VAYU MUDRA

The mudra (not sure what that is? take a look at the previous post!) we were looking at last week is called VAYU MUDRA. It's great to aid the digestion process. It's used in yoga therapy when we are feeling heavy and bloated. That "post wedding lunch" effect. When we have problems with our digestion we (or I at least) become sluggish, find it hard to concentrate, become (more) impatient - we only have a certain amount of energy within the body to spend - if a great part of this energy is directed towards our digestive process there is less to direct  towards  other more pleasurable or important pass-times, our emotional/social/sexual/spiritual (yes, that too)  lives for example. When our digestion is easy, we become mentally lucid - a priority for a yogi. 

Vayu Mudra - push the index finger down with the thumb so the circular gap between finger and thumb is smaller.

And here is where Agni comes in. Our digestive fire according to yogis. And as a fire, it doesn't do too well when we:

 -  drown it in icy liquid. So perhaps the cold glass of water, Coke or beer with our meal  is not doing us all that good.

 - throw on large amounts  of oversized "logs". Consider reasonable (!) portions and chewing food well so we don't suffocate that fire.

- when we don't eat. Don't put enough logs on the fire? Enough said. 

- nor eat at the right time. Our body follows a 24 hour cycle - this includes our organs and physical bio-chemical processes. 

According to the ayurveda tradition in order to make the most of this cycle we should be eating:

BREAKFAST - between 07.00 .- 09.00 ( a light breakfast is suggested)

LUNCH - between 12.00 - 14.00 (the "heaviest" most important meal of the day)

DINNER - between 17.00 and 19.00 (light meal)

In order to reap the benefits of (most) mudra, as I said in the previous post,  it's necessary to hold it for very minimum of 30 seconds (5 minutes would be great for most mudras) in the morning, afternoon and evening, to keep that effect  like an echo,  strong and constant from one mudra to another during the entire day. 

Give it a go if you fancy it, tweak your eating habits  and try vayu mudra throughout the day when you've gone over the top and see if your mood lightens as well as your stomach.