You are in a body. You are also a spirit.
Mani Ratna Mudra moves your breath and your awareness from the base of you all the way up to your crown and back again. Your index fingers meet your thumbs, your wrists join in front of your heart, and your other fingers open and extend, so you are anchored and open at the same time.
Mani Ratna Mudra connects you to all five elements and opens and balances all of your chakras, with a focus on your Sahasrara, your crown, your center of unity. It directs your breath and awareness through your entire torso, neck, and head, improving circulation to all of your systems and softening the muscles of your face, neck, and shoulders. It balances the upward and downward moving currents of your energy, so you are not floating off and you are not stuck either.
El Día de los Muertos is the day we remember and celebrate the ones we have loved and lost. Not from a distance, but in our bodies. They are still walking beside you, guiding and encouraging you, helping you live fully and authentically while you are here. This shape does not go and find them. It opens you to the truth that they are already there and have been all along. It is supportive anytime you want to feel connected to something bigger than this body, and especially in early November around the time of Samhain and El Día de los Muertos.
Align with the energy of openness and connection through this mudra and the practices that accompany it.
Check out ways to practice mudras live with our empowering yoga community through our membership and our live class schedule!
🫶🏻MUDRA: Mani Ratna Mudra
WHY:
Practice Mani Ratna Mudra to be anchored in your body AND remember you are also a spirit. Your breath and awareness travel from the base of you all the way up to your crown, and from there you can feel the spirit realm, which is never really as far away as it seems.
Benefits of Mani Ratna Mudra:
directs your breath and awareness through your entire torso, neck, and head
softens and relaxes the muscles of your face, neck, and shoulders
cultivates clarity
instills self-trust in your own power to heal
supports the release of limiting beliefs
carries breath, awareness, and energy from your pelvic floor all the way to the crown of your head
balances the upward and downward moving currents of your energy
opens your Sahasrara (crown chakra), your center of unity and connection
connects to all five elements
HOW:
Find a comfortable seat with both sit bones anchored. Connect the tip of each index finger to the tip of each thumb. Join your thumbs and wrists in front of your heart. Let your other fingers open and extend. Rest your forearms against your body as you soften your shoulders and align your spine.
🧘🏻♀️MEDITATION: Bonfire Connection
WHY:
Practice this meditation to sit with the ones who came before you. Your breath stretches beyond where it usually does, which wakes up your spirit and the connections it already has. The fire does the rest.
PLACE:
Perhaps light a candle if you have not already, to bring in the fire element. Then gently come to a comfortable seat on the floor or a pillow, cushion, or chair. Anchor both sit bones evenly and align your shoulders over your hips.
MUDRA:
Find Mani Ratna Mudra by connecting the tip of each index finger to the tip of each thumb. Join your thumbs and wrists in front of your heart. Let your other fingers open and extend. Rest your forearms against your body as you soften your shoulders and align your spine.
VISUALIZATION:
See, feel, or sense yourself sitting around a bonfire. Flames reach up toward the heavens, opening the veil between this world and the next. Perhaps loved ones join you around the fire.
PRANAYAMA:
Practice long, deep diaphragmatic breaths through your nose. Your belly fills on each inhale and draws back toward your spine on each exhale. Begin to stretch each inhale and exhale a bit, to the point of discomfort, to help awaken your spirit and its connections and remind you that you are more than just a body. Honor any boundaries your body is setting here.
DRISHTI:
As you settle in, if it feels safe and comfortable, allow your eyelids to soften and close.
SUGGESTED TIMING:
3-5 minutes.
TO END:
Release control of your breath and release your hand shape. Take some time in stillness to stay with any sensations or messages available to you.
✨ Mantras:
I am divinely connected to all who have come and gone before me.
I can feel their connection always and especially today.
I am divinely connected to their love, their guidance and their prayers.
I open to them.
I know they support my journey.
I hope you feel how close they still are.
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