Prana Mudra (Invocation Of Energy)

Prana Mudra (invocation of energy) is a kaya mudra (postural mudras).

1. How To Do Prana Mudra – Invocation Of Energy
   1. Stage I
   2. Stage 2: Release moola bandha
   3. Stage 3
   4. Stage 4
   5. Stage 5
2. Awareness
3. Sequence
4. Time of practice
5. Prana Mudra Benefits
6. Note

How To Do Prana Mudra – Invocation Of Energy

• Sit in any comfortable meditation posture, preferably padmasana or siddha/siddha yoni asana with the hands in bhairava mudra.
• Close the eyes and relax the whole body, especially the abdomen, arms and hands.

Stage I

• Keeping the eyes closed, inhale and exhale as deeply as possible, contracting the abdominal muscles to expel the 1naximum amount of air from the lungs.
• With the breath held outside, perform moola bandha while concentrating on mooladhara chakra in the perineum. Retain the breath outside for as long as is comfortable.

Stage 2: Release moola bandha

• Inhale slowly and deeply, expanding the abdomen fully. Draw as much air into the lungs as possible. Simultaneously, raise the hands until they are in front of the navel. The hands should be open with the palms facing the body, the fingers pointing towards each other, but not touching.
• The upward movement of the hands should be coordinated with the abdominal inhalation.
• The arms and hands should be relaxed.
• While inhaling from the abdomen, feel the prana or vital energy being drawn from mooladhara chakra to manipura chakra.

Stage 3

• Continue the inhalation by expanding the chest and raising the hands until they are directly in front of the sternum at the centre of the chest.
• Feel the pranic energy being drawn up from manipura to anahata chakra while inhaling.

Stage 4

• Draw even more air into the lungs by slightly raising the shoulders and raise the hands to the front of the throat in coordination with the breath.
• Feel the prana being drawn up to vishuddhi.

Stage 5

• Retain the breath inside while spreading the arn1s out to the sides.
• Feel the prana spreading in a wave through ajna, hindu and sahasrara chakras.
• In the final position, the hands are level with the ears. The arms are outstretched but not straight, and the palms are turned upward.
• Concentrate on sahasrara chakra and visualize an aura of pure light emanating fro1n the head.
• Feel that the whole being is radiating vibrations of peace to all beings.
• Retain this position, with the breath held inside, for as long as possible without straining the lungs in any way.
• While exhaling, repeat stages 4, and slowly return to the starting position.
• During exhalation, feel the prana progressively descending through each of the chakras until it reaches mooladhara. At the end of exhalation, perform moola bandha and feel the prana returning to mooladhara chakra.
• Relax the whole body and breathe normally. Breathing: Increase the duration of inhalation, retention and exhalation slowly. Be careful not to strain the lungs. When the practice has been perfected, visualize the breath as a stream of white light ascending and descending within sushumna nadi.

Awareness

• The awareness should move in a smooth and continuous flow from mooladhara to sahasrara and back to mooladhara, in coordination with the breath and the movement of the hands.

Sequence

• Prana mudra is best practised after asana and pranayama and before meditation, but it may be performed at any time.

Time of practice

• Ideally, practise at sunrise while facing the sun.

Prana Mudra Benefits

• Prana mudra awakens the dormant prana shakti, vital energy, and distributes it throughout the body, increasing strength, health and confidence. It develops awareness of the nadis and chakras, and the subtle flow of prana in the body. It instills an inner attitude of peace and equanimity by adopting an external attitude of offering and receiving energy to and from the cosmic source.

Note

• This practice is also known as shanti mudra, the peace mudra.