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Mudras and Mantras for Five Great Elements
Human body consists of the five great elements or Panchamahabhutas
namely Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space. Before a practitioner attempts any
higher practices that awaken the sleeping Kundalini, it is advisable that
certain amount of purification and balance be established in these five great
elements. There are several ways to accomplish this balancing and purification,
ranging from dietary guidelines to yogic Shatkarmas to mantras. Here, I
am outlining a simple yet effective routine for beginners that can be easily
integrated into your daily yoga practice without any side effects.
The routine described here consists of three chief ingredients - hand mudras,
chakra awareness, and seed (beej) mantras. The five fingers of our hands are
associated with the five great elements and can be used to instill balance and
purification in these elements. Out of the seven chakras (Mooladhara to
sahasrara), the first five chakras are associated with the five great elements.
And therefore, meditation on these chakras can instill the desired balancing of
the corresponding elements. Each of these five great elements have their own
seed mantra. Chanting the seed mantra not only helps in deeper concentration but
also hastens the balancing process.
Step 1
To begin with, assume a steady and comfortable posture or Asana. You
can sit in any cross-legged posture such as Padmasana, Siddhasana, Sukhasana, or
even in Vajrasana. If you can't sit in any cross-legged posture you can sit on a
chair. Avoid sitting directly on the floor. Make use of your Yoga mat or
meditation seat.
Keep your head straight, spine erect, and base firmly grounded to your
meditation seat. Place both of your hands on your knees with palms facing
upwards. Close your eyes and become aware of your natural breathing.
Step 2
Gently press the tip of your thumb and ring finger together. Don't press too
hard. Keep other fingers relaxed. The thumb represents the Fire element and the
ring finger represents the Earth element. The mudra thus formed strengthens,
balances, and purifies the Earth element. The Earth element is connected with
the Mooladhara chakra. So, keep your awareness around the Mooladhara region. The
seed mantra of the Earth element is LAM (लं). And you will mentally recite OM
LAM mantra throughout this mudra. Maintain this mudra, chakra awareness, and
mantra chanting for three minutes.
Now release this mudra by separating the tip of the thumb and the ring
finger.
Step 3
Next, gently press the tip of your thumb and little finger together. Keep
other fingers relaxed. The little finger represents the Water element. The mudra
thus formed strengthens, balances, and purifies the Water element. The Water
element is connected with the Swadhisthana chakra. So, keep your awareness
around the Swadhsthana region. The seed mantra of the Water element is VAM (वं).
And you will mentally recite OM VAM mantra throughout this mudra. Maintain this
mudra, chakra awareness, and mantra chanting for three minutes.
Release this mudra by separating the tip of the thumb and the little finger.
Step 4
Now, gently press the tip of your thumb and index finger together. Keep other
fingers relaxed. The index finger represents the Air element. The mudra thus
formed strengthens, balances, and purifies the Air element. The Air element is
connected with the Anahata chakra. So, keep your awareness around the Anahata
region. The seed mantra of the Air element is YAM (यं). And you will mentally
recite OM YAM mantra throughout this mudra. Maintain this mudra, chakra
awareness, and mantra chanting for three minutes.
Release this mudra by separating the tip of the thumb and the index finger.
Step 5
Gently press the tip of your thumb and middle finger together. Keep other
fingers relaxed. The middle finger represents the Space element. The mudra thus
formed strengthens, balances, and purifies the Space element. The Space element is
connected with the Vishuddhi chakra. So, keep your awareness around the
Vishuddhi
region. The seed mantra of the Space element is HAM (हं). And you will mentally
recite OM HAM mantra throughout this mudra. Maintain this mudra, chakra
awareness, and mantra chanting for three minutes.
You might wonder why we skipped the Manipura chakra and what happended to the
Fire element. In all the four mudras described above we are using the thumb. And
the thumb represents the Fire element. The Fire element is responsible for
burning the impurities in the other elements. So, we didn't perform any separate
mudra for the Fire element. The seed mantra for the Fire element is RAM (रं).
You will use it as a part of the final mudra you perform in this routing.
Step 6
Now, touch the tips of all the four fingers (index, middle, ring, and little
finger) to the tip of the thumb. This mudra balances all the five elements. The
individual mudras primarily balance the respective element whereas this mudra
balances all the elements in the body as a whole. Yogic scriptures mention that
all the benefits of meditating on individual chakras (first five chakras) can be
attained by meditation on the Adnya chakra alone. So, in this mudra you will
focus on the Adnya chakra (third eye). As you focus on the Adnya chakra mentally
chant - OM LAM VAM RAM YAM HAM (ॐ लं वं रं यं हं). As you can see this mantra
combines seed mantras of all the elements.
Maintain this mudra for three minutes. Then release this mudra by separating
all the fingers and end the practice routine
The total duration of this routine will be 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 15 minutes.
Depending on yout time availability you can increase this duration to ten
minutes (per mudra) gradually after a few weeks. With a regular practice of this
routine you will be able to sense a positive impact on your rest of the Yoga
practices including Asanas, Pranayamas, and meditation.