Maha-mudra

Maha-mudra

("Mudra" – "castle" or "seal") – "great mudra".

Оne of the three mudras designed to awaken Kundalini and the development of siddhas.

Maha-mudra, as a rule, precedes maha-bandha and maha-vedha. Maha-mudra works with the spine (sushumna), activates pranas of the whole body, and prepares channels for the further direction of prana through the body. The second mudra directs prana into sushumna, and the third pushes prana through sushumna. The technique of performing three mudras is good to combine with other practices: asanas and pranayamas.

In terms of physical impact, it is believed that maha-mudra increases the vitality of the body, stimulates the digestive system and harmonizes all the functions of the body. In addition, it purifies nadi, increases the person self-awareness, lends clarity to the thoughts.

Hatha-Yoga Pradipika says:

"Maha-mudra removes the worst troubles (five kleshas) and removes the cause of death. This is why people of the highest knowledge call it "the great posture".

“Yoga Chudamani Upanishad” says:

"Maha-mudra is a practice that cleans all the network of nadi, balances ida and pingala and absorbs the race, or the health-giving fluid, so that it fills the whole being."

Guruji Matsyendranath Maharaj wrote:

"Maha-mudra is nothing but the integration of all pranas and the whole body, which becomes the form of emptiness "shunya-rupa".

Thus, physical mudra is a supporting tool that allows to switch from the outer to the inner one and helps to transform energy to the pure state. It is no accident that Gorakshanath defined mudras as a part of internal practice. In Nath Tradition, the body is considered to be the greatest human attachment and limitation, but with diligent yogic practice it can become a source of liberation and the mean of complete psychophysical harmony (samarasya) obtained in its own body (pinda).

A list of the main mudras can be found here.