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

Hridaya Mudra — the gesture of the heart

Hand Mudras 13

हृदय मुद्रा

Meaning · English

Hridaya mudra, the gesture of the heart: hridaya is the heart, the inner centre, and mudra is a seal or gesture, here a placing of the fingers. The common English name is simply the heart gesture, a hand mudra of the thumb, middle and ring fingers.

Take the name first. Hridaya is the heart, and in Indian usage it means the felt centre of a person as well as the organ in the chest. Mudra is a seal or a sign: a shape of the body that closes a circuit of attention. Together they give the gesture of the heart. The old hatha manuals do not describe this gesture. The Pradipika, the Gheranda Samhita and the Shiva Samhita do not give these finger positions. The mudras of Gheranda are of the whole body, and yoni mudra is the one exception that uses the hands. Hridaya mudra belongs to 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 are later teaching. The gesture itself is simple. The index finger folds to the base of the thumb. The tips of the middle and ring fingers meet the thumb. The little finger stays straight. Teachers hold the hand over the heart in grief, or in a sit on kindness. Its frame in the old texts is the Yoga Sutras: a seat steady and easy, the loosening of effort, the mind resting on the infinite. The gesture asks for no more than that. It gives the hand a quiet task so the sitter can stay put, and it promises nothing beyond that help.

1. Sit tall in any steady seat: cross-legged on the floor, on a folded blanket, or on a chair with both feet down. Let the hands rest open on the knees for a breath, palms up. 2. Fold the index finger down to the base of the thumb. 3. Touch the tips of the middle and ring fingers to the tip of the thumb. The little finger stays straight, extended without stiffness. 4. Hold the shape lightly. The touch of the fingers is soft, never a grip. Keep the shoulders down and away from the ears, the elbows loose, and the breath slow and even through the nose. 5. Teachers hold the hand over the heart in grief, or in a sit on kindness. Raise it to rest in front of the breastbone, or lay it lightly on the chest. The other hand can stay on the knee in the same shape. Keep the breath slow. 6. Stay for a few minutes with the eyes closed, or through a whole sit. If the hand tires, release it and begin again. 7. To come out, open the hand, spread the fingers once, and let it rest on the knee. Take a few ordinary breaths before opening the eyes. Fine points: use either hand, or both, and change hands if one tires. The pressure between the fingertips should be about that of holding a feather. If the forearm or shoulder tightens, lower the hand to the knee. The breath leads, and the hand follows it.

Start with the body. Folding the index finger and joining three fingertips uses the small muscles of the hand and forearm, but only a little. The gesture works when those muscles are barely engaged. Held lightly, the hand stays warm and loose. Held hard, the forearm and shoulder tighten and the breath shortens. That is why the teaching insists on softness. The breath is slow because the posture asks nothing of it. There is no count and no hold. A long, even breath through the nose settles the chest, and the hand resting near the chest gives the attention a place to rest on. The mind is where the gesture does most of its work. The fingertips are rich in touch sensation, so a small, steady contact gives the attention an anchor. When the thoughts wander, the sitter feels the fingers and returns. A sit of kindness or grief gains a bodily centre: the hand near the heart. The tradition's own account is different. Later teachers speak of the fingers as channels of prana, with each finger linked to an element, and of the gesture closing a circuit. That is the tradition's account in later teaching. It is not physiology, and this page does not offer it as such.

The schools that teach hridaya mudra say it steadies the mind and calms the sitter, and that held over the heart it supports a sit in grief or a sit on kindness. Some teachers say it brings a feeling of warmth and closeness to the chest. Others call it a help for sitting through a long meditation. Teachers of the hand mudras also say that each gesture shapes the flow of prana through the body. These are the teachers' claims, made in later teaching, and the old hatha manuals do not make them. What the page can honestly say is that the gesture gives the hand something quiet to do. Nothing more is promised.

A man sits in a hospital corridor at night, waiting for news of his mother. He has nowhere to put his hands. He presses them together, then folds them, then rubs his knees. A slow breath and one gentle shape for the fingers would give them a place to rest. That much agrees with what is understood today. A light, repeated touch can give wandering attention an anchor, and slow breathing is generally found settling for people under strain. A hand held near the chest is a gesture of comfort in many cultures, and calming oneself with touch is familiar to any family doctor. There is no good evidence for the specific claims: that these fingers link to elements, that the gesture directs prana, or that it affects the heart as an organ. Prana has no modern match, and the gesture is not a treatment for anything. Its worth is as a prompt for ease and attention, a modest help to sitting still, which is how the lesson itself presents it.

This page is not medical advice, and a teacher can correct what a page cannot. Hand mudras are best learnt with a teacher, who can see the tension in your hand that you cannot. Stop if there is pain. Take particular care with painful or stiff finger joints, wrists or thumbs, an injured shoulder, or numbness and tingling in the hand. Hold the shape more loosely, rest the hand on the knee instead of lifting it, or leave it out. If you are pregnant, or have a heart condition or high blood pressure, talk to your doctor and teacher first. Keep the breath slow and never hold it. Do not use the gesture to replace medical care for grief, low mood or heart trouble. If grief feels heavy or does not ease, speak to someone qualified.

A gentler form keeps the hand on the knee, palm up, and skips the raised hand altogether. If the fingers will not fold, touch only the thumb to the middle finger and let the others rest. A chair or folded blanket under the hips makes the sit easier, and the wrists can be supported on cushions. The fuller form uses both hands at the chest, or holds the gesture through a whole sit of kindness. The gesture is the same on either hand, so there is no side to be done first. Change hands whenever one tires.

Gripping the fingers hard turns the gesture into effort, so keep the touch as light as a feather. Raising the shoulders to lift the hand makes the neck tight, so lower the hand to the knee until the shoulders drop. Straining the little finger stiff makes the whole hand rigid, so let it extend without pushing. Holding the breath because the hand is busy cuts across the purpose, so keep the breath slow and watch it first. Staying on through a tired hand ends in a sore forearm, so release it and begin again.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Varuna Mudra — the gesture of water · Hand Mudras 12
• Next: Linga Mudra — the gesture of the upright thumb · Hand Mudras 14
• All of Yoga in Practice · Ask Krishna about it

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