The verse and its meaning · Yoga in Practice · Yoga in Practice — Hand Mudras

Vayu Mudra — the gesture of air

Hand Mudras 9

वायु मुद्रा

Meaning · English

Vayu mudra, the gesture of air: vayu is air or wind, mudra is a seal or a gesture, and here the seal is made by the fingers of the hand. In English it is the air gesture, or the wind seal.

Take the name apart first. Vayu is air, or wind. In the old way of speaking it is one of the five elements, and it is also the word for the moving breath in the body. Mudra is a seal or a stamp, a shape that closes something in. Together the name says: a hand shape that seals in, or settles, the air element. Now the plain sense. The old hatha manuals do not describe this gesture. Gheranda's mudras are of the whole body, and yoni mudra is the one exception that uses the fingers. Vayu mudra is modern postural yoga, codified in the twentieth century in the Mysore line of Krishnamacharya and the schools that grew from it. The name and the claims come from that later teaching. The gesture is simple. The index finger folds down to the base of the thumb, and the thumb presses lightly over it. The other three fingers stay straight. Why is it taught? Teachers say it calms the air element, and they offer it when a person is restless or when the joints ache. That is their claim, and it is held as a claim. What it asks of the sitter is ease. Yoga Sutras 2.46 to 48 give the frame: a seat steady and easy, effort loosened, the mind resting on the infinite. A soft hand, a quiet breath and a few minutes of stillness fit that frame. Nothing more is promised.

1. Sit tall in any steady seat: cross-legged on the floor, on a folded blanket, or on a chair with the feet flat. Let the spine rise without stiffness. 2. Let both hands rest open on the knees for a breath. Palms up or palms down, whichever lets the shoulders soften. 3. On one slow breath out, fold the index finger of each hand down until its tip reaches the base of the thumb, the soft pad where the thumb joins the palm. 4. Bring the thumb gently over the folded finger and press it lightly. The middle, ring and little fingers stay straight, long and relaxed, not spread or stiff. 5. Hold it lightly. The touch is soft, never a grip. Check the shoulders and let them drop away from the ears. Let the breath run slow and even through the nose. 6. Close the eyes. Stay for a few minutes, or through a whole sit. If the hand tires, release it and begin again. 7. To come out, open the hand, straighten the index finger, and let both hands rest on the knees. Sit for a breath or two before opening the eyes or moving. There is no other side, since both hands make the gesture together. The fine points are these. The pressure should be about what you would use to hold a leaf in place. The wrists rest on the knees and take no weight from the arms. If the thumb whitens or the forearm tightens, the touch has become a grip, so ease it. No breath count belongs to this gesture; the breath is only kept slow.

The body part is small. Folding the index finger and laying the thumb over it uses the little muscles of the hand, the ones at the base of the thumb and along the finger. They hold a mild shape and nothing else. The wrists rest on the knees, so the arms hang free and the shoulders have no work to do. That is why the instruction stresses lightness: if the forearm or shoulder joins in, the gesture stops being a rest. The breath is left slow. No special breath is attached. A slow breath through the nose with a soft belly is what a seated body does when it is at ease, and the hand shape gives attention a place to rest. The mind has something small and definite to feel: the pad of the thumb on the knuckle of the finger. When attention wanders, it can come back to that touch. In this way a gesture works as an anchor, much as a bead does on a string. The tradition's account is different. Later teachers say each finger is tied to an element, and that folding the index finger under the thumb calms the air element in the body. That belongs to the tradition's teaching about air and has no basis in anatomy. What the body certainly gets is a steady posture, a relaxed hand and a quiet task for the mind.

No old verse gives a benefit for this gesture, so what follows is what the modern schools that teach it say. Teachers say it calms the air element. They offer it when a person is restless, and when the joints ache. Some say it settles a wandering mind and steadies a long sit. These are their claims, passed down by teaching and not by text. What can be said without claiming anything is smaller. The gesture gives the hands a quiet job, supports an upright, easy seat, and gives attention a point to return to. The lesson itself says that nothing more is promised: the mudra is a help to sitting still.

A retired man in his seventies sits on a folded blanket before dawn. His knees complain, and his mind is already going over the day. A friend has shown him this hand shape, and he folds one finger and lays his thumb across it. What is known today is modest. Sitting still with slow, even breathing can lower the sense of hurry for many people, and a simple physical anchor can make it easier to notice when the mind has drifted. A small, comfortable task for the hands may help with that. The hand shape itself is not known to do more than this. The claims have no support in good evidence. Nothing shows that folding the index finger changes an element in the body, or that it eases aching joints. Aching joints are a matter for a doctor and not a gesture. The idea of an air element has no match in modern physiology. It belongs to the tradition's way of describing restlessness and movement. If the practice leaves a person calmer, the likely reasons are the quiet, the slow breath and the attention, not the finger position alone.

This is not medical advice, and a teacher can correct what a page cannot. Stop at any pain, numbness or tingling in the fingers, hand or wrist. Take particular care with a painful or stiff thumb or finger joint, arthritis of the hand, a recent hand or wrist injury, or carpal tunnel trouble. In these cases keep the touch even lighter, or simply let the hand rest open on the knee. Aching joints elsewhere in the body are a matter to bring to a doctor and not to hold a gesture against. The seat matters as much as the hand. If crossed legs hurt the knees or hips, sit on a chair or raise the hips on a cushion. The gesture is simple, but it is best learnt with a teacher watching, and never forced into a shape that causes strain.

The gentler form: if folding the finger to the thumb's base is uncomfortable, bring the fingertip only part of the way, or lay the thumb gently on the finger without pressing. A person who cannot fold the finger can rest the hand open on the knee and keep the intention only. Sit on a chair, with the feet flat and a folded blanket behind the lower back if needed. Or sit on a blanket with the hips raised above the knees. The fuller form is not a harder grip but a longer sit. Hold the gesture through a whole sitting, and let it stay light from first minute to last. Both hands make the gesture, so there is no mirrored side to learn.

Gripping the finger hard, which makes the thumb white and the forearm tight: press as lightly as holding a leaf. Straining the other fingers into a stiff spread: let them lie long and soft. Lifting the shoulders as the hands fold: drop them away from the ears before continuing. Holding the breath while concentrating on the fingers: breathe out slowly and let the breath go on. Slumping the back so the chest closes: sit tall first, then make the shape. Pushing on when the hand tires: release and begin again.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Apana Mudra — the gesture of the downward breath · Hand Mudras 8
• Next: Akasha Mudra — the gesture of space · Hand Mudras 10
• All of Yoga in Practice · Ask Krishna about it

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