Hastamudra pranayama.
Hastamudra pranayama or hand gesture breath helps us to experience
how mudra or hand gestures affect the body,
The flow of prana,
The flow of the breath.
We're going to begin just simply by finding a comfortable seated position.
You can be
cross-legged or kneeling.
If you also really want to lay down,
It's possible to do this
practice laying down,
So a little bit harder to make the mudras,
But if Shavasana is calling.
Wherever you are,
Take a moment.
Feel the physical body.
Straight spine.
Try to melt
and soften through the joints.
Take a moment to notice the breath now.
Bring your awareness
to the torso,
The area of respiration.
Watch the belly,
The ribs and the chest as they
move the lower back.
And then gently place the hands in chin mudra,
Which is the thumb
and the first finger together,
Either palms up or down on the knees or if you're laying
by the side.
And then notice how the breath now travels more deeply into the lower lobes
of the lung.
Watch the belly,
The lower back.
Gently curl in all the fingers.
Not to a fist,
But just gently curling them in.
Thumb still touching the forefinger.
Place the hands with
the palms downwards on the thighs or the knees or if you're laying by the side.
Chin
maya mudra.
And here we can notice that the prana,
The breath,
Is traveling to the middle
lung through the ribs.
This is a subtle practice,
So if you don't notice anything,
That's fine.
Be patient.
Just keep your awareness on the middle lung.
And now make a fist with the hands
to bring the thumb close to the palm,
The other fingers around.
It's not a super,
Super tight
clench,
But just a gentle fist.
And then place the hands on the thighs or if you're laying by
the side.
You can explore having them palm up or palm down.
We're in Adi Mudra Pranayama.
And here the breath now travels in the upper lobes of the lung through the sternum,
The upper chest.
For our final mudra,
We're going to come into Brahma Mudra.
So keeping the hands as they are with the thumb close to the palm,
The other four fingers curled
around the outside in a light fist,
You're going to bring the hands with the pinky finger,
The smallest finger,
Close to the belly.
Thumbs are pointing away.
Knuckles are touching.
And see if you can notice here how our energy and our breath opens up.
This pranayama,
This mudra vitalizes the whole body and stimulates our vyana,
Our vayu.
Simply noticing openness,
Noticing the breath.
Relax through the shoulders.
Relax through the shoulders.
Rest the hands down and then for this last part of the practice,
Explore,
Experiment and observe.
Move between each mudra and see what you notice.
See if you can feel the breath change,
Your energy change.
The pranamaya kosha as it's called,
Your prana layer,
Will shift.
You'll feel it as a lightness and a spaciousness in each area,
Lower lobe of the lung,
Middle,
Upper or the whole body expanding.
Take your time to take breaths with different hand mudras and notice what happens.
You might like to try mudras that are not in this practice but ones that you know to see if you can
feel how they affect your pranamaya kosha,
Your flow of energy.
And then as you're ready,
Resting the hands by the sides or on the knees,
Watching the breath,
Noticing the body,
And then starting to move,
Maybe stretching out through the jaw,
The face,
The shoulders and the neck.
Take a few breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth to release.
And as you're ready,
Opening the eyes
and returning to your day.
