Who Wears Short Shorts?

MMMMyello blogi's and blogini's out there. I thought I would write short entry today for anyone that dares to follow my blog...usually I try to get the word out that I have written a new entry, but this one is going to have to catch notoriety on its own. I would love to spend some more time organizing thoughts and opinions, but lately I have been busier than the only working vending machine in Mississippi. I've been preparing for a 2 week road trip on top of an already busy life.  But I digress, the point is this entry is going to be short and focused and about meditation.

Point: I am really excited about incorporating mudras into my daily meditation practice. In my last entry I talked about experimenting with mudras and taking scrupulous notes of the effects. Since using mudras, I have felt very optimistic about my future, and have been given quite a few opportunities to look forward to. I again won't be so zealous as to assume that the optimism springs entirely from the mudras, but I will be so zealous to say that I'm not ruling it out. Also, I feel that using mudras have contributed to the growth of my meditation practice; I am finding focusing is much simpler for me and I am able to detach my attention while still being aware of my surroundings. So much so that I'm even considering (humbly) that I may be progressing to the pratayhara stage of the 8 limb Raja Yoga (Royal Yoga) Path. In Raja Yoga there are 8 limbs that one must practice/accomplish in order to attain ultimate bliss. The stages are yama (restraints or ethical practices), Niyama (the observances or daily practices), asana (physical postures), pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (withdrawal from the external sensory input), Dharana (the first stage of concentration), Dhyana (meditation), and Samadhi (ecstacy or the dissolution of separation between subject and object).  I feel that the integration of mudras have elevated me to a point where I can withdrawal my senses (specifically hearing) from certain situations, and center my focus elsewhere. Its pretty shweet.

I think thats all I really wanted to touch on...besides these computer keys..ohhhhh.  Hopefully I will be able to write a more inspired entry later. Maybe one that actually reads fluidly and is not choppy like this mess. Who knows. Could happen. I hope everyone out there is having a promising day,week,month. Peace and Contentment.

Mudras to the Rescue!

Hello and Welcome! Thanks for tuning in to this week's exciting adventures of yoga and its matters in daily life. Today's matter is going to be about mudras. In its simplest definition, mudra is a symbolic gesture of the hands. Mudras are typically used during meditation, kundalini yoga, occasionally hatha yoga, and according to the book "Mudras: Yoga In Your Hands" by Gertrud Hirschi, during times when one needs instant or long term healing.  For all them lawyers out there, I am confessing that the majority of my knowledge of mudras is taken from Miss Hirschi's book, who in turn took much of her information from the venerable Keschav Dev... so if you are interested in knowing more about mudra's please check out her extensively informative book. 

         Anywhosers, depending on the orientation of the hands, mudras are reputed to be able to heal, calm, help with arthritis and carpel tunnel, transcend (spiritually or mentally...), regulate (bodily functions), stabilize, energize, refresh, clarify, invoke primal truths, and to a degree open the doors to super human powers. Pweety shweet.   But hey I'm not willing to hand my wallet over to the wallet inspector just yet. I have been incorporating mudras in my mediation practice on and off for about a year now, and I can attest that yes I have received many of those positive effects after my practice, but I can not whole hardheartedly state or believe that those effects are direct results from mudras. I admit I got into mudras simply because I thought they added a little zest to my practice, but upon further inspection I could not deny that I had already adopted a strong belief system in hands gestures from my Western culture. Can you disagree with the more casual belief system of hand gestures? If you are driving and someone flips the middle finger at you, what do you interpret that hand gesture to mean? Its not lets play golf sometime, I'll tell you that much.  Or what about that silly hand gesture that had a stint of popularity in the early 2000's where one places their hands over head, palms up, and symbolically "raises the roof"...always the life of the party that started that one. Or shoot, one can even invoke sexual arousal via hand gestures ie the cunnilingus or fellatio gesture. Pretty powerful stuff.  By the basic rules of logic and rationality, I could not allow myself to completely disregard the curative powers of mudras to be hippy dippy hub bub snub flub.

       As such, I will be performing a week long experiment incorporating the hand mudra Apan Mudra (energy mudra) into a daily practice. Anywhere from 5-45 minutes a day is recommended, but for ultimum results they suggest 15 minutes a day 3 times a day. We'll see how that works out.... The picture the right is what it looks like.

Supposedly it supports the removal of waste materials and toxins from the body, eliminate urinary problems, balances the mind, gives patience, serenity, confidence, inner balance and harmony, and (on the mental realm, and the main reason I chose this mudra) it creates the ability to develop vision for the future...confront probable challenges the future may hold and how to overcome them in order to achieve the future one desires. I also am going to mentally say a lil mantra ..(inhale) patience (exhale) now, (inhale) persistence (exhale) now. I'm probably going to be practicing this as home, but what's cool about mudras is that if one chooses to, they can be practiced anywhere...hence the daily yogic matter application.  All it takes is a lil awareness and practice.

   In exactly a week I'll write an updated post about my findings, so check back if you have a chance.  Thanks for reading yall! Of coarse if you have comments, lay them on me.

  Cheers and Namaste Dawlings.