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Practice · Hands and attention

Mudras

Settle into a comfortable seat and choose a hand gesture. Each guide shows the position, offers a focus for attention, and explains how to finish. Anjali is open below; choose another whenever you wish.

Classical practices and sources

Anjali

Bring the palms together lightly and give yourself a moment to settle.

Let the meeting of the hands mark a small pause in your day. Feel their contact and give your attention to the moment you are in.

Both palms meet in front of the chest, with fingers pointing upward and wrists at ease.Enlarge image

Anjali: palms meet lightly, fingers upward.

Illustrated hand placement

Settle in

Sit comfortably on a chair or in a seated position you already use. Let the shoulders settle.

Start with your hands resting on your thighs and your face relaxed.

Place your hands

  1. Bring both hands in front of your chest, palms facing each other.
  2. Let the palms and fingers meet lightly, with the fingers pointing upward.
  3. Keep the hands near the center of your chest and allow the elbows to relax downward.
  4. Soften the pressure between the palms until the gesture feels easy to maintain.

Breath and attention

Let the breath come and go naturally. If you wish, notice an incoming breath and the outgoing breath that follows, without trying to meet a count.

What to notice

  • Where do you feel the contact between the two hands?
  • Can the shoulders and jaw stay relaxed while the hands meet?

Finish gently

Separate the palms, lower both hands to your thighs, and let the fingers rest.

Make it easier

Hold the hands a little lower or leave some space between the palms. Comfortable contact is enough.

Take care

Avoid forcing sore fingers straight or pressing the palms flat. Release the gesture if pain, numbness, or increasing strain appears.

Sources and meaning

The teaching sources use joined hands in the prayer position. Joseph LePage identifies this as Anjali and relates it to reverence and devotion. This seated introduction adapts that hand position for a quiet pause. You may bring a sense of greeting, gratitude, or attentive presence to it.

Open the Anjali page

Chin and Jnana

Use a light meeting of thumb and index finger as a place to return your attention.

Give your attention a small, clear point of contact. When the mind wanders, the meeting of finger and thumb offers a simple place to return.

A close-up of one hand: thumb and index fingertips meet, with the other three fingers open.Enlarge image

Chin: a close-up of finger placement. Follow the instructions for resting the hand comfortably.

Illustrated hand placement

Settle in

Sit comfortably upright and rest both hands on your thighs, with the elbows at ease.

Place your hands

  1. On the right hand, bring the tip of the index finger gently to the tip of the thumb, making a circle.
  2. Let the middle, ring, and little fingers remain open without stretching them stiffly.
  3. Make the same shape with the left hand.
  4. Turn the palms upward and let the backs of the hands rest on your thighs.

Breath and attention

Breathe naturally while noticing the light contact between finger and thumb. When attention wanders, return to that contact.

What to notice

  • Can the circle stay light, with no pinch in it?
  • Are the other three fingers and the wrists comfortable too?

Finish gently

Separate thumb and index finger, open the hands, and let them rest on the thighs.

Make it easier

Try one hand at a time. If bringing the fingertips together is uncomfortable, let that hand rest open.

Take care

Do not pull on the finger joints to complete the circle. Release if the position causes pain or tingling.

Sources and meaning

The practice begins with the palms-up form called Chin mudra in the cited sources. The Australian School of Meditation and Yoga calls the same finger shape with palms down Jnana mudra. You can gently turn the hands over to explore that variation if it is comfortable. Names vary across schools. ASMY interprets the meeting of finger and thumb as a symbol of the individual soul’s relationship with the Supreme.

Open the Chin and Jnana page

Chinmaya

Keep the thumb-index circle while gently folding the other three fingers.

Explore a small change from the open Chin shape: the same light circle, with the other fingers folded. Notice the difference without tightening the hand.

A close-up of one hand: thumb and index fingertips meet, with the other three fingers curled toward the palm.Enlarge image

Chinmaya: a close-up of finger placement, with the other three fingers gently curled.

Illustrated hand placement

Settle in

Sit comfortably and support the hands on your thighs, allowing the elbows to relax.

Place your hands

  1. Bring the tip of each index finger gently to the tip of its thumb.
  2. Keep that circle and slowly curl the middle, ring, and little fingers toward the palm.
  3. Let the curled fingers rest softly, with no grip.
  4. Settle the hands on your thighs. Let the angle of the palms suit your wrists and release any lift in the shoulders.

Breath and attention

Keep breathing naturally. If you catch yourself holding the breath while arranging the fingers, soften the hands and begin again comfortably.

What to notice

  • Does curling the three fingers make the thumb-index circle tighten?
  • Can the folded hand remain soft?

Finish gently

Uncurl the three fingers, separate thumb and index finger, and let the hands rest open.

Make it easier

Fold the fingers only as far as feels easy; they do not have to press against the palm.

Take care

Avoid forcing the fingers inward. Open the hand if pain or cramping develops.

Sources and meaning

ICYER and the AIIMS/DST teaching booklet agree on this finger arrangement. The practice follows ICYER’s placement on the thighs; the other booklet also describes a placement near the chest. Both teach Chinmaya within a fuller breathing lesson. The practice above introduces a comfortable hand position while ordinary breathing continues.

Open the Chinmaya page

Adi

Fold the fingers softly around the thumb and let the hands rest.

Explore the difference between gathering the fingers and gripping. The hand takes a fist-like shape while the touch inside stays gentle.

The thumb rests across the open palm; all four fingers are still open.Enlarge image

First rest the thumb inside the palm.

Four fingers curl over the thumb held inside the palm; the thumb is hidden.Enlarge image

Then curl the four fingers gently over the thumb.

Illustrated hand placement

Settle in

Sit comfortably with your hands on your thighs and the wrists in an easy position.

Place your hands

  1. Fold the right thumb gently into the palm.
  2. Curl the four fingers around the thumb and leave it loosely held, with no squeeze.
  3. Make the same shape with your left hand.
  4. Rest both hands on the thighs and soften the fingers, wrists, and shoulders.

Breath and attention

Let ordinary breathing continue. If forming the hands makes you tighten the jaw or abdomen, soften that extra effort.

What to notice

  • Are the fingers surrounding the thumb or pressing it?
  • How lightly can you hold the shape?

Finish gently

Open the four fingers first, then allow the thumb to unfold. Let the palm rest.

Make it easier

Keep the fingers loosely curved instead of fully closed. Leave the hand open if enclosing the thumb is uncomfortable.

Take care

Avoid clenching around the thumb. Open the hand if pain or numbness appears.

Sources and meaning

ICYER spells the name Adhi; the AIIMS/DST booklet uses Adi. Both describe the thumb enclosed by the fingers within their breathing lessons. This introduction emphasizes comfortable placement and a light hold. Brahma mudra uses the same two hand shapes together near the navel.

Open the Adi page

Brahma

With thumbs enclosed and palms upward, bring the two hands lightly together near the navel.

Bring the two hands into one balanced arrangement, then make room for ease in the shoulders and abdomen.

Both fists meet near the navel, with palms facing upward and thumbs held inside.Enlarge image

Brahma: palms face upward, with both hands meeting near the navel.

The thumb rests across the open palm; all four fingers are still open.Enlarge image

First rest the thumb inside the palm.

Illustrated hand placement

Settle in

Sit upright in a comfortable seat, with your hands resting on your thighs.

Place your hands

  1. Fold each thumb gently into its palm.
  2. Curl the four fingers loosely over each thumb, as in Adi mudra.
  3. Turn the palm sides upward and bring both hands in front of the navel.
  4. Let the opposing knuckles meet lightly. Keep the elbows at ease and leave the abdomen free from pressure.

Breath and attention

Allow the breath to move naturally. Let the abdomen respond freely while the hands stay softly in place.

What to notice

  • Is the contact between the two hands light and even?
  • Can the shoulders stay down and the abdomen move comfortably?

Finish gently

Separate the hands and lower them to your thighs. Uncurl the fingers, then release the thumbs.

Make it easier

If holding the hands up tires the shoulders, support them with a cushion or folded cloth in your lap. Let them remain apart if joining them is awkward.

Take care

Avoid pressing the fists into the abdomen or bending the wrists to force the knuckles together. Lower the hands if strain develops.

Sources and meaning

This is the hand form described by ICYER and section 9.1(d) of the AIIMS/DST booklet: thumbs enclosed, knuckles meeting near the navel, palms upward. The manuals place it in a full yogic-breathing lesson. The hand position is introduced with ordinary, unforced breathing, and other exercises that share the name remain within those fuller breathing lessons.

Open the Brahma page

Vishnu and Nasagra

Learn the hand position, then follow a complete alternate-nostril practice without holding the breath.

A clear finger arrangement makes it easier to change nostrils gently. Learn the hand first, then use the complete alternate-nostril guide below.

The right index and middle fingers are folded inward; thumb, ring finger and little finger remain free.Enlarge image

Vishnu: first learn the finger arrangement.

The right thumb rests at the right nostril; ring and little fingers are on the other side, with the left nostril open.Enlarge image

The first side: right thumb at the right nostril, left nostril open. Follow the complete breathing sequence below.

Illustrated hand placement

Settle in

Sit comfortably upright. Rest the left hand on the thigh and let the right shoulder relax.

Place your hands

  1. Fold the right index and middle fingers toward the palm.
  2. Keep the thumb free and the ring and little fingers together.
  3. Bring the hand near the nose, with the thumb beside the right nostril and the ring and little fingers beside the left.
  4. First learn where the fingers rest. Use their light closing touch with the breathing sequence below.

Breath and attention

The complete guide is below. Breathe in through one nostril and out through the other, then breathe in through that second side and return to the first. Keep the transitions free of breath holding.

What to notice

  • How little pressure is needed to close a nostril?
  • Can the right shoulder and face remain relaxed while you follow the sequence?

Finish gently

Lower the right hand to your thigh, unfold the fingers, and return to normal breathing through both nostrils.

Make it easier

Practice the finger shape away from the nose first. If the arm tires, lower the hand and breathe normally.

Take care

Return to natural breathing if a nostril is fully blocked, finger pressure hurts, or controlling the breath increases anxiety. Keep the complete guide’s cautions with the practice.

Use it for alternate-nostril breathing

What this version includes

The practice below alternates the nostrils without retention. One round returns you to the side where the cycle began. Its four-round suggestion belongs to this library’s introductory guide; it is not a quotation from the Common Yoga Protocol, which gives five rounds.

02

Gentle practice

Alternate-Nostril Breathing

anuloma viloma

Alternate airflow between the nostrils with Viṣṇu mudrā and no retention.

Set up

Sit upright and rest the left hand on the thigh. Form Viṣṇu mudrā with the right hand: fold the index and middle fingers inward, keep the ring and little fingers together, and use the thumb and the last two fingers at the nostrils.

How to practice
  1. Close the right nostril with the right thumb and inhale through the left.
  2. Close the left nostril with the joined ring and little fingers; release the thumb and exhale through the right.
  3. Inhale through the right; close it with the thumb, release the ring and little fingers, and exhale through the left.
  4. This completes one round. Keep the touch light and the breath quiet.

Breath & pace
Begin with 4 rounds at an even, comfortable count.

Understanding the practice

Different teaching lineages use the names Nadi Shodhana and Anuloma Viloma for several sequences that differ from one another. What you have here is the simple form alone: the breath moves from one nostril to the other and back. Do not treat it as a stand-in for the full traditional sequence, with its set ratios, its bandhas or its kumbhaka.

Modern teaching context: Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha, Nadi Shodhana section. This version uses no retention.

Sources and meaning

The folded-index-and-middle-finger form is called Vishnu in the Sivananda Companion and Nasagra in the 2026 Common Yoga Protocol. ICYER uses Vishnu for another arrangement with the middle finger at the brow. The hand shape follows Sivananda and the protocol, and the full introductory sequence without retention is given with it.

Open the Vishnu and Nasagra page

Dhyana

Rest the right hand in the left and let the hands settle in your lap.

Give the hands a comfortable resting place, then turn your attention to the breath. Let the support do some of the work of holding the posture.

Palms face upward in the lap, with the right hand above the left and the thumb tips meeting.Enlarge image

Dhyana: right hand above the left, with thumb tips meeting lightly.

Illustrated hand placement

Settle in

Sit on a chair or in a comfortable seated posture, with the back gently upright and the shoulders relaxed.

Place a cushion or folded cloth in your lap if the hands need support.

Place your hands

  1. Rest the left hand in your lap with its palm upward.
  2. Lay the back of the right hand in the left palm, keeping the right palm upward too.
  3. Allow the tips of the thumbs to touch lightly without pressing together.
  4. Let the hands settle on your lap or support, with the elbows comfortably near the body.

Breath and attention

Breathe normally and notice the air entering and leaving at the nostrils. If thoughts carry you away, return to the next breath.

What to notice

  • Are the thumb tips lightly meeting or pushing against each other?
  • Can the hands and shoulders give their weight to the support?

Finish gently

Separate the thumbs, open the hands gently, and rest them on your thighs. Let your attention return to the room.

Make it easier

Rest the hands separately on the thighs. If touching the thumbs is awkward, leave them in an easy position.

Take care

Avoid rounding the back to reach the lap. Raise the hand support instead, and change position if pain or numbness appears.

Sources and meaning

The practice uses the right hand over the left, supported by teaching instructions from the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive and Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Wildmind adds practical guidance on hand support and light thumb contact. The arrangement is also familiar in Buddhist art. Other traditions can reverse the hands or use the name Dhyana for another shape; ICYER, for example, describes a different finger arrangement under that name.

Open the Dhyana page

Choose one that interests you. There is no need to complete the collection as a sequence. Keep the touch light and let comfort guide how long you stay.

Classical practices and sources

Read further into the Hatha Yoga Pradipika’s seals and locks, related traditional accounts, and the sources behind the hand practices.

Use these thirteen readings to study the texts and discuss their methods with a qualified teacher. They are separate from the hand practices above.

The ten named in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika

Follow the order of the opening list. Each entry explains the source descriptions and their differences, and the order is a path for reading, with no sequence of physical exercises implied.

Find the passage in your edition

“Sinh Sanskrit” means the Sanskrit verse numbers accompanying Pancham Sinh’s 1914 edition. “Critical edition” means the Oxford-Marburg digital edition. Later passages can be reordered, expanded, or displayed as additions, so the ranges below are reading locations, not a verse-for-verse equivalence.

Start with the text’s own list

Chapter 3 names the ten below in verses 3.6 to 7. Mahamudra, Mahabandha, and Mahavedha form a connected group; Uddiyana, Mula, and Jalandhara are bandhas, or locks. The list also includes a tongue-related seal, an inverted arrangement, and accounts of Vajroli and Shakti Chalana. Its scope reaches well beyond the fingers.

These are the ten named in this passage. The Pradipika also discusses Shambhavi in chapter 4. The twenty practices in the collection are a selection across identified sources, and no one classical work is claimed to hold exactly these twenty.

  1. Mahamudra

    Sinh Sanskrit 3.10 to 18 · Critical edition 3.10 to 18

    Posture, breath, and attention meet in the first of three closely connected practices.

  2. Mahabandha

    Sinh Sanskrit 3.19 to 25 · Critical edition 3.19 to 24

    A seated lock read beside Mahamudra and Mahavedha, with variations recorded in the text.

  3. Mahavedha

    Sinh Sanskrit 3.26 to 31 · Critical edition 3.25 to 31

    The third member of that group; its description differs from the Gheranda Samhita’s.

  4. Khechari

    Sinh Sanskrit 3.32 to 54 · Critical edition 3.32 to 48

    A tongue-related seal with a long textual discussion of attention and nectar.

  5. Uddiyana Bandha

    Sinh Sanskrit 3.55 to 60 · Critical edition 3.58 to 65

    An abdominal lock explained through the image of upward flight.

  6. Mula Bandha

    Sinh Sanskrit 3.61 to 69 · Critical edition 3.49 to 57

    The root lock, described through the relationship of prana and apana.

  7. Jalandhara Bandha

    Sinh Sanskrit 3.70 to 76 · Critical edition 3.66 to 72

    The throat lock, followed by a discussion bringing three bandhas together.

  8. Viparitakarani

    Sinh Sanskrit 3.77 to 82 · Critical edition 3.73 to 77

    An inverted bodily arrangement read through the text’s sun-and-moon imagery.

  9. Vajroli

    Sinh Sanskrit 3.83 to 103 · Critical edition 3.78 to 93

    A historical account concerning sexual fluids, with a markedly different Gheranda description.

  10. Shakti Chalana

    Sinh Sanskrit 3.104 to 120 · Critical edition 3.94 to 102

    The moving or awakening of Shakti within the text’s account of Kundalini.

Sources and Sanskrit

The Sanskrit list, with its context

Main edition for the quoted list

Oxford-Marburg, Haṭhapradīpikā Online, 3.6 to 9. The Sanskrit below follows this critical edition. The Hindi and English senses are written fresh for this library; none is quoted from a modern translation.

Independent comparisons

Pancham Sinh’s 1914 edition, chapter 3 supplies the familiar parallel numbering. Swami Sivananda’s Kundalini Yoga, “Mudras and Bandhas” supplies a separate traditional teaching account. The Gheranda Samhita, James Mallinson’s 2004 edition, chapter 3 supplies comparisons where the named practices differ. Each detail page identifies its exact passages.

Limits and differences

The critical edition reads mudrādidaśakam at 3.7, allowing “ten mudras and related practices”; the familiar reading is hi mudrādaśakam, “these ten mudras.” Both name the same ten. The list and the chapter’s discussion also use variant spellings of Uddiyana. These differences are retained in the source quotation and explained without changing the library’s established page names.

Contemporary comparisons: Art of Living’s hand-gesture introduction, Asivana’s hand-mudra catalog, and Joseph LePage’s overview. These show contemporary selections and interpretations; they are not the basis for attributing a gesture or a health effect to the Pradipika.

Scope: a source-guided collection and selected textual comparison, not a complete translation of chapter 3. Source review: September 12, 2026.

mahamudra mahabandho mahavedhash cha khechari
uddiyanam mulabandhas tato jalandharabhidhah

3.6

karani viparitakhya vajroli shaktichalanam
idam mudradidashakam jaramarananashanam

3.7

English sense

Mahamudra, Mahabandha, Mahavedha, Khechari, Uddiyana, Mula bandha, the bandha called Jalandhara, the inverted arrangement, Vajroli, and Shakti Chalana: the verse praises these ten mudras and related practices as destroying old age and death.

That final phrase is the text’s claim about attainment, not a promise of longer life or a medical result. The following verses credit the teaching to Adinatha and describe it as protected instruction (3.8 to 9). Reading the praise and its setting together preserves the source’s voice without turning it into a modern health claim.

This quotation follows the critical edition, including uḍḍīyāṇa and mudrādidaśakam. A familiar edition may print uḍḍīyāna and hi mudrādaśakam instead. The source note explains the difference.