Written by Joseph Berridge, Founder of Joga Yoga

Updated 24 Sep 2026

What is a mudra in yoga?

Mudra is a Sanskrit word that means seal, mark or gesture. In Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism it names a symbolic gesture, usually made with the hands, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. In a yoga class you hold a mudra while sitting still, most often during breathwork or meditation.

Not every mudra uses the hands. A 2023 review by researchers at Universitas Hindu Negeri I Gusti Bagus Sugriwa in Denpasar sorts them into five groups: hasta (hand), mana (head, eyes and tongue), kaya (whole-body posture), bandha (energy lock) and adhara (pelvic floor). When people search for mudras, they almost always mean hasta mudras, the hand gestures on this page.

How many mudras are there?

The classical hatha yoga manuals give short, specific lists. The same Denpasar review counts 10 mudras in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and 25 in the Gheranda Samhita. Almost none of them are finger gestures. They are internal actions such as Mula Bandha, Khechari Mudra and Viparita Karani.

Indian classical dance uses far more hand shapes. The Natyashastra lists 24 one-hand and 13 two-hand gestures, as summarised on Wikipedia’s mudra entry. Totals you see on charts online, like 108 or 399 mudras, do not come from these classical lists.

That matters for everything below. The finger mudras and their links to the five elements come from later teaching traditions, not the classical hatha texts. They are still widely taught and useful for practice. Treat them as a practice tradition and judge each health claim on its evidence.

What are the benefits of yoga mudras?

Traditional teaching credits mudras with a long list of effects: better focus, a calmer mind, easier digestion, stronger immunity, clearer skin, even relief from ear pain. Most of those claims have never been tested in a clinical study.

The testing that does exist is small. A 2025 narrative review in the Journal of Ayurveda and Integrated Medical Sciences looked at mudras and heart and lung function. It found studies reporting lower heart rate and blood pressure and better breathing measures. It also said plainly that direct studies on mudras are limited, and that much of the support comes from broader yoga research.

One of the larger direct studies appeared in the Indian Journal of Integrative Medicine in 2025. It had 120 healthy adults aged 18 to 25 practise Jnana and Chin mudra six days a week for eight weeks. Blood pressure, pulse and breathing rate went down. Peak expiratory flow and oxygen saturation went up.

There was no control group. So the study cannot tell you whether the hand position did the work, or the daily habit of sitting still and breathing slowly. The volunteers were also young and healthy, so the results say little about older adults or anyone with a heart or lung condition.

The five elements and your fingers

Most hand mudras rest on an idea shared by yoga and Ayurveda. Each finger stands for one of five elements, and touching or pressing fingers together is meant to raise or lower that element in the body. The mapping is symbolic and has no basis in hand anatomy.

The thumb shows up in nearly every mudra because fire is the element said to drive change. In this system, joining a fingertip to the tip of the thumb strengthens that finger’s element. Folding a finger down under the thumb reduces it.

That explains two mudras that confuse a lot of people. Prithvi Mudra touches the ring fingertip to the thumb tip to build the earth element. Surya Mudra folds the same ring finger under the thumb to reduce it. Same finger, opposite aims.

10 common hand mudras and how to do them

Sit upright with your hands resting on your thighs or knees, palms facing up unless noted. Keep the touch between fingers light. Breathe slowly through your nose. The “traditionally used for” column reflects yoga teaching. It is not a list of proven effects.

Gyan Mudra

Touch the tip of your index finger to the tip of your thumb. Keep the other three fingers straight and relaxed. Gyan Mudra is the classic meditation gesture for focus. It was one of the two mudras in the 2025 study above, so it has more research behind it than most, though that research is still thin.

Chin Mudra

The finger position is the same as Gyan. Many teachers call it Chin Mudra when the palms face down and Gyan (or Jnana) Mudra when they face up, though schools differ on the naming. Palms down is usually taught as settling and grounding. Palms up is taught as open and receptive.

Prana Mudra

Touch the tips of your ring and little fingers to your thumb. Keep your index and middle fingers extended. Prana Mudra is linked to energy and vitality, and many charts add that it improves eyesight. No study supports the eyesight claim. For how prana is thought to move through the body, see our guide to the five vayus in yoga.

Apan Mudra

Touch the tips of your middle and ring fingers to your thumb, with the index and little fingers extended. Apan Mudra is traditionally used for digestion and elimination, which is why it turns up in searches for constipation. No trial has tested that use. Persistent digestive problems need a doctor.

Prithvi Mudra

Touch the tip of your ring finger to the tip of your thumb. Keep the other fingers straight. Prithvi Mudra works with the earth element and is taught for steadiness. Teachers often pair it with root chakra work, covered in our root chakra guide.

Surya Mudra

Fold your ring finger toward the base of your thumb and press it down lightly with the thumb. Surya Mudra is traditionally used to build heat in the body. The weight loss claims attached to it online have no evidence behind them. It is often linked to the fire centre described in our guide to the solar plexus chakra.

Varun Mudra

Touch the tip of your little finger to the tip of your thumb. Varun Mudra works with the water element and is traditionally used for dryness. No study has tested that use.

Vayu Mudra

Fold your index finger so its tip rests at the base of your thumb, then lay the thumb lightly over it. Vayu Mudra reduces the air element in the traditional system and is taught for restlessness and a busy mind.

Shunya Mudra

Fold your middle finger to the base of your thumb and press it gently with the thumb. Keep the other fingers extended. The most common claim is that Shunya Mudra eases ear pain or ringing in the ears. If you have ear pain, hearing loss or tinnitus, see a doctor first. Treat Shunya as a calming seated practice.

Ling Mudra

Interlace the fingers of both hands. Keep one thumb pointing up and circle it with the thumb and index finger of the other hand. Teachers differ on which thumb stays up. Ling Mudra is traditionally used for warmth and to help with colds and congestion.

Two-handed and breath-linked gestures work differently. Yoni Mudra has its own guide, and Vishnu Mudra is the hand position used in Nadi Shodhana alternate nostril breathing.

How long should you hold a mudra?

Traditional guidance often says 15 to 45 minutes a day, either in one sitting or split into a few shorter sessions. No study has tested the ideal hold time. The larger study above used six sessions a week for eight weeks, but it did not compare hold times.

A practical way to start: hold one mudra for five minutes while you breathe slowly, then add time as sitting stays comfortable. Pair it with something you already do, like a short meditation or pranayama. Slow breathing may be doing much of the calming. Our guide to how yoga activates the vagus nerve explains the link. If cross-legged sitting hurts your knees or hips, use a chair. The mudra works the same way.

Yoga Mudra is also a pose

If you searched for “yoga mudra” and found pictures of a seated forward bend, that is Yoga Mudrasana. It is a posture, not a hand gesture. You sit cross-legged or in lotus, hold your hands behind your back and fold forward.

The Yoga Institute describes it as a stretch for the back of the trunk and neck with deep compression of the abdomen. It advises against the pose for people with spinal injury, disc prolapse, hernia, high blood pressure or serious heart conditions. Learn it with a teacher before trying it alone.

Are mudras safe?

Hand mudras are low risk. You are sitting and touching your fingers together. The risks are indirect: putting off treatment because a chart promised a cure, straining your knees in long cross-legged holds, or forcing a finger fold when you have arthritis. Stop if a position causes pain, tingling or numbness.