Yoga of the hands & why the open hands in meditation.

Dear All,

You may recognise the respectful form of greeting shown above and  used in India and most parts of south-east asia. What you may not be aware of is that the hands placed together like that and positioned in front of the chest is a simple and effective way to balance your left and right sides(see: Achieving Emotional Fulfillment.), and encourage the flow of the kundalini energy to the crown of head, making it easier to meditate.

If you're at home while reading this, you could try it right now. Just press both palms together and place against the centre of the chest; and now close your eyes and see whether you can feel the flow of vibes in sahasrara(crown chakra). The heart chakra and sahasrara chakra are directly connected; so if the heart chakra opens the sahasrara chakra will automatically open as well. You only need to do this for a few minutes.

The hands used in this way is an example of mudra(compare to last weeks khecari mudra) - a yogic gesture which has the power of changing or increasing the flow of subtle energy. This one is called Anjali Mudra. Mudras are extensively used in Bharata-natyam, a form of Indian classical dance, which is a kind of musical mime using the hands(mudras), facial expression, sculptural poses and rhythmic footwork to depict some aspect of divinity.

In the dance clip below, Urmila Sathyanarayanan is portraying Shiva Nataraj ('Lord of Dance')- see notes, who is the archetype of the left heart chakra. 

Another common use of the hands in sahaja yoga meditation is when we place them palm-open on the laps to meditate. Why is that done rather than the typical yoga meditation position of thumbs touching index  finger ?
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Shri Mataji explains the purpose of the open palms here and also puts into proper context the use of yoga asanas and pranayama(breathing). In answer to a question from the journalist, Shri Mataji makes reference to the predictions contained in some highly accurate, ancient astrological text - 'the Nadi Granth' - by Bhrigu Muni, wherein , amongst other things he says :

“Human beings, their old age will disappear, their body will remain as it is, and they will have a body which is divine.”

 

See you at group meditation on Tuesday.

Regards

Notes:

Shiva Nataraja

​By MicheleLovesArt (Tropenmuseum - Shiva Nataraja (6274-1)) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons