Julie Lusk, Author at Wholesome Resources

To Hiss or Not to Hiss

November 27, 2010 by Julie Lusk

There was a saint who asked a snake not to bite but to love everyone.

The snake agreed.

But then many people threw things at the snake.

The next time the saint saw the snake, he noticed that the snake was all battered up. So, the saint asked “What in the world happened to you?”

The snake replied, “You asked me to love everybody and not to bite, and this is what happened.”

“I didn’t say not to hiss.”

Doesn’t Ramakrishna’s story have a lot to consider? How many times have we tried to “be good” but it came back to bite us. Setting boundaries can be quite helpful.

I remember telling this story while teaching a yoga class while we were doing the cobra pose. It seemed quite natural to hiss during the yoga posture so we did. Hissssssss!

The next week, one person said that she tried hissing at work and asked “Do you want to know what happened?” Of course I did. She said that she spoke up about something that had been bugging her and it lead to her getting a promotion!” Obviously, she hissed quite skillfully.

Mahashirsha Yoga Mudra for Headaches

October 30, 2010 by Julie Lusk

I woke up in the middle of the night not long ago with a headache. Ouch! It was piercing me right between the eyes. This is unusual for me and I was hurting and unhappy about it.

Well, I was snuggled under the covers and didn’t want to get up. Luckily, I thought of the yoga mudra for headaches. In no time at all, my head quit hurting and I was back sleeping once again. Since I didn’t look at the clock (that’s too depressing in the middle of the night), I woke up once more with a headache so I repeated the yoga mudra and it worked just as fast. The next morning I woke up feeling rested and no more headache.

How to do the Mahashirsha Mudra for Headaches

Place your ring finger into the fold of the thumb.
Touch the tips of your thumb, index and middle finger.
Keep the baby straight.
Do this with both hands.
Hold it as long as necessary.

Benefits of the Mahasirs Mudra

Relieves tension
Balances energy
Eliminates mucus congestion in the frontal sinuses
Quiets the senses and calms the emotions

This mudra is particularly good for sinus headaches. It is also calming, centering and clears your head bringing clarity.

Pran Mudra

October 12, 2010 by Julie Lusk

One of my favorite yoga hand positions, otherwise called yoga mudras, is the Pran Mudra.
It is simple to do and very powerful.

What are the benefits of the Pran Mudra?

Increases vitality and your life force
Reduces fatigue
Reduces nervousness
Improves vision
Builds self-confidence
Gives the courage to start something new and follow through on it
Balances and equalizes the functioning of the right and left hemispheres of the brain if you hold the fingernails instead of the finger tips of the ring and little finger.

How to do the Pran Mudra

1. Put the tips of the thumb, ring and little fingers together. Instead of touching the tips, another way is to put the thumb on the fingernails of the ring and little fingers.

2. Extend the middle and pointer fingers

3. Use with both hands. It’s fine to have your hands down by your side, resting in your lap, or add it to a standing posture while practicing yoga

4. Use it as needed for 5 to 30 minutes. As a treatment, do it 3 times a day for 15 minutes. As with all mudras, practice slow, deep and mindful breathing to magnify the benefits.

Julie Keefe at Magic Beans Workshop emailed me to say…

Hi Julie!

Just wanted to let you know that I’ve been frequently using the Pran Mudra that you taught us. I really enjoyed how it was incorporated into our yoga postures and really felt that it significantly enhanced my practice, energy and mood that night. I’ve been using it while on my morning walks. I’m very excited!

→ Join us for a Yoga Mudra Workshop. Check my schedule to see when the next one is.

Please share your other ideas and comments below so we can all benefit.

Bhramara Mudra for Allergy Relief

October 11, 2010 by Julie Lusk

Yoga Mudras are gestures for the hands and body that aid healing for the body, mind, emotions and spirit. Using hand positions in this manner can be found in Yoga, Buddhist, Chinese, and other traditions.

Bhramara Mudra is one to practice to relieve allergies and related conditions. The immune system can benefit.

Place your index finger at the base of your thumb.
Touch the tip of your thumb beside the fingernail of the middle finger
Extend your ring and little fingers
Focus your attention and breathe as deeply, slowly and smoothly as possible
Hold for several minutes and practice often

Even though I had my doubts, this yoga mudra has helped me a lot. I use it during allergy attacks and as a preventative during allergy season. For example, I will hold this yoga mudra with one or both of my hands while waiting, walking or sitting.

I’ve shared this with others and have been told that it stopped a sneezing fit, solved an allergy attack when out walking, and cleared up a runny nose from allergies. Really!

Don’t forget to use common sense too. Help yourself by doing what you can to boost your immune system and avoid what triggers your allergies (pollen, animal dander, dust, food triggers, etc.)

Hear what Sandi had to say about the Bhramara Mudra for allergy relief and what she said about coming to my Transforming Stress into Awakened Living workshop in this minute-long video.

Please try it for yourself and then post your results!

Visit often since there are lots more yoga mudras to share with you for things like feeling more stable, calm, energized and uplifted.

Post a comment to let me know the ones you’re most interested in and I’ll do my best. Better yet, come to a yoga class and/or to the next yoga slumber party to learn more in person. Here’s the schedule for your convenience.

Yoga Mudras for the Hands

October 10, 2010 by Julie Lusk

Have you ever needed the benefits from yoga (energy, relaxation, clear mind, emotional balance, etc.) but couldn’t practice a pose because you were in public, not dressed for yoga, or didn’t even know how to do yoga? This happens to me several times a day! Luckily, I have found another secret that really works. It’s Yoga Mudras – yoga poses using hand positions and gestures.

I finally started taking these ancient teachings seriously while I was teaching relaxation training and guided imagery in the Bahamas last spring for the Easter/Passover Symposium on Yoga and Sacred Healing at Sivananda Ashram. Amy Weintraub (Yoga and Depression) and Joseph and Lilian LePage (Integrative Yoga Therapy) taught them as part of their presentations. This experience convinced me that Yoga Mudras are very effective, simple and profound.

As soon as I got home, I began investigating and practicing Yoga Mudras more and more. One morning I was reading a book on Yoga Mudras by Gutrud Hirschi and it described amazing results and reasons to practice Yoga Mudras. The results sounded too good to be true. Since I was suspicious, I wanted to put it to the test.

Meanwhile, I was suffering from seasonal allergies – my nose was running, my eyes were watery and itchy, and I was sneezing. So I tried Bhramara Mudra. It worked – and quickly too! Naturally I shared this with my yoga students and they also reported positive results too. We were so excited and it convinced us that Yoga Mudras have lots of valuable benefits to offer.

There are Yoga Mudras to help with allergies, feeling calm, lifting energy, headaches, chakra balancing and many more.

So, how can you learn more about yoga mudras for the hands?

1. My next 2 blog posts will show you wonderful mudras to practice. (use the RSS feed so you don’t miss out – it’s up in the right corner of this blog)

2. Attend yoga classes. See my schedule. Let me know if you would like to book me for a workshop.

3. Joseph and Lilian LePage have been studying Yoga Mudras for 10 years to write a book all about them. Their book shows 108 hand gestures along with guided meditations and affirmations. I am honored and excited that they asked me to edit the guided meditations.