The book I have and recommend is called:

The touch of healing

by Mary Burmeister with Tom Monte.

This book has been around the world with me many times and will always be close by until I finally memorize all the contents or scan it into digital format. It has helped me and my friends countless times.

[Mark Foote]

I have a new piece that maybe obliquely addresses the placement and orientation of the hands and fingers:

 

http://www.zenmudra.com/zenmudra-the-practice-of-zazen.html

 

In particular, I am drawing on a relationship between the placement of the hands relative to the body, relaxed extension in the movement of breath, and the rhythm of stretch in the three sets of ligaments at the sacrum.

 

I'm not an expert in mudras, not even an informed amateur, but the feeling for the dermatones along and around the parts of the body does seem to inform the alignment of the sacrum and the lower spine, if I can just let go of the activity involved.

 

Here's a good dermatone chart, I think.

Edited April 27, 2013 by Mark Foote