Rudra Mudra
Index and ring fingertips both meet the thumb: air and earth held to fire. Directed at the solar plexus, it counters the sinking, dizzy, hollow-in-the-middle feeling of depletion.
Meaning of the name
The seal of Rudra, the fierce aspect of Shiva. Rudra governs the centre — the solar plexus, the place from which a person acts.
How to practise
- 1
Sit upright with the belly soft and the lower ribs neither gripped nor flared.
- 2
Touch the tips of the index and ring fingers to the tip of the thumb.
- 3
Extend the middle and little fingers.
- 4
Rest the hands on the thighs, palms up.
- 5
Direct the breath into the area just below the sternum, and keep attention there.
Benefits
- Relieves dizziness, faintness and the feeling of the ground giving way
- Counters exhaustion in the middle of the day without stimulants
- Supports the heart and improves circulation to the head
- Helps prolapse of abdominal organs and general downward heaviness
- Restores a sense of personal capability after a period of being overwhelmed
What happens in the nervous system
The solar plexus — the coeliac plexus, anatomically — is the largest autonomic nerve plexus in the abdomen, and the point at which sympathetic outflow reaches the digestive organs. The familiar experience of fear "in the pit of the stomach" is that plexus firing. Breathing deliberately into the region while the hands hold still gives the diaphragm a slow, rhythmic contact with the plexus from above.
Related practices
KSN Yoga & Healing