Mudra: Gateways to Self-Understanding (pdf download)

By Richard C. Miller PhD

Mudras (Sanskrit: energetic gestures or seals) are precise ways of holding the hands, fingers, tongue and/or body to represent specific acts of offering, saluting or understanding as well as to produce specific energetic effects in the mind and body. They influence the way we experience our body, breath and energy during daily activity as well as in acts of ritual, dance, movement, art, prayer and blessing and in meditation. Mudras are also used in healing as they focus the body's energetic forces, breath and mind to specific areas in very precise ways.