Attentive bears unlock the magic funshine In the vast wilderness of the forest, a group of bears roam freely, their every move captivating and majestic. Among them, there are a few bears that stand out for their attentiveness and curiosity. These bears, known as the Attentive Bears, have unlocked the magic of the funshine that brings joy and wonder to their lives. Unlike their fellow bears who simply go about their daily routines of searching for food and finding shelter, the Attentive Bears are constantly observing their surroundings and exploring the world around them. They seem to have an innate sense of curiosity, always wanting to learn more and discover new things. It is this attentiveness that allows the Attentive Bears to unlock the magic of the funshine.
Mudra magic
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Yoga Hands: Mudra Magic for All
Mudras are beautiful.
Mudra means “seal”. These hand (and sometimes whole body)positions are used to energetically and symbolically connect body/mind consciousness and complete a circle of energy. I often observe people naturally and even unconsciously forming hand mudras to steady their minds or physical energy.
Mudras can be practiced anywhere or anytime you need to focus and concentrate, and they’re also integral to meditative practices. Many Yoga postures include mudras to enhance and intensify asana practice.
In Jewish tradition, the familiar blessing “May the Lord Bless You and Keep you…” is accompanied by the raising of both hands in a mudra like gesture. In fact the Vulcan salute was adopted by the late great Leonard Nimoy from this gesture:
Live long and prosper.Prescott AZ thrift store find.
Hand gestures permeate every Eastern and Western cultural and religious tradition. Hindu deities and Buddhist statues often include mudras:
Buddhist statues; we’ve all seen the peaceful beauty of the mudra. National Museum-011″ by Ddalbiez – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons –
Standard advice for beginning mudra practice is to pick one or two on which to focus. Then when you feel comfortable with those, you begin practicing the next one or two. Here’s a few, to get you started. Note: Our son Jesse modeled these when he was just a lad. Sigh!:
Notice how colleagues in meetings naturally form this mudra while pondering.
Hakini This mudra is said to benefit the brain, third eye, and lungs. It balances the right and left sides of the brain and creates cooperation between them. It’s used to increase concentration and stimulate ideas. Place all of your fingers together. Place the tip of your tongue on your teeth when inhaling, and let if fall when exhaling.
This is the mudra of enlightenment. It also helps me to think.
Uttarabodhi Both hands are held at the level of the chest, the two raised index fingers touch one another, the remaining fingers are crossed and folded down, the thumbs touch each other at the tips or are also crossed and folded. This mudra can be used to stimulate ideas. In Sanskrit, this is the mudra of extreme enlightenment.
Here’s a young Jesse in Jhana mudra. He was too shy back in the day to let me show his face :).
Jhana Mudra. Place the tip of the thumb on your index fingertip and extend your other fingers. You can lay both hands on your thighs in a relaxed way. This is the famous hand position of hatha Yoga. In regular practice over time, it can help sharpen memory, mental concentration and thinking.
Further reading: Books I Like: Mudras: Yoga in Your Hands by Gertrude Hirschi, Healing Mudras: Yoga for Your Hands by Sabrina Mesko. And here are a couple of websites to learn more:
A version of this article was originally published on the now retired Yogalila blog, a website near and dear to my heart populated by brilliant and beautiful women from near and far.
Mudra Magic: Prana Mudra, The Energizer
Prana is more than just energy. In yogic theory, prana is thought to be the universal life force that flows through and connects all living things. It’s the web through which our energy flows, is cleansed, and which we exchange with the world—culminating in the physical building blocks of life, like atoms and cells. Prana Mudra is thought to tap into this energy, stimulating the root chakra and energizing the body.
Name: Prana or Pran Mudra
What It Does: This mudra of “energy” or “life” is said to stimulate the root chakra, which creates vibration and heat. It energizes or awakens the body (Well Being Mantras).
How to Perform the Mudra: Begin Prana Mudra while sitting down in a meditative position or while standing in Tadasana. It can also be performed at any time for a quick boost of energy.
To start, keep your eyes closed and focus on your breath. Bring your hands to your sides and touch the tips of your ring finger and pinky finger to your thumb. Leave your index and middle finger pointed straight. Feel the surge of prana moving through your body.
Effects: It’s said that this mudra acts like a “cure all,” benefiting everything from eyesight to fatigue, to skin rashes to vitamin deficiency. It reduces tiredness and nervousness in the body and can help bring clarity and focus (Well Being Mantras). It also said to help control emotions, enhance self-confidence and improve circulation, as the water, earth and fire elements are joined in this mudra.
Length of Practice: Practice this mudra for around 15 to 30 minutes.
There’s Magic in Mudras
It is this attentiveness that allows the Attentive Bears to unlock the magic of the funshine. They have learned that by paying attention to the smallest details, they can find joy and beauty in every aspect of their lives. Whether it's a ray of sunlight filtering through the trees or the sound of leaves rustling in the breeze, these bears are able to appreciate the simple pleasures that nature has to offer.
Use mudras to deepen your yoga practice, prepare you for yoga teacher training, and focus your prana or life force energy.
Over the years we’ve noticed that most students who come to Shades of Yoga to complete their RYT 200 or RYT 300 yoga teacher training have some experience with or have at least heard about mudras. Have you ever questioned the significance of the different mudras, though? Where do they originate from? What is their purpose? Why and how do you use them? Let’s take a look at this fascinating practice and its impact on our yoga practice and bodies. The Sanskrit word mudra means “gesture”, “seal” or “mark” and in this context refers to the symbolic, some say sacred, gestures practiced in Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, using primarily the hands and fingers and sometimes the whole body. Here and now, we’ll focus on the Hasta Mudras or hand mudras, the ones yoga teachers most commonly use to help focus the mind when opening or closing a yoga class with a brief meditation or during asana practice to control the flow of prana or energy. If you’re quite certain you’ve never actually used a mudra during yoga, you’re probably in for a surprise. Especially if you’re accustomed to fast-moving yoga classes where teachers are pressured to stick to tight schedules and aren’t able to label the various hand poses as mudras, let alone explain their significance. For example, you know that practice of bringing your palms together at heart centre, before starting a sun salutation series, during tree pose and at the end of practice as you wish each other namaste? That sacred gesture is in fact the Anjali Mudra. Before we look at some specific mudras, let’s take a deeper dive into their significance.
What’s so special about the mudras?
We borrow the mudras from the ancient tradition of yoga – think remote Himalayan hilltops as opposed to high-traffic, polished yoga studios. The mudras have been practised for literally thousands of years and they remain as relevant today as they ever were. Those who’ve practised mudras will agree that it’s a great sensation. The warmth of your hands and the gentle pressures exerted by your fingers in various positions makes you aware of the subtle flow(s) of energy in your body, which can be directed at will, using different hand positions to achieve a variety of outcomes, including to still the body and mind and create a centre of focus for meditation. In fact, next time you form a mudra, take a minute to check in with your body and observe how it makes you feel. Mudras are believed to affect our physical, emotional and energetic bodies. Some of the listed benefits of the mudras include better memory, healthier sleeping habits, lower stress levels, better control over the mind and the body, detoxification, pain relief, and more besides. You may well ask: “How can something so subtle work such miracles?” But isn’t that the case with all the many shades of yoga, from Asana practice to the practice of Pranayama? The subtle magic of mudras lies in how these sacred gestures help us to direct our life force energy (prana) according to our needs.
Why use the hands?
Our hands have highly active and sensitive energetic centres or chakras. Even if you’re not sensitive to energy you may be able to feel the hand chakra by doing a simple exercise. Spread the arms to the sides to shoulder height and begin to vigorously extend the fingers and clench and unclench your fists really fast for 20 seconds. Now pause and flip your palms up. Do you feel the tingling sensations in your palms? If not, try rubbing your hands together vigorously then activating each hand chakra in turn, by pressing the thumb of your opposite hand into the centre of your palm. Apart from the chakras, each finger is also associated with a particular energy channel in our bodies. So, by touching the fingers in a certain way, we can regulate the energy flow in those channels. Each finger moreover represents one of the five elements. The thumb is fire, the index finger is air, the middle finger is the ether (the sky), the ring finger is the earth, and the little finger is water. The thumb is also associated with will and rationality, while the index finger correlates with wisdom, the middle finger with patience and balance, the ring finger with health, and the little finger with creativity.
Why direct our energy at all?
Have you ever gotten caught up in a cycle of worry – endlessly stressing about the same thing for days on end, when there was nothing you could do about it anyway? This is common to the human experience. However, energy follows thought, so when we keep worrying about something, we are constantly sending energy in that direction. At best, we are wasting energy on something that we cannot change, and at worst that very energy may cause the thing we’re worrying about to manifest! It’s clear that there are times when we need to redirect our energy to other areas and pursuits more beneficial to us. The mudras help us achieve that. For example, if you are having a health issue, you can use mudras to direct your prana to help with your recovery. You’ll agree, that’s a far better use of energy than worrying. Let’s take a look then at the four common Hasta Mudras.
Gyan Mudra
The Gyan Mudra is also known as the Chin Mudra. In Sanskrit, chin means consciousness. The Gyan Mudra helps to focus the mind and calm the consciousness. This pose indicates your receptiveness to knowledge and wisdom and helps you to connect to your higher self. We perform this mudra by bringing the index and thumb fingers together to form a circle and stretching out the other three fingers. In this configuration, the thumb symbolises the universal consciousness and the index finger the individual consciousness. By bringing them together, we fuse our individual consciousness with universal consciousness. The other fingers symbolize the three aspects of the physical world and our liberation from the limits of that world. These are, sattva or purity and true wisdom (middle finger), rajas or passion and action (ring finger), and tamas lethargy and darkness (little finger). Do this with both hands.
Vayu Mudra
Vayu is Sanskrit for air. The Vayu Mudra (mudra of air) balances the air energies in our energetic body, usually reducing the air component to achieve this balance and calming the nervous system as it does so. This mudra is an especially useful tool to calm anxiety. To form the Vayu Mudra, fold your index finger towards your palm, so the tip of that finger touches the base of your thumb, while gently pressing your thumb against the tip of the index finger. Do this with both hands.
Buddhi Mudra
In Sanskrit, buddhi means intellect or perception, and we use the Buddhi Mudra to balance the water element in our bodies and achieve greater mental clarity. This connection of the elements of fire and water encourages intuitiveness and enhances our communication skills. Thanks to this increased intuitiveness, we are better able to understand messages coming to us from our subconscious via dreams, meditations or in the form of our inner voice. To form the Buddhi Mudra, bring the little finger and the thumb together, while keeping the other three fingers upright. Do this with both hands.
Anjali Mudra
The Sanskrit word Anjali means to offer or salutation, which explains its popularity as a form of greeting (salutation) in Asian countries. It is also called the prayer pose and it serves to bring into balance the feminine and masculine (yin and yang) energies in your body, connecting the left and right hemispheres of the brain and increasing mindfulness and focus To form the Anjali Mudra, press the right and left palm equally into each other, connecting the hands all the way from the base through the palms and fingertips. Do this with both hands. It’s clear that mudras are a key component of a balanced yoga practice – one that emphasises equally the asanas, pranayama, and meditation. Whatever the reason for your interest in mudras – whether to increase your knowledge as you prepare to embark on your yoga teacher training journey with Shades of Yoga, to deepen your yoga practice, continue your exploration of self, or as an aid to connecting your physical body with your higher self – incorporating the various mudras into your daily yoga practice, or your teaching of yoga, will help you achieve those goals.
But it doesn't stop there. The Attentive Bears have also discovered that their attentiveness and curiosity can lead them to new adventures and experiences. By paying attention to the signs and clues around them, they have been able to uncover hidden treasures and secret paths that others might overlook. They have solved intricate puzzles and unraveled mysteries that would baffle most creatures. The magic of the funshine is not just about finding joy and adventure, though. It is also about connecting with others. The Attentive Bears have realized that by truly paying attention to those around them, they can forge deep and meaningful relationships. They listen intently to their fellow bears, offering support and understanding when needed, and sharing in the joys and triumphs of their companions. In a world where distractions and busyness often rule, the Attentive Bears serve as a gentle reminder of the importance of mindfulness and presence. Their ability to unlock the magic funshine is not something reserved only for bears, but rather a gift that we all possess. By being attentive to the world around us, we can find joy, adventure, and connection in the most unexpected places. So let us take a cue from these bears and embrace the magic of the funshine. Let us be attentive to the wonders of nature, the beauty of our surroundings, and the people in our lives. In doing so, we can unlock the magic that brings joy and fulfillment to our own journeys..
Reviews for "The Essence of Funshine: A Journey with Attentive Bears"
1. Jane - 1 out of 5 stars - I did not enjoy "Attentive bears unlock the magic funshine" at all. The storyline was confusing and lacked depth, leaving me feeling unsatisfied and uninterested in what was happening. The characters were bland and one-dimensional, making it hard for me to connect or care about their journey. Additionally, the writing style was choppy and full of clichés, making it difficult to immerse myself in the story. Overall, I found this book to be a disappointment and would not recommend it to others.
2. Mark - 2 out of 5 stars - I found "Attentive bears unlock the magic funshine" to be mediocre at best. While the concept of talking bears with magical abilities was intriguing, the execution fell flat. The pacing was inconsistent, with long periods of nothing happening followed by rushed and confusing plot developments. The dialogue felt forced and unnatural, making it hard for me to engage with the characters. Additionally, I was expecting more depth and world-building, but instead, the book relied heavily on clichés and predictable twists. Overall, I was left underwhelmed by this book and wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a gripping and well-crafted story.
3. Michael - 2 out of 5 stars - I had high hopes for "Attentive bears unlock the magic funshine," but unfortunately, it didn't meet my expectations. The plot was predictable and lacked originality, making it feel like a rehash of other similar children's books. The characters were forgettable and lacked depth, making it hard for me to fully invest in their journey. Additionally, the writing style was lackluster and failed to capture my attention. While I appreciate the positive themes and messages the book attempted to convey, I believe it could have been executed in a more engaging and unique way. Overall, I was left unimpressed by this book and would not recommend it to others.