209 How To Integrate Mudras Into Clinical Sessions: Episode By Chris McDonald

Chris McDonald: Ever wonder how something as simple as a hand gesture could impact mood, focus, or even stress levels? Have you been curious about mudras and wanting to learn more? In today's episode, I'm exploring mudras, these small, subtle, but powerful hand gestures that have been around for centuries to support emotional and mental well being.

I will break down what mudras are, the benefits, and how you can introduce them into therapy sessions in an easy, accessible way, whether you're looking to add depth to your practice, use them for your own self care, or are simply curious about these subtle techniques. Tune in to discover how Mudras can create a calming centering experience for both you and your clients on today's episode of Yoga in the Therapy Room.

Let's do this. Welcome to Yoga in the Therapy Room, the non traditional therapist's guide to integrating yoga into your therapy practice. I'm Chris McDonald, licensed therapist and registered yoga teacher. This podcast is here to empower therapists like you with the knowledge and confidence to bring yoga into their practice.

Safely and epically. So whether you're here to expand your skills, enhance your self care, or both, you are in the right place. Join me on this journey to help you be one step closer to bringing Yoga into your therapy room.

Welcome back to the Yoga In the Therapy Room podcast, the Non-traditional therapist guide to Integrating Yoga into your therapy practice. I'm Chris McDonald. If you haven't joined us before, welcome. I'm glad you're here. Today we're going to talk about a topic that I've learned about some over the years and I will preface that I'm not an expert in mudras, but we're going to go into this as a tool that can help add another layer of depth to our yoga practices and in therapy with clients and as well for our self care practices.

We'll look at Really, what are these mudras? The benefits of these and how to introduce them to clients in a therapeutic way that's safe, respectful, and of course, we're always thinking about keeping it trauma informed. Let's just jump right in. So mudras. So what are they? So they are symbolic hand positions or gestures used in yoga or meditation, and they help channel the flow of prana.

or life force energy. And if we look at Sanskrit, the term mudra means seal, mark, or gesture. They can also be used as part of communication, as a part of a yoga asana, or meditation where we place our hands during meditation. It can help with increasing prana or decreasing it. Now there's two sides of our bodies and different ways that we can use these hand mudras.

So the right side of our body is what's called our solar prana, left side is lunar prana. So the mudra we do, depending on the mudra and hand position, can influence how we feel it in our body. So if we're using both of these, it's more of a balancing effect. Interestingly enough, we can also balance our brain, both hemispheres of the brain, if we cross the midline and have hands together, which I'm going to share with you and practice with you, walk you through this one mudra where we have our hands together.

So the cool part about this is you can just experience it today, see how it feels in your body, maybe practice later, and see if there's any that resonate with you that you'd want to share with clients or other people in your life. In Ayurveda, the fingers represent different elements and these adjust the flow of energy and can help with healing.

So here are the five elements to our fingers. So the thumb represents the fire element. So we think of the fire element with like digestion. Index finger represents the air element. Middle finger represents the ether or space element. And the ring finger represents more of the earth element. The pinky finger represents the water element.

So again, we're going to be using the fingers in different ways for different kinds of gestures to represent different things and to give different impact on our nervous systems and our bodies and spiritual selves. So where do these come from? Nobody knows for sure exactly where they're coming, at least in my research, somebody can let me know if, if they know, but what I did find is there are origins from India, China, the Buddhist philosophy, and Ayurvedic traditions, and they've changed over the years, but what are the benefits?

They can help quiet the mind, help intensify the power of a yoga practice, They can help with intention, building awareness. So again, if we go back to interoception, noticing what's going on in our body, if we have our hands in a mudra, we can feel the sensations of maybe the fingertips touching, the placement of the hands if they're on the lap, noticing sensations of the hand on your lap as you rested there.

Just even connecting with that alone can be grounding or a mindfulness practice. Can also help with balancing chakras or more of the subtle body, the energy centers that are in our body. We have seven major chakras. I'm not going to go too far into those today. We're going to do one for the throat chakra, which I think you'll find very interesting.

I know when I tried this today, I hadn't actually done this one before, and I could really just feel like tingling and sensation. So I want you to give it a go when we get there today in this episode, and I'd love to hear how this impacts you. But with chakras, they sometimes can get blocked or be slow moving, or I went to a Reiki session and my practitioner said that it was in reverse.

And here's my question, is that bad? Right? But Reiki is also of course something else that can help with the chakras and clearing and she got it spinning in the right correct direction. I don't know if there's a right direction, but the correct direction is supposed to go so it's where it needs to go so the energy flows better.

But yeah, these mudras can help with that too. They can help with focus, which makes sense if we're keeping our hands in a certain position that can really help turning, turning that focus more inward. And to me, that's more about that pratyahara or withdrawal of the senses is the fifth limb of yoga.

Turning inward, turning the senses off can help us to focus more, be more centered. And as I mentioned before, we can bring mindfulness into this, make it a whole part of a mindfulness practice. Have you, if you have your hands in one of these mudras, even noticing temperature. Is it warm or cool? Or is it neutral?

What is coming up for you as you have your hand in this position? We may become more and more aware of internal sensations, or even just checking in, noticing fluctuations of the mind. Is your mind racing, or is it more settled? As you have your hand in the mudra, do you notice emotions that may come up, or is there more than one emotion?

Now, certain mudras can also help calm the nervous system, reduce stress, Overall emotional regulation. To me, these are like the icing on the cake, since we can add them in with other practices, which is really cool. They can help with reducing anxiety, promoting that relaxation from the parasympathetic nervous system.

They can be just grounding in themselves. I'm going to teach you a grounding mudra today that I think you'll really like. And the cool part about mudras, why I like them so much, is they're so accessible. We always go, wherever we go, we have our hands. So that's always there. Something we can utilize. And we can use it with other yoga practices.

Like I said, to me, this is just another icing on the cake, or another layer on the cake that we can add to our yoga practices. And as far as I know, and I couldn't find anything online in my research, There's not significant side effects, so maybe someone may feel uncomfortable if it doesn't work for them.

Hey, that's great. Good feedback. That's okay. So we can try different ones. See what works, see what resonates. Or push a little more with distress tolerance. That's another option. And of course, keeping it trauma informed. It's always an option. It's always client consent. If they don't want to try one of these, cool, we'll do something else.

Keeping it up for informed consent. So how do we do the mudras? If, for example, we're touching our forefinger to our thumb, we don't want to push hard. So that we're causing too much sensation. We don't want to touch too little. So there's nothing there. Imagine holding like a piece of paper between your forefinger and your thumb.

So it's just a little bit of sensation maybe. Let's start with Anjali Mudra. So prayer pose. If you can see me on video for social media. So palms together, fingertips touching, all the inside of the hands, the palms, fingers. Touching and we allow that to rest at our chest can also put our heads down chin to chest, or as far as comfortable, you can put more attention.

If we want more groundedness, pushing the hands together, which is another way to bring this into session for clients. And we can release that. And this helps cultivate a sense of gratitude, unity, balance, feeling that connection with self and others. Many times this goes with the Inayoga class of Namaste and bowing down.

A reverence. This can also be helpful during moments of gratitude practice. turning within, and you may notice it as a cue to start a yoga class and or to end one. I know that's a place that I like to end my yoga classes or even with clients will end there. It also can be used as part of self compassion practices.

Let's just rest our hands in prayer pose. Staying here for a moment. Keeping our hands here and noticing. And of course with prayer we can also bring it rising up so it's above our head. Now if this is a mudra we probably would be uncomfortable to stay here too long but it is an option. Still using a mudra.

Keeping our hands here. Noticing the sensations. And if your arms get tired we can bring mindfulness into it. Noticing my arms are tired. Holding it up. And of course we don't want pain in our arms. But we can just check in, seeing the sensations, maybe in the shoulders or the back, bringing in those interceptive cues.

And then nice and slow, bringing it back down to chest. There are so many ways to bring in Anjali Mudra. We can also have our palms together and then releasing out. And then back in so we can do it with movement. One of the good starting places to use with yoga is Anjali Bhadra. Are you a therapist interested in bringing yoga into your therapy room, but are unsure? How are you ready to take the next step and bring the benefits of yoga into your therapy sessions? Imagine feeling confident in using yoga as a therapeutic tool and knowing the when and how to bring yoga to sessions safely and ethically.

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Let's try another one. So I have a. Wonderful grounding mudra I want to, want you to experience with me. So this is called Mother Earth gesture or Bhu, it's B H U mudra. And I learned this in my 200 hour yoga training. And what this is, is a bowing salutation to Mother Earth.

So if we take our right hand, so we have our ring finger, our thumb, and our pinky together. So ring finger, thumb, pinky. The other two fingers are extended up. We're not going to leave it here. This is better if you're seated on a yoga mat, ideally outside on the earth. And we're going to take this little peace sign, which is the forefinger, middle finger up, and you're going to place them.

So if you're seated in a chair, you can just do it there, if that works for you. If you're able to get on a yoga mat on the floor, that'd be even better. And just place the forefinger and the middle finger onto the earth or the chair or the floor and breathe. And just notice what comes up as you leave your fingers here.

This helps calm the nervous system, can help release negative thoughts, reduce stress, helps balance the root chakra. Think about groundedness, connection. You could also use this with imagery and imagining an energy cord coming from Your tailbone connecting you to the earth, the center of the earth, grounding you, rooting you, use affirmations with it.

Now with Bhu Mudra, you could do both hands. So bringing up the left hand. So ring finger, thumb and pinky connected, forefinger, middle finger extended, and bring both down. This can feel like too much for some people. So if it is, I know I feel a little pressure in my head with that. So I'm going to take that down and just keep the right and breathe.

And you're welcome to release that. And just check in. Notice the fluctuations of the mind, what emotions may be coming up for you. Noticing energy levels. Are you feeling drained? Or feeling more energetic or somewhere in the middle? Just checking in and breathing. I will say that a couple different ways to use mudras you can use with breath work.

One way can be just use counting breath. So inhaling count of four. Holding for four. Exhale for four. More of the even breath. Or if you want to extend the exhale. So inhale four. Hold for four. Exhaling for five. Exhaling for five. Or six and just repeat. You can also just use it as a mindfulness practice.

And like I said, just noticing sensations within the mudra itself. Or I'm noticing sensations of your feet on the floor and checking in with emotion, thoughts, energy, what is there? What's coming up? What is arising? These are all questions. Of course, you can ask clients as you use these. Let's try another 1.

So, it's G. Y. A. N. So we're going to touch the tip of the index finger to the tip of the thumb, okay? And then keeping the other fingers, I got it confused in my brain for a second. I don't know why, it's okay. Peace sign. So think of the peace sign. So we have the O, make a little O with our forefinger and thumb.

And then the other three fingers extended. Now I'm not going to leave this up here. So the best way to do Gyan Mudra is to place it on top of your lap. Just move it where it feels comfortable. If you're able to get in cross legged pose or easy pose, try that, or just sitting with your knees bent on the floor from a chair and allow it to rest comfortably on your knees.

I only put it up here so that the video can see, see what this mudra looks like. And just sit quietly with this. I know for this I feel a little more focused. I feel like it brings me into the moment. What do you notice for you? It can help with mental clarity. Helping with that concentration. Brings a little energy.

Can help with reducing depression. This can be useful in therapy if you have a client who might need a little more grounding or needing support with focus, mental clarity. If you have clients with attention issues, that's a good one to bring in. So pause and notice as you hold gyan mudra. I think this is the second most popular mudra I've seen.

And you can change positions, move your hand around, see what feels more comfortable. If you want to try it with your hands up in the air, elbows bent, maybe that brings a little bit different sensation or energy flow. You got to experiment, be playful. Don't take yourself so seriously. I know that can be difficult sometimes.

And then release that mudra, allow your hands to settle and just check in with yourself. Notice anything that may have come up without judgment. Just being present with what is, and just make a note of these mudras to see which one resonates the most. Cause maybe there's one of these that you can utilize and bring with you and practice.

So the next favorite mudra of mine is called Dayana. It's D H Y A N A. And this is considered gesture of meditation. So placing hands on the lap, and I'm going to place it in front of the camera so people can see on video. So fingertips are pointing towards each other, but palms are up towards the sky.

And then bringing the Right hand on top of left and touching points of the thumb together keeping the other fingers extended Right hand resting on the left thumb touching lightly again with the touch We don't want to feel like we're pushing hard It's just a light touch to encourage energy flow and the benefits encourages deeper states of meditation going back to focus and calm.

I feel like this settles my mind and body a little more than the other mudras. How can you use this in therapy? So this can also be part of a mindfulness exercise. What does that feel like to have the right hand on top of the left? Do you notice warmth? Are your hands sweaty? Are they cooler? Maybe you notice cool sensations.

Are they feeling heavy or light? Could be useful during a guided meditation to help keep focus. Helps with that meditation mindset. And again, this also goes back to crossing the midline and balancing both hemispheres of the brain. So allow yourself just to stay in Dhyana Mudra for another moment. You can also bring awareness just to breath with a mudra.

See if you can follow the rise and fall of your breath. Noticing the chest rise on the inhale and falling on the exhale. Notice the rising. and falling.

When you're ready, releasing that. Even just closing your eyes as you bring yourself back, back into your space. Letting that mudra go. So the next mudra is called the zakash mudra. It's A K A S H for the throat chakra. And the gesture is to bring the tip of your middle finger to the tip of the thumb, the other finger straightened, extended above.

This can help with intuition, expanding consciousness. You can allow your hands to, you don't have to have them extended up. Your arms might get tired doing that. So allowing them to fall on your lap, wherever it feels comfortable, or if you want to have elbows bent, feel free to give that a go and just stay here with your breath.

The invitation is to change the breath if you'd like, maybe to count some inhales and exhales. Or just bring awareness to breath. Do what feels right for you and your body. And with this mudra, it helps open up the throat chakra, improving communication, helps with reducing anger, sorrow, and fear. Helps bring that calmness, activating, of course, the parasympathetic nervous system.

And just allowing yourself to settle into this mudra. Noticing what wants to come up, allowing it space and gentleness. And bringing that kindness and compassion to yourself. And then releasing that, the Akash Mudra. And we'll move on to the Apana Mudra, or the Mudra of Digestion. So this is bringing the tips of the middle and ring finger to the thumb, extending the index and pinky finger.

For those who like to rock and roll, I'm going to make a joke, this is like the little devil horns you might have done at concerts. In all seriousness, though, this is called Apana, A P A N A, Apana Mudra. So again, ring finger, middle finger connecting to thumb, pinky, and forefinger extended. And allow it to fall wherever you would like for most comfort.

And just settle in, noticing how this feels in your body. Checking again with sensations in the hands. Bring that mindfulness, mindful awareness. Noticing temperature in the fingers and hands, or if there's any shifts in the body, another part of mindfulness we can bring awareness to. The benefits of this mudra include grounding, calming effects, also helps to detoxify and help to relax you.

And for use in therapy, ideal for moments when clients need grounding, calming, or to release negative emotion. And just stay here for a couple more moments, seeing how this settles with you. Maybe again focusing on the breath, this time focusing on the inhale and exhale from the belly. And the rise on the inhale, falling on the exhale.

The rising and falling. Now gently let that go. I know we've done a lot of mudras today. So just take a moment to get yourself grounded back into your space. Take a look around your room, noticing colors in your room, shapes. How do you feel? Any emotions come up, sensations in the body? Any changes with thoughts?

Just bring awareness to your whole self after doing all these mudras. So question for you, which one did you like? Or did you like all of them? They all have different benefits, different things you can get out of them. And you can also integrate just with breath, or with meditation, or just sit quietly with it.

So if you do integrate with breath work, it can really help you. Enhance the calming effects of the breath work by bringing that focus in for meditation. It can help you turn more inward to find that inner calm, can help clients to center themselves at the beginning of a meditation practice. It's almost like another ritual to getting into the meditation practice.

And speaking of ritual, this could also be something to utilize maybe to start a session. In asking clients, this is an invitation to try a mudra. How would that feel for you? And let's try one of these mudras and giving those specific directions, forefinger to thumb, other fingers extended, and allow yourself to sit with that before we start the session today.

You may have seen mudras also with some asanas. If you've ever seen dancers pose, some people use that holding one arm straight up, the other arm is holding the leg. One hand can be extended, bringing fingers into a mudra. There's lots of different ways to bring it with movements as we hold, even externally rotating hands forward in a mountain pose.

or Anjali mudra in tree pose. So bringing prayer pose into tree. You can hold that above the head or at the chest. Get really creative with this to help focus so the applications could be endless. So what are some practical tips for integrating these? As I mentioned, it could be part of a ritual to start a session.

It could be just with breath work or meditation practice. You can also explain the purposes, like I mentioned here, the benefits of each buddha that you're bringing in and allowing clients even to set an intention for that session with you and practice it with them. I think it can be awkward for clients if you want to introduce a yoga practice and you're just telling them what to do but you're not doing it.

That might feel weird to them, awkward. I think it gets in the way of the attunement with the client. So when we're doing it with them, there's something about that. And I've had clients mention this as well. There's something powerful when you're doing yoga, either in person or on video together. And you can witness this.

There's all those visual cues of integration, of doing it together, of building that rapport still. With bringing movement, breath or mudras in, you can encourage clients to practice between sessions. If you don't want to use mudras, that's okay. You can give information, give links, videos, let them know the ones that you like to do.

And of course, always encouraging them to reflect on how the mudras make them feel. If they want to continue them, if there's anything they don't like, that it's not going to hurt your feelings. If they don't want to practice one, that's totally fine. That they can be adapted to their comfort level. I hope this episode was helpful.

This brings us to the end of another episode. Thanks again for being here and being a part of this podcast. I couldn't do this without you. Are you struggling with burnout and feeling exhausted? Do you always put others first? It's time to put you first. My Self Care for the Counselor Companion Workbook was written with you in mind.

This workbook provides simple strategies that are not only practical, but easy to integrate into your life. You will learn how to boost your energy, and how to improve healthy habits for eating, exercise, and sleep. Revitalize your practice with holistic morning and evening self care routines. Plus, get access to links for soothing meditation, self massage, and grounding yoga.

Check it out today at hcpodcast. org forward slash workbook. That's hcpodcast. org forward slash workbook. This will be in the show notes as well. This is Chris McDonald sending each and every one of you much light and love till next time. Take care. Thanks for listening to today's episode. The information in this podcast is for general informational and educational purposes only.

It is given with the understanding that neither the host, the publisher, or the guests are giving legal, medical, psychological, or any This is another kind of professional advice. We are not responsible for any losses, damages, or liabilities that may arise from the use of this podcast. Yoga is not recommended for everyone, and is not safe under certain medical conditions.

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