Meditation Hand Mudra Positions for Beginners

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Meditation Hand Position Mudras for Beginners

If you have just started your meditation practice, you may have noticed that it’s difficult to decide what to do with your hands. Or maybe you have been meditating for awhile and have noticed the same problem. Not knowing what to do with our hands can become distracting to our meditation practice and sometimes just plain uncomfortable.

The hands hold a wealth of energy that should be cultivated during meditation, not dispersed. Learning comfortable hand mudras for your meditation practice can enhance your meditation practice and offer you spiritual benefits as well. Finding a hand mudra that’s most comfortable for you is essential to a sustained meditation practice, because it offers you containment, comfort, and spiritual value. Comfortable hands could be the missing piece of your meditation puzzle, offering you a way to connect deeper with your practice.

Here are 3 Meditation Hand Mudras that are Great for Beginners:

One: Dhyana

Photo from http://stylesatlife.com/articles/yoga-mudras/

This is by far my favorite meditation hand mudra. It offers ease and comfort that allows you focus on your meditation instead of supporting your hands. This allows your arms and shoulders to relax in ways other hand mudras don’t offer. We know from nueropsychology that when the shoulders are relaxed it stops the production of the stress hormone cortisol, and sends messages to the brain that we are calm and safe to relax.

For extra comfort, I like to modify this hand mudra to offer even more support by placing a pillow under my hands. Especially for those with long arms, this added comfort puts mind at ease and allows your muscles to relax.

This mudra has been used in Buddhism and Hinduism for centuries, and Dhyana is defined as meditation and contemplation in the Ashtanga Yoga Meditation philosophy.  However it lends itself very well to secular meditation practices like mindfulness meditation.

Benefits:

• Optimal Support
• Allows arms, shoulders, and back to relax naturally
• Signifies optimal balance

Instructions

• Place your right hand over your left palms facing up
• Gently rest them on in your lap on on a support pillow in your lap
• Allow both thumbs to touch each other to seal in energy

Two: Prayer

For those days that you need an extra dose of balance and serenity this timeless hand mudra is perfect. Prayer position during meditation adds a spiritual element to meditation and unlocks any spiritual associations you may have with prayer. I love this meditation when I am trying to connect with my inner divinity.

To modify this hand mudra for increased comfort, try resting the pinky side of the hands in your lap with your fingers pointing forward. Again for added comfort, prop your hands on a pillow.

Benefits:

• Spiritual connectedness
• Connecting the right and left hand stimulates the right and left hemispheres of the brain, activating your meditation practice  

Instructions:

• Place palms together gently in prayer position in the middle of your chest with your fingers pointing to the sky.
• While lifting the crown of the head, tilt your chin slightly down towards your hands.
• For longer meditation sessions, see modifications above for additional support.

Three: Gyan

This hand mudra is an excellent addition to your practice if you are looking to invite energy into your life. Used in many practices such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Kundalini Yoga, this mudra adds intention and grace to your meditation practice.

The extended positioning in the arms represents expansion and openness. The combination of extended fingers (heart chakra) and closed fingers (root chakra) makes this a very balanced pose. The open fingers will connect you with the outside world, while the closed fingers contain your personal energy and energy received.

Benefits:

• This balanced hand mudra helps with feelings of grief and loss, allowing you invite love and acceptance into your practice and life.
• The extendedness of the pose helps with setting intentions for your practice, as the dignified posture helps to maintain your meditation mindset.
• Calming mudra that lends itself to nervous beginners to meditation

Instructions:

• Rest your hands, palms facing up on your knees.
• Connect the index fingertip to your thumb fingertip in each hand. For a more activated gyan mudra position, try connecting your index finger nail to your thumb tip.
• Extend the remaining fingers of each hand outward, while keeping them relaxed.

We hope these meditation hand mudra positions for beginner’s elevate your meditation practice and make getting into meditation easier. Continuing your meditation practice means that many things about how you practice will evolve and we hope you find comfort with one of these hand positions.

Let us know in the comments below what you think about these hand mudras? Did you find them helpful? Are there any additional questions we can answer about these mudras for you? Let us know in the comments below.