Vayu Mudra
Where Gyan Mudra raises the air element, Vayu Mudra reduces it. The index finger is folded away and pinned by the thumb — the classical remedy for everything that trembles, rattles, cracks or bloats.
Meaning of the name
The seal of air. Vāyu is the moving principle — wind in the sky, gas in the gut, tremor in the nerve.
How to practise
- 1
Fold the index finger down until its tip reaches the fleshy mound at the base of the thumb.
- 2
Lay the thumb gently over the folded index finger — enough contact to hold it, not enough to press it white.
- 3
Keep the middle, ring and little fingers straight and relaxed.
- 4
Rest both hands on the knees, palms up, and breathe evenly.
- 5
For acute trouble, practise up to three times a day for 15 minutes; stop once the symptom settles, as this mudra is a corrective rather than a daily habit.
Benefits
- Relieves gas, bloating, flatulence and the abdominal cramping that follows
- Eases joint pain, stiffness and the cracking sound in knees and knuckles
- Reduces tremor of the hands and head, including in Parkinsonian conditions
- Settles trapped wind pain in the chest that mimics cardiac discomfort
- Helps sciatica, cervical spondylitis and rheumatic ache
- Calms the restless, ungrounded quality that Ayurveda calls vata aggravation
What happens in the nervous system
Tremor, restlessness and colic are all disorders of unregulated motor and enteric nerve activity — vata, in the older language. Steady deep pressure on the thenar eminence recruits slow-adapting mechanoreceptors, whose signalling is inhibitory to nociceptive traffic in the dorsal horn. In plain terms: firm, unchanging pressure crowds out pain and jitter at the level of the spinal cord before either reaches the brain.
Related practices
KSN Yoga & Healing