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

Yoni Mudra — the gesture of the source

Hand Mudras 16

योनि मुद्रा

Meaning · English

Yoni Mudra: yoni is the womb, the source, the place things come from; mudra is a seal or gesture. Together, the gesture of the source: the hands joined in a small triangle before the lower belly, the form taught today as the source seal.

Take the name apart first. Yoni means womb, and by extension the origin of anything. Mudra means a seal or a gesture, something that closes a circuit or marks a meaning. So the name is the gesture of the source: a hand shape that turns attention back toward where it starts. The hatha manuals do not describe these finger positions. This hand form is modern postural yoga, codified in the twentieth century in the Mysore line of Krishnamacharya and the schools that grew from it. The names and the claims for such gestures come from later teaching. Gheranda does name a yoni mudra, but it is a practice of the whole body, not of the fingers, and the hand form borrows only the name. Why is it taught at all? Teachers hold it to turn the senses inward. The hands close into a triangle, nothing is left reaching outward, and the sitter has one quiet thing to feel. The frame for it in the old texts is the Yoga Sutras: a seat that is steady and easy, effort loosened, the mind resting on the infinite. The gesture asks only that the hold stay soft, the shoulders down and the breath slow. It promises nothing beyond help in sitting still.

1. Sit tall in any steady seat: cross-legged, on a cushion, or on a chair with the feet flat. Let the spine rise without stiffness. 2. Rest both hands open on the knees for a breath. Let the shoulders drop. 3. Bring the hands in front of the lower belly, a little away from the body. 4. Touch the tips of the two index fingers together, pointing down. 5. Touch the tips of the two thumbs together, pointing up. 6. Interlace the remaining fingers, the middle, ring and little fingers of each hand. The hands now make a triangle. 7. Hold it lightly. The fingers touch softly and never grip. The shoulders stay down, the elbows hang easy, and the breath is slow and unforced through the nose. 8. Close the eyes and stay for a few minutes, or through a whole sit. 9. If the hand tires, release it and begin again. 10. To come out, open the hand and let it rest on the knees or in the lap. Sit for a breath before moving. Fine points: the pressure is that of two fingertips resting, no more. Keep the wrists free and let the forearms be supported by the air and the sit bones, not lifted by the shoulders. The triangle is a small shape, so do not stretch the arms to make it bigger. Nothing here is held with a count; the length is set by comfort.

The body does very little, which is the point. The sitting bones carry the weight, the spine stays upright by gentle work in the back and trunk, and the hands make a small closed shape that needs only light effort. The muscles of the fingers, forearms and shoulders are the ones that tend to tighten, so the pose is really a practice of noticing and loosening them. The breath is left slow and natural. No special breath is given for this gesture, and the lesson asks only that the breath not be crowded by a tight hand or raised shoulders. For the mind, the shape gives a steady, easily felt point of contact: fingertips touching, palms enclosing a small space. Attention has something close and plain to rest on, and fewer reasons to wander outward. That is the practical sense of turning the senses inward. The tradition's own account of mudras speaks of sealing prana, the vital current, within the body. That is the tradition's language, not a description of physiology, and for this modern hand form it is later teaching.

No hatha text gives a benefit for this hand form, since the texts do not describe it. The schools that teach it say it helps turn the senses inward, steadies attention in sitting, and settles the sitter before meditation or quiet breathing. Some teachers also call it a gesture of returning to one's own source and of calm. These are the teachers' claims, offered as help to sitting still; nothing more is promised for it.

A man sits on the edge of his small daughter's bed after a long evening, hands with nothing to do, too awake to sleep and too tired to think. Fingers laced and resting is the kind of thing people do without noticing, and it is easy to see why a deliberate version might help. What is reasonably understood today is general. Sitting quietly with slow breathing helps many people feel calmer, and giving the hands a simple, fixed job can make it easier to notice when attention drifts. A gentle posture that does not strain the body also lets the sit go on longer. What is not established is that this particular finger arrangement does anything special. There is no good evidence that the index and thumb tips touching, or the triangle shape, have effects beyond what any comfortable, steady hold would give. The talk of sealing prana or turning the senses by the gesture itself belongs to the tradition's account, and modern physiology has no counterpart for it. It stands as a reasonable aid to attention, held lightly.

This is general information, not medical advice. A teacher can correct what a page cannot, and the gesture is best learnt with a teacher, not from a page. Stop if there is pain, numbness or tingling in the hands, wrists, shoulders or neck. People with wrist or finger joint trouble, arthritis, or nerve problems in the arms should keep the hold very loose or leave out the interlacing, and rest the hands open instead. If sitting on the floor troubles the knees, hips or back, sit on a chair or a raised cushion. Anyone pregnant, recovering from surgery, or managing a medical condition should ask a teacher or doctor how long to sit. Never force a seat, and never grip.

The gentlest form is on a chair, feet flat, hands in the lap. If the interlaced fingers ache, rest the hands as an open triangle with only the thumb tips and index tips touching, or simply place the hands on the knees. A folded blanket under the hips eases a stiff floor seat. A beginner can hold the gesture for one minute and add time slowly. The fuller form is the same hold through a whole sit, in a steady cross-legged seat with the back unsupported. There is no mirrored side.

Gripping the fingers hard turns a quiet gesture into a strain; press only to touch. Raising the shoulders and elbows to hold the hands up; let the forearms hang easy and bring the hands to the body instead. Holding the breath while concentrating; breathe slowly through the nose. Slumping the spine so the hands drop into the lap; sit tall first, then raise the hands. Staying on when the hand is tired; release it and begin again.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Shankha Mudra — the gesture of the conch · Hand Mudras 15
• All of Yoga in Practice · Ask Krishna about it

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