According to our ancient texts on medicine, Ayurveda, nature has five elements – Fire, Air, Ether, Earth and Water. Our ancestral doctors realised that nature has provided us with a body that can live healthy if the five elements are in balance. These ancient doctors discovered that the fire element resides in the thumb, the air element in the index finger, ether is situated in the middle finger, earth in the ring and water element inhabits the little finger.
By connecting tips of specific fingers with the thumb, one forms a Mudra. A mudra is a seal created with the body to help link up and expand our “prana” (life energy) in a particular way. When the tip of each finger touches the tip of the thumb and when each finger is folded and touches the base of the thumb and slightly pressed eight basic Mudras are formed. And each of these eight is able to solve a whole lot of health issues.
There is a Mudra for everything. Mudra for child birth, for growth of human mind and body, for mental tensions or depressions, weakness, obesity, eyesight, ear problems, eye problems, headache, concentration and memory improvement, gaining height, physical strength, women’s menstrual problems, uterine/fibroid problems, sexual problems, angina, heart disease, muscular or bone pains, kidney/urinary problems, stomach disorders, prostate, deafness, sinusitis, bronchitis, ascites, pleurisy, cervical spondylitis, slip disc, asthma, Parkinson’s disease, backache, epilepsy, improving intuition, and for spiritual advancements etc. Mudras can remove an earache within two minutes, can save a person from heart-attack, can remove blockages from coronary arteries, and even save pregnant women from caesarian operation, and so on.
The science of Mudras provides the safest and the most convenient easy-to-do hand Mudras, both for prevention as well as for the healing of diseases. With the fingers of our hands, we can magically affect the body’s metabolism and that too without spending a single paise or even a single minute. For those who feel they have no time, the answer is that they can do it anywhere, anytime, while sitting, walking, lying, talking, watching TV or traveling. In addition Mudras have only healing effects and no side effects. It’s a free gift to us from nature.
Let’s start with the most important Mudra, the Apan Vayu Mudra. It falls in the category of therapeutic mudras and is done with one or both hands. It’s also known as Mritu Sanjivani Mudra (one that brings along life from death). This mudra has multiple benefits, but is especially very useful for anyone with physical or mental/emotional heart conditions for help in symptom relief and letting go.
Here’s how to do it:
· Find a quiet place and sit comfortably with your spine tall.
· Extend the arms forward, palms up.
· Fold your index finger and let it touch the base joint of the thumb.
· Press the thumb lower phalange against the phalange of the index finger touching the thumb.
· Touch the tip of the thumb to the tips of the middle and ring fingers.
· Keep little finger straight.
· Keep elbows straight.
· Close your eyes, and practice 1:1 mindful, diaphragmatic breathing with the intention of healing your heart.
Heart attack occurs when the cardiac arteries shrink due to excess air in the arteries. The Vayu Mudra part of Apan Vayu Mudra immediately blocks the excess air and removes clogs and blockages in arteries, while the Apan Mudra removes toxins from the body and improves blood circulation. Together they stimulate the flow of oxygen to the heart. Within a couple of seconds of forming Apan Mudra, oxygen supply to the heart is increased, thereby saving the patient from heart attack.
A person having any heart problem should practice this Mudra regularly for 45 minutes to one hour or for 15 minutes at a time 3-4 times a day. This Mudra should be formed by one or preferably both the hands if the person fears a heart attack episode approaching. It will work like a Sorbitrate pill if the pill is not available in an emergency.
Benefits with regular practice:
· Helps prevent heart attacks as well as their recurrence, lessen heart palpitations, relieve heaviness on heart
· Helps relieve heartache, anxiety, panic, grief, sadness, overwhelm.
· Helps balance the three doshas (vata, pitta, kapha) as well as can help improve digestive fire as well as lung capacity.
