Hand Yoga For Health and Wellness

Have you ever heard of hand yoga? It is the ancient art of specific hand movements also known as mudra. It was originally developed in India and later spread to Asia and the world. These gestures of the hand were used for meditative practices, dance and even for healing different ailments like arthritis and carpel tunnel syndrome.

In modern times hand yoga has mostly been neglected but there is a new upsurge of interest. For example different classical dances like "bharatanatyam" from south India and also from all over the world are actively using these beautiful hand yoga movements. Other examples include Buddhist meditation where different movements are employed as part of the ritual and procedure. People are also turning to hand yoga and mudra for overcoming sports injuries, dupuytren's contractor and arthritis.

There has also been some preliminary research that shows hand yoga mudra's directly influence brain functioning and can improve the mind. The two hemispheres of the brain both have different roles. The right side is more for intuition and art, while the left side is more for problem solving and scientific calculations. For most people the coordination between hemispheres is not in synchrony which can be demonstrated by electroencephalographic (EEG) research. It is said that hand yoga can help to unify and balance the two hemispheres of the brain and thereby improve the nervous system.

We will need to see more research for people to really accept these early findings but the truth is that the ancient cultures of the world have known this for thousands of years. We already are experiencing a widespread upsurge in the popularity and practice of yoga postures and it is only a matter of time that all great spiritual and physical techniques will be adopted from places like India.

It is quite interesting to note that there are so many truths to the ancient Vedic knowledge of India which are only just being confirmed by science now. For example the ancient yogi's knew that the speed of light was about 186,000 miles per second. Sayana, a Vedic scholar who lived around 1300 A.D. was quoted to saying, "With deep respect, I bow to the sun, who travels 2,202 yojanas in half a nimesha." If you need to do the math - 2,202 x 9 miles (1 yojana) x 75/8 (half a nimesha) = 185,794 miles per second!

You may say how is this possible! Well by knowing true yoga (unity consciousness) then one can know anything. The human mind is truly an awesome creation and hand yoga, normal yoga postures, mudra and meditation may be a way to accelerate the rise to our own true greatness.