Heart Mudra Meditation

A guided meditation using the yogic hridaya/heart mudra (an energetic hand gesture) that can be practiced anytime to connect to the heart as its qualities: Love, Compassion, Understanding, Mercy, Grace, Forgiveness. This meditation can help alleviate feelings of loss, grief, sadness, and depression. Simple instructions are given to create the mudra, and the practice will generate self-love.

Transcript

Namaste. Today I wanted to share with you a mudra. We actually just did one. So hands together in prayer is called Anjali Mudra. Most people do this. At the beginning or end of a yoga class, You'll see this all over the world. People greet each other. Hands. Palms together in a prayer position. The mudra I will work with today is Hridaya. Hridaya is a heart mudra. A mudra is an energetic lock or seal. The idea is if. . . The hands. Flopping around if we just allow energy to leak out of the hands and the fingers. We're losing a lot of our life force. When we create these mudras, The energy. . . Is being contained it's being sustained It's being cultivated. Regenerated being recycled. So imagine if your hand was just. . . Hanging and your fingers were limp, All the energy would just start to come down and drip out. But if you do something like this, You bring the fingers together. Creating this energetic lock or seal and the hand stays energized. So one of the many, Many mudras from the yoga tradition, The Hridaya mudra, Is the heart mudra So what we'll do is we'll use either hand. You'll bring the tip of the first finger the base of the thumb. Of the middle finger. And the tip of the fourth finger to the tip of the thumb. Let's do that again just to make sure everybody has it. So with the hand open. The tip of the first finger to the base of the thumb. And the tip of the middle finger and the fourth finger. To the tip of the thumb. The pinky will be by itself. So once you have this, You can hold this. At your heart You can place it there You can place it on one of your knees. You can meditate with this mudra. Today let's try to place it at our heart. And whichever hand. . . Is free. Use that hand to support this mudra. Bring it underneath. Hold that mudra. At your heart. Close your eyes for a few moments. Remember, This mudra is about love. It's about the heart. So we're not just twisting the fingers into positions. In an arbitrary way. There's meaning behind this. There's purpose. In the heart, We have qualities, Love, Compassion, Understanding, Mercy, Grace, Forgiveness. When the heart is open, When the heart chakra is open. All these qualities. They help guide us. They help to live our. . . Lives with purpose. Remember, We're dealing with energy. So with this mudra we're energizing this heart space. We're keeping these qualities. Alive and well. Engaged. Bring some awareness into the fingers that are holding the mudra. Notice if they feel a little more alive. A little more energetic. Take a few breaths here on your own with your eyes closed. Breathe into your heart space. Allow these qualities to come alive. Compassion. Understanding. These things never come. From outside. As much as they do from the inside. Love begins with you. Compassion begins with you. Understanding begins with you. When we embody these qualities, This is what we bring out into the world. And when these qualities are alive within us, Like attracts like. We will find people. Others who are also in ways where love and understanding and forgiveness guide their lives. But the work always starts here. It starts with you. It starts with me. Let's take an inhale and exhale, Let it go. When you're ready, Gently blink your eyes open. The heart mudra. Use this anytime. You may be feeling sad, Depressed. Lonely, If there is loss or grief within your life. This can bring you back to your heart. And bring you back to those qualities that we discussed. Share this with others. You can share the actual mudra and then share the qualities. Have a beautiful day.