Build Your Resilience With Mudras

In this talk and practice, we explore the power of resilience through the tantric practice of mudra. We move through a gesture sequence designed to focus the mind and gently inspire inner strength and inner calm. Mudras are a soothing way to balance your nervous system. Promoting better sleep and less stress. If you are curious to know more about what these mudras look like visually.

Here are the names of each mudra: Indra Mudra, Shanka Mudra, Durga Mudra, Shakti Mudra, Abhaya Hridaya Mudra, Garuda Mudra, Anjali Mudra

Transcript

I'm really excited to share today the mudras for resilience. If you don't know much about mudras, Mudras are gestures and they're older than our ability to speak. So before we could speak, We gesticulated and we used gesture. And gesture is across all cultures and religions. It's a way to communicate and express. And as you can see, Even as I'm speaking, I'm gesticulating. Now in the tantric tradition, In the tradition that I'm really passionate about, Mudras are seen as a tool for transformation. And there are very, Very specific gestures that we can do to activate and actualize different aspects in our life. And so today I wanted to really explore mudras that connect us with resilience. Because I think resilience is something we really need right now. It's something that as a human being, We can feel so affected by external circumstances. And it's really hard to find that core stability. And mudras which connect us to that core stability are quite profound. So I wanted to focus today on the deity Durga. So right now we are in the midst of a celebration in the Hindu tradition called Navaratri. It's the Nine Nights of the Goddess. And each night we recognize these deeper aspects of energy, Of shakti within ourselves. The first three days are all about clearing away the obstacles. So if you think of it as a kind of a springtime ritual where we do a bit of spring cleaning, The first three days are all about spring cleaning and just removing those things that maybe have been hindering us or personally distracting us. And so the energy of that is Durga. And Durga is the brightest of lights. She was created out of every single deity's heart. They all got together. There was a great force of difficulty on the earth. And they all got together and they combined all their hearts and they shone their hearts and created this incredible light. And out of that light sprung Durga and she had all these weapons and she was able to defeat this very evil demon called Mahasura. She's also thought of as the Great Mother and the Great Protector. So these mudras that we're going to do, These gestures, Mudras directly connect with the part of the brain that's responsible for emotion and for movement. When we engage the fight or flight system, It's like we move away from danger, Right? Gestures are directly connected with that. And if anybody here is familiar with somatic work, We know that by using our hands and activating our hands, We're directly connecting to the nervous system and soothing the nervous system. So when we hold the mudras, We want to hold them for quite a while. So the experience of holding the gesture is a meditation in itself. So as we do that through the session today, I'll lead you into the gesture but then we'll hold that gesture in silence. Be together in that silence and you just want to let whatever emerges emerge for you. Not to try to project anything onto the experience rather than just let the experience speak to you. So the first thing we're going to do before we move into the sequence is just a balancing breathing exercise which also involves some hand positions. So you're going to take your four fingers and place them underneath your armpits and let your thumbs point upwards and just close your eyes. And just notice your breath. Notice your inhalation. Notice your exhalation. See if you can feel the breath filling up your hands, Filling up the left and right sides of the chest. And this is a breath balancing mudra. It's a gesture which balances left and right sides of the breath, Body, Mind, Nervous system. And you might start to sense that your breath is flowing more into one side than the other. And if that's the case then you'll want to bring that other hand underneath just to bring it more into balance. Just feel everything calming down, Letting go of your weekend, Whatever's gone before. Just coming into this present moment. Maybe the breath becomes very gentle here, Very relaxed. From here we're going to go into our first gesture which is the lightning bolt. So you'll bring all your fingers together and just extend your index fingers. And you can see my thumb is around the index finger and then I turn my palms to face upwards. And so I chose the thunderbolt for our first mudra for resilience because thunder and lightning, Lightning is like a flash and thunder is a boom. And there's a strength in that thunderbolt and that lightning, Right? It can strike. Indra is the deity that's related to the thunderbolt and Indra brings that softness, Brings that rain. It also brings that flash of insight, That flash of lightning and it represents both our strength and our vulnerability. So there's actually resilience not only in our strength but in our vulnerability. So just holding the mudra now, We're going to close our eyes and just be present with the breath. I want to hold these mudras maybe three minutes, Two or three minutes. Not changing our breath in any way, Not having to imagine or visualize anything, Just holding the position like you would hold an asana. Maybe you notice that your breath becomes a little bit more relaxed or deeper. That's just a sign that your nervous system is rebalancing and resetting itself. Okay so we're going to move into our next mudra now. We're going to do the conch mudra. So you extend your thumb and with the other hand, Which is your right hand, You wrap your four fingers around your thumb like you're gripping your thumb and then you bring your hand up and you bring the thumb to meet the opposite index finger. So that when you look at it, It's like a shell. You could hold that shell to your ear and listen to the sound. So the conch is like a call to action. It's a rallying call but it also has that aspect of the ocean, Right? Hearing the ocean in the shell. So when we're working with resilience and inner strength and that ability to rebound, It's like we want to make a commitment or set an intention for ourselves. So when you set a strong goal or a strong intention through communicating that, Sharing that, Journaling that, Writing that down, It actually actualizes it for you. And that helps to build that resilience that you make a commitment. I'm going to do this now. I'm going to take that action. Whether it's, You know, Going to bed a little bit earlier or getting into a routine or being of service somewhere in the world or being more focused in a way that you're normally not focused or eating well, You know, Whatever you choose. This is what builds resilience. Making a commitment. Making that call. Writing it down. So holding this mudra, This conch mudra. Closing the eyes. We'll just hold it for a few moments. You can feel how supportive this mudra is. Something very reassuring about holding our thumbs. Releasing that mudra. Our next mudra is related to Durga. Extending your hands and you're going to take your thumbs in between the index and the middle finger and then make a fist. It's like my thumbs are popping through my index finger and my middle finger and all the other fingers are closed and then we place that to face upwards and this is directly related to Durga and her strength, Her might, Her will and so this is a beautiful mudra to activate the fire element, To activate willpower, To feel that sense of protection and inner strength and so just when you're ready closing your eyes. All right and then gently opening your eyes. So you might notice that different things happen when you experience different mudras. One mudra might feel way more comfortable than another mudra and so that might be one that you might like to repeat. Okay so our next one is Shakti mudra. So you're going to bring your little finger and your ring finger together and all the other fingers are going to fold in. So the knuckles of the middle fingers touch, The knuckles of the index fingers touch and the thumbs touch. So it's almost like you're making a heart with the other fingers and then the ring finger and the little finger are touching and this is Shakti mudra. So Shakti is energy. You can hold it facing down or you can hold it facing up whichever one feels better for you. This is a little bit more active and energetic and this is a little bit more relaxed and again we're just going to close our eyes and just be present with the experience of holding this mudra. Think of Shakti as pure energy creation and when we tune in to how we are inseparably part of creation, That creation is supporting us and giving its abundance to us. The abundance of air, The abundance of water, Space, Earth, Fire, All the elements are in abundance and we're just constantly receiving and that gives us that inner resilience and strength. Notice those subtle changes in breath. Subtle movement of energy. No need to change anything. Just being present with what is. Holding this Shakti mudra. All right and just letting that one go. Our next mudra is Abhaya Hridaya mudra which is the mudra of the open heart, The fearless heart. It's probably our most tricky mudra. So you're going to cross your right wrist over your left wrist and then extend your pinkies and interlock your pinky fingers. Then extend your ring fingers and interlock your ring fingers. Now if you're doing this and it's really uncomfortable with your right wrist over your left, You can change the wrist. You can have the other wrist and then interlock your pinkies and because it depends on whether we're right-handed or left-handed. So whichever side you're on, Interlock your pinkies, Interlock your ring fingers, Interlock your middle fingers and then all that's left is your thumb and your index finger. Bring the thumb and index finger of each hand together and feel that stretch through all your fingers and bring your hands to the center of your chest. Abhaya Hridaya mudra and just holding here, Closing the eyes, Connecting with your breath, Feeling the fearlessness of your heart, The fierceness of your heart, Openness of your heart. So when we feel open to situations, When we're available to take in what's coming towards us without fear, With courage, Again it is a tool to build resilience. So let your breath relax, Let your body relax, Just holding the mudra and let the mudra speak to you. So whatever she's saying, Whatever he's saying, Whatever they're saying, Just take it in and just gently let that go. So the next mudra is to cross all the fingers, Going right to the webbing of the fingers and just letting the thumbs extend and this is a mudra of trust, Of faith and really a lot of our resilience relies on our faith in ourselves, Right? The faith that we have, The strength, The fortitude to take action in our lives. We don't take action when we don't feel conviction, Right? So faith and trust. So this is a very beautiful mudra we can use to calm the heart and feel that inner courage and have that absolute trust in ourselves. And we just hold the mudra if you're joining in a little bit later. Okay, Releasing that one and we're going to come to our last mudra which is Garuda Mudra. It's the vehicle for Vishnu. Vishnu is thought of as the sustainer and to me Vishnu is all about love and the beauty of love. So Durga is the force of love. She's the great mother. She's Shakti. She's the protector. She's always there for us in times of great difficulty, Great challenge. So if you don't do any of the other mudras, This mudra is a beautiful one to do and it's also used in somatic experiencing work. So you turn your hands to face towards you, Crossing at the wrists. Again, You can have your right wrist over your left or your left wrist over your right, Whichever one feels more comfortable to you. And then you interlace your thumbs. Yeah, So you interlace your thumbs and just bring your hands to your chest. And these are like the wings of the eagle or you can think of them as the wings of the angels, Just holding you in its embrace, Building that resilience. So no matter what comes your way, You can fly. You've got that eagle's perspective. And as part of this practice, I'd love to share this beautiful mantra with you, Which is a mantra for Durga. It's OM DUM, D-U-M, DURGA YE NAMAHA. OM DUM, So OM DUM, D-U-M, DUM, DURGA YE NAMAHA. And so I'm just going to chant this nine times as we hold it. And you can just listen or you can chant along whatever feels comfortable for you. OM DUM, DURGA YE NAMAHA. OM DUM, DURGA YE NAMAHA. OM DUM, DURGA YE NAMAHA. OM DUM, DURGA YE NAMAHA. OM DUM, DURGA YE NAMAHA. OM DUM, DURGA YE NAMAHA. OM DUM, DURGA YE NAMAHA. OM DUM, DURGA YE NAMAHA. OM DUM, DURGA YE NAMAHA. All right let's release that mudra and come into Anjali Mudra. And let's just chant OM SHANTI SHANTI together three times. OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI May there be peace, Peace, Peace. Thank you.

Reviews

I am new to mudras and I loved this practice! Very calming and centering to start my day thank you❤️❤️❤️

Exquisite teaching of the purpose & wisdom inherent in mudras.. revealing them & allowing us to practice these ancient madras to build resilience within.
Very enlightening!