BREATHING,

MUDRAS AND
MERIDIANS

000

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 Edinburgh

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 BREATHING,
MUDRAS AND
MERIDIANS
Direct Experience of Embodiment

Bill Harvey
Forewords

Michael J. Shea
Amy Wheeler

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 CHAPTER

HANDSPRING PUBLISHING LIMITED

The Old Manse, Fountainhall,
Pencaitland, East Lothian
EH34 5EY, Scotland
Tel: +44 1875 341 859
Website: www.handspringpublishing.com

First published 2021 in the United Kingdom by Handspring Publishing Limited

Copyright © Handspring Publishing Limited 2021

All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without either the prior written
permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing
Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.

The right of Bill Harvey to be identified as the Author of this text has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Acts 1988.

ISBN 978-1-909141-86-5
ISBN (Kindle eBook) 978-1-909141-87-2

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

Notice
Neither the Publisher nor the Authors assume any responsibility for any loss or injury and/or damage to persons or property
arising out of or relating to any use of the material contained in this book. It is the responsibility of the treating practitioner,
relying on independent expertise and knowledge of the patient, to determine the best treatment and method of application for
the patient.

All reasonable efforts have been made to obtain copyright clearance for illustrations in the book for which the authors or pub-
lishers do not own the rights. If you believe that one of your illustrations has been used without such clearance please contact
the publishers and we will ensure that appropriate credit is given in the next reprint.

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 CONTENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR vii

FOREWORD BY MICHAEL J. SHEA ix
FOREWORD BY AMY WHEELER xi
PREFACE xiii
INTRODUCTION xv

1 Anatomy as an Organizing Principle 1

2 Health and Vitality 12
3 Placing the Breath 18
4 The Organs 34
5 Skin-Breathing 42
6 Ujjayi Breathing 50
7 Mudras for Supporting Diaphragms and Organs 54
8 Mudras for Chakras and the Central Channel 66
9 Diaphragms Revisited 76
10 Vayus 86
11 Five Elements Revisited 92
12 Using Mudras to Experience Meridians 100
13 A Tour of the Meridians 118
14 Samana Vayu and Primary Respiration 144
15 Walking Past Middle Age 154
16 Claiming Inner Spaciousness 170
17 Embodying Transcendence 176

BIBLIOGRAPHY 181
INDEX 191

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Harvey_Breathing Mudras and Meridians.indb 6 30/04/21 4:22 PM
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bill Harvey has been a Certified Rolfer since 1984, Certified Advanced Rolfer since
1990, Rolf Movement Practitioner since 1999, and Biodynamic Craniosacral prac-
titioner since 1984. His interest in combining these three approaches while work-
ing with clients led to the development of his trainings in Biodynamic Structural
Integration, which began in 2005.
The problem of figuring out how to not run out of breath while distance running,
and being around adults with emphysema, captured Harvey’s interest in breathing
at an early stage. A large part of the attraction that Rolfing held for him lay in that
discipline’s ability to alter the texture and pliability of the intercostal muscles of the
ribcage so that there could be more room for the lungs to expand, and more ease
throughout the thorax to allow the lungs to deflate more fully.
Since the early 1980s his professional interest in breathing has followed two
paths of inquiry: (1) how to free up tissue within the body, by working with connec-
tive tissue; by increasing the motility of the individual lobes of the lungs through
visceral manipulation; how to tease out limiting habitual holding patterns
through movement therapy; and how to titrate out emotional and kinetic charge
through Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy; and (2) to discover whether or not there
are any inherent feedback loops within the body that can be called upon to support
our activities.
Over his nearly four-decade full-time career in manual therapies, Harvey has also
pursued a variety of interests that deepened his work and instruction of Structural
Integration. These interests have centered on questions of how life works. What
is our proper place in Nature? What is the relationship between the wiring of our
nervous systems, established through our attachment patterns and our physical
structure and behavior? What is the relationship between our belief systems and
structure? What is the relationship between ancestral patterns and structure and
behavior? Most importantly, what can work with these realities?
Our breathing activates the answers to these questions, leading us on a path
to embodiment that clarifies and contextualizes our inner experiences within the
natural world.

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Harvey_Breathing Mudras and Meridians.indb 8 30/04/21 4:22 PM
 FOREWORD by Michael J. Shea

The Internet is awash in breathing techniques. Earth. Each chapter explores beautifully the
Yoga classes have their pranayama with every nuances of embodied breathing. This gem from
asana, and Zazen extols the posture of sit- Bill Harvey is about the necessary integration
ting like a mountain and breathing like a river. and evolution of the breath as interior knowing
Neurophysiologists tell us the importance of that is so needed in our contemporary culture.
respiratory sinus arrhythmia, inhalation and Breathing started at the beginning of our
exhalation influencing the autonomic nervous Universe. This motion is associated with the
system. Vagal maneuvers to stimulate the element of wind or air in Eastern medical sys-
vagus nerve with breathing are very popular tems. To know the breath deeply is to sense its
these days. But how is this taught? For the subtlety both inside and out. Eastern medical
most part, the missing ingredient is direct systems have three levels of interiority asso-
awareness of the interiority of the body. Final- ciated with the wind element: the ordinary
ly, here is a book on developing a felt sense of physical body, the subtle body and the very
the breath, a non-conceptual knowledge of subtle body. All three levels are a unified whole
the body breathing. interconnected with the natural world all the
Manipulation of the ordinary breath was way to the beginning of the cosmos. Each
the favorite target of stress-reduction strat- breath is the original breath and this book pro-
egies and breathing techniques from differ- vides access to such originality consciously.
ent schools such as Holotropic Breath Work, We must begin with interiority of the breath
Reichian Therapy, Bioenergetics and Rebirth- or we can get lost in defensive physiology and
ing. However, these and other breathing tech- mistrusting the simplicity of breathing itself.
niques were principally designed for release- The breath of air informs and outforms our
based catharsis and emotional release. This bodies with the overt action of the respiratory
was a phase of reclaiming the body from its diaphragm, and simultaneously with the deli-
locked-in trauma during the 1970s and 1980s. cate circuits of acupuncture meridians. We are
Gradually, bodies and minds changed for the expertly shown, step by step throughout the
sake of deeper safety and self-regulation. text, how to blend the ordinary with the subtle
This ushered in an enormous popularity with for self-healing, self-care, and self-compassion.
Hatha Yoga, mindfulness meditation, Chi Kung The offerings in this book are superb because
and various breathing techniques. Emotional they come from a master who has experi-
release with breathing techniques became enced every word written herein for 40 years
out of phase with the evolving needs of the in clinical practice. Through the spectrum of
mind and body in our post-9/11 age. It was the interoceptive awareness, he brings the read-
dawn of the necessity for an integrated spir- er’s attention to the so-called subtle body
itual approach to healing the body. in Eastern medicine with the use of mudras,
This is an authoritative text on the breath by expert mindful and precise attention. This
that completes the transition from the trau- book is the birth of an appropriate and correct
matic to the spiritual. Reading the Table of phenomenology of breathing for the contem-
Contents takes one on a journey through the porary client to experience self-knowing aware-
cosmos with the breath while grounded on ness of their bodily interiority. It is radical in

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 CHAPTERFOREWORD continued

the sense of helping us to remember our express their aptitude for such intentional-
breathing bodies as a primary resource in ity based on direct feedback from their body.
distancing from the world of materialism, This volume is both a meditation and a com-
consumerism and hedonism. prehensive roadmap with which to awaken
As a culture, we are in great need of an the wisdom of the body.
evolutionary upgrade to breathing practice, The body breathing is its own intelligence,
a bridging from the old templates superim- and it is capable of knowing and directing the
posed upon body physiology to the organic spiritual process as it unfolds in its own time
wisdom already present in the body, the and place. We are being breathed by love. This
mind, and the spirit. This practice opens is the experience you will learn in this book.
rather than tightens the body, and allows
each person to discover their own ordinary
Michael J. Shea MPsy PhD LMT
body breathing mindfully, oceanically and
intentionally (whether for stress reduction, International Educator of Biodynamic
cleansing and detoxification, or making love). Craniosacral Therapy
Every individual will have their own unique Buddhist Chaplain student, Upaya Institute
style of transitioning to the subtle ownership Juno Beach, Florida, USA
of their pre-existing wisdom breath and will March 2021

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 FOREWORD by Amy Wheeler

The connection of regulated breathing, the have the technologies with which to measure
mental placement of attention, and effects its effects. It is my theory that breathing tech-
on the energetic channels, were known about niques, visualizations and hand gestures may
long ago by the ancient sages. This knowledge be the outward expression of an inner tech-
was documented and practiced for thousands nology that enables us to have a potent expe-
of years in many different cultures around the rience of connection to self. The tools help us
world. It is interesting to note how modern to focus our attention, to go inward, to feel
medical doctors, exercise physiologists, phys- and sense, and to be in the present moment
ical therapists and others focus on the gross in an embodied way. I believe that this deep
elements of our physiology and structure internal experience of self-connection is the
and sometimes dismiss this ancient knowl- main causative agent of change and healing.
edge. They claim that the subtle energies One simple example of how subtle concentra-
cannot be empirically tested and confirmed tion techniques, hand gestures and regulated
with a double-blind, randomized, controlled breathing can help to heal is when an individual is
research trial. It is as if the human experiences lying in bed at night experiencing insomnia. The
that ancient people had daily for thousands person’s mind may be jumping all over the place
of years have no weight in today’s socie- with many worries, their body feels restless
ty. Instead, we only take what we have learned and their breathing is labored. Using the ancient
in the past few hundred years and state that techniques, the breath is slowed, and is felt
this is the one and only truth. moving in and out of the nostrils. Then the hands
I for one, along with Bill Harvey, agree that are held closely to the body in unique forms, and
these techniques would not have endured the mind focuses on the meaning and sensa-
throughout time and history if they did not tions of the hand gestures. Body, breath and
have validity and promote healing from the mind become one in that present moment. A
inside out. What I think some scientists fail to change happens as a result of this one-pointed
understand is that these breathing techniques, focus. As the person rests in this experience for
the mental focus, and the hand gestures, are 15–20 minutes something begins to shift inside
not necessarily the singular activating cata- them. A sense of calm comes over the mind
lyst for healing. Consequently, it is difficult and body. Inner tensions are released and the
to prove their efficacy using scientific meth- organs begin to soften. The breath deepens as
ods. However, by adopting a phenomenologi- the relaxation response becomes the new state,
cal method of inquiry, scientific methods are replacing the stress response. Energetic shifts
now being linked to more qualitative research happen at very subtle levels that we are cur-
methods to provide a fuller picture of reality. rently unable to measure. The individual drifts
The ancient texts are a valid authority and into a deep and satisfying sleep. This extremely
they clearly describe the energy channels of meaningful experience of moving from insom-
the body, and which healing techniques are nia into deep sleep is real. As a Yoga Therapist, I
likely to influence the flow of the life-force. It have been teaching my clients to practice these
is possible that healing using that life-force lifestyle habits for decades. There is no doubt
occurs at such a subtle level that we do not yet in my mind that they have helped many people

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 FOREWORD continued

to suffer less. The scenario unfolds, just as the success with more modern methods and
ancient teachings indicated thousands of years technologies as a solution to their suffer-
ago. ing. The magic of improving chronic pain,
I am delighted that Bill Harvey has writ- reducing infertility, and supporting those
ten this book. I believe that it will be benefi- with autoimmune conditions occurs when
cial for many people who are open to these the body, breath and mind are all focused in
methods of healing. I admire that he has the same direction. I believe that this is the
produced such a brave and ambitious book. It future of healing.
takes courage to find the bridge between
Eastern and Western methods and to bring
them together in a cohesive manner. I have Amy Wheeler PhD
created my own bridge between East and Professor of Kinesiology
West with The Optimal State Method. I see President of the International Association of
daily how my clients use their breath, their Yoga Therapists (2018–2020)
attentive minds, hand gestures and medita- Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT)
tion to reduce suffering at the many layers
Cedarpines Park, California, USA
of the human system. These techniques are
especially useful for those who have not had March 2021

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 PREFACE

This is a book about being in your body. As encouragement of publisher Sarena Wolfaard,
a recovering scholar with extensive aca- whose expert management of a volatile first-
demic training, the prospect of writing about time author was nothing less than awesome.
embodiment and discussing what all the great Frequent encouragement from friend and
philosophers have said about embodiment mentor Michael Shea, Mia Bosna’s superb
seemed like a fun exercise. Except for one and multitudinous photos of my hands hold-
thing: none of it helps people experience being ing mudras, and the organizing support of
in their bodies. In fact, academics as a group Connie Vandarakis, were crucial in getting me
are probably the least embodied people we’re to actually finish rather than to continually add
ever likely to find. Shockingly, body-oriented more and more depth. Many discussions with
people, such as bodyworkers, yoga teachers, colleagues and friends over the past decade,
physical therapists, personal trainers, and particularly fellow movement students of the
even dancers, are also not likely to operate ultimate movement teacher, Hubert Godard,
from the perspective of the lived experience of have helped to shape my perspective and
being in their bodies. Becoming aware of that approach. Regular feedback from my Structural
lived experience is not an intellectual exercise, Integration students and my Mudra Meditation
it is a matter of learning how to perceive and class served to fine-tune each of the exercises.
interpret the bodies’ sensations. Accordingly, This text is a beginner’s guide, and there is so
I have written this book with a minimum of much more!
references, keeping the focus on building a
vocabulary of the lived experience as much as
possible. Bill Harvey
This book would not have been possible Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
without the bodhisattva-like compassion and February 2021

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Harvey_Breathing Mudras and Meridians.indb 14 30/04/21 4:22 PM
 INTRODUCTION

According to Scott Pelley, the retired CBS jour- less aware: attachment patterns, epigenetics,
nalist, in the second decade of the twenty- trauma histories and parenting styles.
first century humanity went “from the Age of Without self-awareness and a cultivation
Information to the Age of Disinformation” (A1, of discernment, our instincts may consist of
2019). These days, it is argued, that a culture nothing more than a group of unconsciously
based upon a ubiquity of untruths provides a ingrained prejudices. The foods we eat and our
self-evident lesson: that the education of the basic gut health also contribute. Gerson (1998)
vast majority of students, at least in the USA, contends that the gut generates more neuro-
consists of not only not teaching students transmitters than the brain. This leads to the
how to think for themselves, it offers no cri- concept of the “gut brain”, the functioning of
teria for them with which to judge truth. Thus, which is compromised and subverted if our diets
telling people what they want to hear, or what consist of pre-prepared or packaged food that
the purveyor of that information wants them has low nutritional value. We do not feel safe in
to know, has become more important than the world without proper nutrition. A processed
conveying what is authentic. food diet can lead to metabolic syndrome, a
The antecedents for this state of affairs cluster of conditions which occur together. This
include a 24-hour news cycle that requires may result in heightened blood pressure, high
information to be disseminated in 60-second blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist,
soundbites. This results in an environment and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels.
where every (previously) credible source As the body struggles with these challenges,
of information, indeed every institution, we no longer feel safe (Shea, 2019; Bloom,
attempts to look good and cover up any unwel- 2013), which can affect how we think. Indeed,
come truths. No organization is exempt from there are many concurrent factors that must be
this accusation. The reputations of the church, accounted for when we examine all the intricate
the government, political parties, entertain- processes involved in the development of our
ment moguls and even medical journals have awareness and discernment.
all been tarnished, and it may therefore not Some believe that each of us is born with
be unreasonable to reach a conclusion that innate guidance and wisdom that can be
nobody can be trusted. trusted, and that this guidance manifests as
In these troubled times, it is inevitable that an inner voice. Each of us is born with access
many of us believe we can only trust ourselves. to these voices. However, familial and cul-
Each of us possesses an instinct for survival tural patterns of established authority act as
that is informed by the social construction of obstacles to us accessing these voices. Con-
our identities, including our families, and the sequently, receptivity to these inner voices
tribal and national experiences which have must be cultivated, otherwise they will be
preceded and currently exist parallel to us. lost in life’s accumulated and overpowering
Added to the foundational relationships and noises. Daily, we undergo experiences which
histories that determine many aspects of our strengthen the aforementioned patterns of
identities are other factors of which we are established authority.

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 INTRODUCTION continued

Historically, since the rise of capitalism, the Among the American population, many indi-
Earth and its resources have been viewed as viduals are out of touch with their bodies, and
commodities for exploitation. For millennia, my profession supports clients in their pursuit
religions have inserted the authority of the of optimal health through improved struc-
church into the relationship between humans tural integrity. For several decades I believed
and a higher power. This means that we live that one way to encourage people to become
in a society in which we are estranged from embodied was to teach the optimal aware-
ourselves and the environment around us, ness of breathing patterns. This approach fos-
and disconnected from any power conceivably ters body awareness and offers suggestions
more powerful than humans. on how the breath can be used to regulate our
Without ready access to our inner voices, emotional state, and also how we may culti-
disembodiment, or the body becoming some- vate a meditative state to enable access to our
thing which we bend to our will, shall follow. inner voices.
Each of us can rebuild our relationship with In the last decade there has been a prolif-
this inner voice and, although there are many eration of discussions regarding embodiment,
ways to achieve a sense of internal integra- what it is, and what types of embodiment are
tion, the most important way to become cog- available. As engaging as these discussions
nizant of your intuition is through meditation. are, they share one characteristic: they are
For many of us, an extraordinary experience intellectual discussions offering few practi-
such as a near death experience may be nec- cal guidelines on how to assess whether one
essary before we realize that our inner voice is actually embodied. By this I mean that it
is something other than our acculturated is quite possible for a person to believe that
common sense. they are embodied without having any sense
What is the essence of authority in our lives? of what being embodied feels like. Before pro-
Where can we place our trust? ceeding further, it is important that I provide
an explanation of a word that we will explore
This book contends that the only place
in greater detail throughout this book.
where we can and must place our trust is
within ourselves. However, to accomplish Embodiment is a term that shares char-
this, we must first cultivate an awareness of acteristics with words such as grounded or
ourselves, which necessitates learning more centered. It is the state of being fully and com-
about ourselves. Furthermore, to understand pletely within the self, and operating as a sub-
more about ourselves we must work both ject rather than as opposed to an object. We
with and through our bodies. We must reject may think that we know what the word (and
ideas that the body is something to be exer- others like it) means but achieving such a state
cised into shape or transcended in meditation. of being has nothing to do with how we think.
All such terms connote sensations we feel in
Perhaps it is inevitable I believe that in order
our bodies. If we have never felt grounded in
to counteract our disconnection from facts
our bodies, or centered in our bodies, then we
and establish authority within ourselves we
do not truly know what these terms mean.
must cultivate a relationship with our bodies.

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 INTRODUCTION continued

This is a failure of our educational system. It being manipulative? The answer will start with
is possible to feel that if we exercise a lot, if we the breath.
make our bodies do what we want them to do, For this reason, for many years I held the belief
then we are embodied. This is not necessarily that teaching people to access the resource of
true just because we have treated our bodies breathing was the only critical variable neces-
as things to be exercised into shape. It is pos- sary to bring about embodiment. But sadly,
sible to think that if we feel deep spiritual rev- teaching breath awareness does have limited
erence then we are embodied. Again, this is utility in fostering embodiment during diffi-
not necessarily the case. It is possible to expe- cult circumstances. There is no point in telling
rience transcendent states without grounding people to breathe deeply if they cannot catch
those sensations throughout the body. their breath. Driving home this point were the
With nowhere to turn to in the outer world nor consequences of the U.S. 2016 presidential
in our inner worlds, the only possibility for us to election. Upon learning of the results, many
begin to develop trust is with our own breath- people were actually unable to breathe.
ing. Breathing is the bridge between the outer I still believe that teaching breathing helps
world and our inner reality, and breathing does with self-awareness and expands our reper-
not lie. We can pretend to be calm and cool. Our toire in terms of learning the true capabilities
breathing will reveal the physiological reality of our bodies. But to reach sufficient embodi-
that we are neither, even when we force the ment to know what is true within oneself, to
breath to conform to our self-image. Becom- be able to harmonize with all of the life-forces
ing aware of our breathing is the window to the within one’s ecozone, and to be able to incor-
stark realities of our lives. Are we excited or are porate spiritual learning into one’s everyday
we in terror? Are we being authentic or self- life, we need more than cognitive prompting,
righteous? Are we in genuine need or are we we need altogether different tools.

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 xviii

Harvey_Breathing Mudras and Meridians.indb 16 30/04/21 4:22 PM

 ANATOMY AS AN
ORGANIZING PRINCIPLE

Those of us born in the West are likely to

equate our bodies with the concept of anat-
omy. This identification is so pervasive that
it is as invisible as air. Advertising, educa-
tion, Western medicine and most West-
ern religious teachings identify the body
with anatomy. This concept of the body
1
Rene Descartes (1596–1650), and built upon
the achievements which arose when the
Catholic Church began to allow cadaver dis-
sections. Among those achievements were
the magniÿ cent anatomy illustrations of
Vesalius (1514–1564).
Also occurring around this time was Euro-
as anatomy became prevalent during the
sixteenth century, at the same time as the pean maritime exploration and the creation
metaphor that the body is like a machine and normalization of the transatlantic slave
gained footing in the collective conscious- trade. As a result of these developments,
ness. This metaphor may have been seen as human bodies were no longer seen as in
ennobling because of the concurrent explo- and of themselves sacred. Certainly, non-
sion of intricate Swiss watchmaking. But Christian bodies were not regarded as sacred.
the body-as-a-machine metaphor is unfor- In turn, this led to a greater separation
tunate. Not only does it encourage a philo- between inspiration and perspiration. Bodies
sophical understanding of humanness were not, in and of themselves, sacred, and
that separates the body from the mind, it spiritual experiences were not seen as arising
sidesteps the question of vitality. from within a physical, experiential context.
˜ e idea that our bodies are deÿ ned by our
Machines run on sources of energy such as anatomy is not neutral. Although the medical
electricity, and humans run on food, which beneÿ ts of studying anatomy are self-evident,
comes from light. Unlike machines, humans it is important to note that approaching our
have an internal source of vitality that goes bodies and lives with anatomy as the organ-
far beyond food. ˜ is is the breath. Dead izing concept fosters disembodiment and
bodies do not breathe. limits our capacity to understand all that our
Both the mind/body split, and the idea of bodies are doing as they relate to the environ-
the body as a machine, were articulated by ment, and how they attempt to communicate

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 CHAPTER 1

with us, if only we had the resources to listen ˜ e beneÿ ts of this separation of body
to and interpret their messages. and mind, as well as the separation of body
and the sacred, included the freedom of the
mind to research everything it could con-
How the study of anatomy fosters ceive of, even to the extent of omitting the
disembodiment body and its perceptions from the equation
for research.
˜ e study of anatomy is a consequence of
the process initiated by the Catholic Church ˜ ere is no embedded personhood, no
to sever the bonds between humans and the self-implied in anatomy. Indeed, other than
Earth. ˜ is process systematically stigma- autopsy-driven aspects of pathology, there’s
tized those who represented di˛ erent belief no indication that there could ever have
systems, many of whom were women, who in been a “self” connected to the body within
general understood how to work with plants anatomy. Where would it be? Entire ÿ elds
to promote health and healing. ˜ is special- of inquiry are based on this fundamental
ized knowledge suggested ways for humans ontological assumption. And these ÿ elds
to ÿ t into the environment and how to work of inquiry become the basis for the West-
with the Earth’s resources. With the severing ern deÿ nition of knowledge and how that
of this connection, humanity lost its feeling knowledge is to be transmitted. Academic
of belonging, and its view of how we coex- knowledge and learning omit the integrity
ist with the rest of life on Earth, as well as a of the body and its access to meaning and
sense of the sacred, which pre-existing reli- truth. ˜ ere is no self, therefore there is no
gious systems found within the planet and authority within it. ˜ e idea that the body
all of its lifeforms. Without knowing who we could be connected to or have any mean-
were and how humanity ÿ tted into the envi- ingful relationship with the self is seen as
ronment, many of the inherent relationships unlikely, if not actually preposterous. No
with family, group and land were also sev- wonder that for centuries Europeans, their
ered. We were le˝ with what Hamlet called descendants and those colonized by them,
“the guts”, or what’s le˝ over a˝ er we die. have struggled with the concept that the
body has its own authority within, and that
˜ e guts tell us nothing about the concerns it is able to access and establish truth. All
that have arisen during the last few hundred authority must come from the church or
years since we have lost an awareness of our science.
context…What is the mind? What is the
relationship of the brain to the mind? What ˜ e types of inquiry that are the subjects
is the self? What is a body and what are its of scientiÿ c study tend to foster another level
capabilities? What can we say about the rela- of disembodiment to the study of anatomy.
tionship between the body and the mind, Because the only intentional measure of
and the body and the self? Is the material- truth within the scientiÿ c/medical establish-
ist worldview supported and justiÿ ed by any ment is repeatable data analysis, science dis-
part or parts of the body? credits the perception of the subject. “What

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 Anatomy as an Organizing Principle

can we measure? ” the scientist asks. “And Atomism (anatomism) versus

does it conform to what we already know?” wholism
If a person’s lived experience does not
In the philosophy of atomism, which main-
remain within the scope of empirical under-
tains that a rigorous study of the constituent
standing, it is deemed irrelevant, or discount-
parts of a complex subject will avail mean-
ed entirely. Knowledge is based on the brain
ingful analysis, the approach to the study
and what can be scientiÿ cally conÿ rmed.
of anatomy is to study smaller and smaller
Words and phrases such as grounded, cen-
units of function. ˜ us, for example, the
tered, and in touch with nature, which can
study of a bone will lead to an MRI scanner
only have signiÿ cance when based on per-
and a molecular analysis of that bone’s com-
ceptions and sensations within the body, are
ponents. ˜ e units of function for this scalar
not at the core of scientiÿ c inquiry.
analysis never expand to examine the whole
My entire practice as a Rolfer could be ÿ lled of the body, or how the body may function
with clients whose physicians said to them, within its physical environment, within
“I think it’s in your head. None of these tests societal institutions, or within society as a
conÿ rm what you feel. I think you need to whole.
see a psychiatrist.”
Integral to the atomistic approach is that
So the tests are objective and what the the units of function are also treated as
patient says is subjective. Being subjective is autonomous entities rather than living pro-
not scientiÿ c. Consequently, our agency, our cesses within a context of many living pro-
ability to be the primary authority on what cesses. From a wholistic perspective, this
is true in our lives, is devalued. By regard- objectiÿ cation of body parts leads to ine˙ -
ing people as a series of individual parts, we cient diagnoses of and treatment programs
obscure the reality of our wholeness. for physical problems. For example, it may
Furthermore, medical research is o˝ en result in double hip replacements without
based on topics that scientists and their reference to the concurrent destruction of
funders (frequently pharmaceutical com- proprioception receptors, which may lead to
panies) deem to be important. Accordingly, a body that has received two new hips not
and not surprisingly, the solutions which are being able to ÿ nd its way in space.
sought invariably tend to be pharmaceutical. Furthermore, each part is treated as though
˜ ese assumptions relegate humanity to it is not related to the whole. On a structural
the status of an evolutionary anomaly, a sta- level this leads to the idea that we can treat
tistical quirk. To consider a matter such as a liver without addressing how the inherent
the intricacies of the interactions between motility of the liver interacts with the inher-
humanity and the Earth’s environment, ent motility of the kidney, gallbladder, and
we’re no longer in the domain of anatomi- the organs that their inherent motility may
cal/scientiÿ c inquiry. Leave that issue to the in turn a˛ ect. And that is just at a structural
theologians. level.

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 CHAPTER 1

Anatomic atomism further contributes real-world intervention may be the appropri-

to the body-mind split by not acknowledg- ate intervention.
ing that the units of function in anatomy By default, the individual is the signiÿ cant
are essentially arbitrary. At a musculoskel- unit of function. But the functioning of the
etal level we harmlessly refer to the triceps parts of the individual are never isolated from
or a three-headed muscle in the arms, but in the social, physical and ecological environ-
the leg we have two gastrocnemius and one ment. Omitting the connectivity that each
soleus muscle. Why not a triceps tibialis? of us has, whether we want to or not, skews
What about the fascia or connective tissue our concept of our relationship between our-
of the respiratory diaphragm descending selves and the world. How can we include
through the torso and being contiguous with these types of relationship in anatomy? As
the fascial layer of the pelvic ˆ oor muscles? it stands we cannot. ˜ is supports the argu-
What are the medical and physical therapy ment that anatomy, as we currently know it,
implications arising from this atomistic des- is isolating us from the world, and therefore
ignation? provides a less than ideal organizing princi-
In practical terms, atomism fosters the ple for viewing ourselves and learning about
gloriÿ cation of bodybuilding and exercise our functioning.
regimens which isolate an individual body
part to the possible detriment of the whole. Anatomy has no relationship to
˜ e body is something to mold to ÿ t exter-
nal standards. ˜ e idea that the body is a felt sense
resource and at least a partner in accomplish- At the most elementary level, because of
ing desires of the self, if not the self itself, and fascia and the continuity that it a˛ ords over
which should be listened to, is a realization large areas of the body, what we feel at a given
that many of us may learn under unpleasant moment has little to do with musculoskeletal
circumstances. anatomy. Indeed, I would argue that if our
While the scale of the unit of function felt sense conforms to our ideas of musculo-
in anatomy can get smaller and smaller, skeletal anatomy, that feeling is a result of an
increasing the unit of function is almost imposed idea of what we should be. ˜ is, in
unthinkable. Is a body ever merely a body turn, encourages us to treat the body and its
outside of its family of origin? Outside of its parts as things which need to be bent to our
immediate ecological environment? Outside will so that we can have the body we want for
of its city, country, ethnicity and soul group? the appearance we want. In other words, the
Additionally, whole body events, such as more we perceive the body as conforming to
feeling powerful emotions, have no simplis- anatomical notions, the more disembodied
tic correlatives in anatomical terms and tend we become.
to be treated in similarly atomistic ways. In ˜ e existence of fascia covers and governs
other words, pharmaceuticals tend to be the the movement of large numbers of individu-
treatment of choice, no matter how clearly a al muscles to such an extent that, in a given

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 Anatomy as an Organizing Principle

movement sequence, it’s impossible to say cept of optimal health. Without a concept of
which muscle is doing what. ˜ us, with our health we are clueless when it comes to the
felt sense of movement, the descriptions of processes of healing. Is health the absence
the anatomy of movement and the anatomy of pathology? Is health encompassed by the
of yoga movement may be deeply misleading. scale from dysfunction to death? Is the self-
By the time we get to the idea of movement healing process just the body repairing itself
in dance there may be very little relationship while we sleep? Is anything in this body
between a musculoskeletal analysis of the more important than any other thing?
movement and the actual movement itself. It follows, therefore, that there is no possi-
Similarly, with strong feelings such as pain bility of a wholistic approach to healing, that
or deep emotions, those sensations may have there is no provision for the whole.
little or nothing to do with the places in
the body where we feel them. Anxiety may
set o˛ a chain reaction of muscle tightness Anatomy has no concept of vitality
and spasm that is impervious to manipula- ˜ e most important limitation that accom-
tive intervention, and which is then treated panies an anatomical understanding of our-
with a systemic deadening pharmaceutical. selves is that cadavers are dead. When a
Again, conventional concepts of anatomy medical student cuts through ˆ esh, expos-
have limited usefulness. ing all that lies beneath it, he or she sees
Moreover, the smaller and smaller units objects, not processes. ˜ e idea of muscles
mentioned above, which characterize ana- and organs as things permeates our aware-
tomical distinctions, have little or no mean- ness of our bodies, leading to athletic regi-
ing for elucidating the lived experience in a mens which treat the body as something that
body. Perhaps those trained in how to use an has to be exercised into shape to carry out
electron microscope may ÿ nd a way of con- the bidding of the person training it.
necting the di˛ erences between intracellular Even in referring to the body as an “it” there
rather than extracellular processes, or pro- is a fundamental misconception at work.
cesses within an organ rather than intersti- ˜ ere is an idea that the body is something
tially, but without a felt sense, at best these other than the self, possibly even an enemy
distinctions can only be appreciated concep- of the self. Yet those of us who have had the
tually. privilege of being present as a mammal dies
know that, upon its death, something leaves
Anatomy offers no inherent sense the body. ˜ e being transpires rather than
expires. And although scientists have not
of health and healing addressed the matter of what forces are at
˜ e atomistic approach to anatomy is essen- work during this essential shi˝ in vitality,
tially taxonomic; we have a listing of what’s there is a life-force which lies outside the
there, but with no hierarchy of importance. scope of our current anatomical understand-
Taken in aggregate, we are le˝ with no con- ing. And its e˛ ects on our lives cannot be

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 CHAPTER 1

overstated. ˜ e Western worldview, which The concept of anatomy allows no

encourages a mind-body split, ignores this access to field phenomena
fundamental and essential issue.
In 1995, Rupert Sheldrake published Seven
But if we invite ourselves to explore other Experiments that Could Change the World
systems of understanding, such as those (Sheldrake, 1995), which postulated, among
practiced in India, China or Tibet, we dis- other ideas, that we can feel when someone is
cover that there is no separation of the body looking at us; this deÿ es all the laws of science
from the mind, or even from the spirit. Not and provides a strong argument for the idea
if we hope to cultivate our essential vitality. that our world is a˛ ected by “morphogenic
Important insights can be gleaned from ÿ elds”. ˜ ese ÿ elds account for all kinds of
studying cadavers, but ultimately, no matter phenomena, such as how it is that pets know
how imaginative we are, we cannot reverse- when we decide to return home (Sheldrake,
engineer a dead body to ÿ gure out how 1995), to the existence of apparently common
a living body works. We cannot deduce species of animals in wildly distant locations
how the once living cadaver breathed, for that could not have evolved from common
example. We cannot say with any certainty ancestors (Sheldrake, 2009). Morphogen-
how anything that we hold as meaningful ic ÿ elds also account for deeply troubling
impacted the cadaver. Did this person have intangibles in our lives: for example, in Eng-
reveries? Did this person love? Was this land, many automobile accidents take place
person fulÿ lled in daily activities? Where on the sites of historical battles (Helinger et
can we look at this body to see if this person al., 2000; Sheldrake, 2012). ˜ ese ÿ elds, when
was creative, a problem-solver, terminally applied to intergenerational patterns within
apathetic, a victim or a perpetrator? families, also account for phenomena which
might be categorized as “the sins of the father
Without a concept of vitality or life-force,
shall be visited upon the sons into the third
not only do we have no connection to the
and fourth generations” (Euripides, 486–406
natural world, we have no idea that we are
BC). ˜ ose who participate in Family Con-
a part of the natural world. ˜ is categori-
stellation therapy attest that working with
cal omission allows ideologies of rugged
the ÿ eld of the family may readily alter and
individualism to thrive, such as American
improve bodily conditions. ˜ is leads to the
Exceptionalism, which have no relationship
unsettling reality that morphogenic ÿ elds
to the world we live in. ˜ is allows the natu-
can be felt! Just as we can feel when someone
ral world to be devalued and plundered for
is looking at us, we can feel the ÿ eld which
the purpose of greed.
we enter with a sense or capability that is not
Without the concept of vitality we are accounted for by anatomical explanations.
completely disconnected from non-physical ˜ is applies to examples such as walking
realities, inner experiences, imagination and into a room where there has been an argu-
wisdom. All of those topics are le˝ to other ment, or feeling a judgment that a family
disciplines and therefore have nothing to do member (or anyone, for that matter) has
with who we are as anatomical beings. made about you. Furthermore, the existence

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 Anatomy as an Organizing Principle

of ÿ elds provide an explanation of how some But whatever the deÿ nition, there has got
“sensitive” people are able to possess ÿ nely to be a self. Something navigates the outer
honed intuition and clairvoyance. If working environment to feed, clothe, shelter and
within the ÿ eld of the family can a˛ ect one’s reproduce. Something navigates the inner
anatomical condition, this raises the ques- environment to establish relationships and
tion: What is the unit of function? It is not self-regulate. Where is this something in the
as simple as the physicality of the body, as is body?
implied in the study of anatomy.
Many, if not all, of the non-Christian reli-
Similarly, the body’s physiological func- gious and spiritual traditions maintain that
tions perform di˛ erently in di˛ erent envi- all spiritual practices must be grounded in
ronments, whether that environment is the body, that they are felt, perceived and
ecological, weather-related or institutional. processed within the body. ˜ is implies that
Because anatomy gives us a (dead) body in a there is something that exists in the spiritual/
closed system, there is no connection to any- religious domain that may be perceived. Sci-
thing outside of the body, including nature. entists do not necessarily agree that there are
No wonder the body-mind split is such a such phenomena to be perceived in the ÿ rst
conundrum. place. ˜ erefore, it follows that the concept
of anatomy does not devote any attention to
Anatomy offers no option for structures in the body that might conceiv-
considering the existence of the ably be able to have such perceptions.
self and is a very limited option To navigate our ways in our inner and
for considering a transcendent outer environments, there must be feedback
function loops. ˜ ere must be ways to know that our
perceptions of both our inner realities and
˜ e categorizations that underlie our deÿ - our perceptions of the outer environment
nitions of reality are ubiquitous, invisible, are accurate. Is my heart pounding because
and appear to be the reality. Inevitably they I’m excited or because I’m anxious? Was that
direct the way that we think. “Of course a plant stalk moving in the wind, or was
there’s no relationship between the body and that a threat? Is that passerby harmless? Our
the self!” ˜ e separation between the con- decision-making processes can be tracked
cept of the body as anatomy and the idea of a through our physiology when the issue is
self is so complete that the idea of a relation- one of survival.
ship between the two seems preposterous.
Additionally, there are so many conˆ icting When considering transcendent function,
concepts about the self that the idea of link- our knowledge conÿ nes itself to a chemical
ing the physical body and the self hardly analysis of the activity of the pineal gland.
seems worth the trouble. “Keep ideas of the Relating such activity throughout the body
self in the domains of psychology/sociology/ and, by extension, relating such activity to
linguistics/spirituality. No room for it in the optimal functioning, optimal health and,
body!” ultimately, meaning within the physiology of

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 CHAPTER 1

the body and meaning in one’s life, is outside that accompany spiritual traditions through-
the domain of anatomy. Anatomy is not con- out the world depend on understanding and
cerned with any meaning in life other than experiencing the movement of vitality and
the consequences of pathological conditions. the e˛ ects of those movements throughout
By deÿ ning our bodily reality through the body.
anatomy we imply by omission that trans- Life-altering decisions can be made by ref-
cendent experiences have nothing to do with erencing the e˛ ects that competing possibili-
the body. Indeed, there is a body component ties have on the awareness that is based in
needed to perceive transcendent experienc- our bodies.
es. Even extreme transcendent experiences
such as near death experiences and out-of-
body experiences still use the body as a point If not musculoskeletal anatomy,
of reference. then what?
˜ e question of the relationship between Implicit in the deÿ nition of anatomy that has
the body and the self is semantically chal- been presented thus far is that everything is
lenging. Once we reject the idea of the body covered by the concept of gross anatomy, as
as anatomy we open a huge inquiry into what illustrated by the drawings found in an atlas
a body is, which can be endless. Adding to of anatomy. ˜ is idea of anatomy, which has
that quandary, the idea that there could be been around for more than four centuries,
such a thing as a self also leads to a discus- starts with an idealized version of what can
sion that could be endless. Combining the be observed from and deduced by dissect-
two inquiries may be a version of dreaming ing a dead body. ˜ e inherent supposition,
an impossible dream. that it is important to know about a body’s
To be sure, these questions can be addressed musculoskeletal anatomy and cardiovascu-
philosophically. ˜ e possibility also exists lar, reproductive, urinary and other systems,
that there could be ways to experience an remains unquestioned.
authentic self through sensation and per- A century ago, Dr. Ida Rolf observed that,
ception. With such an awareness, the philo- when examining cadavers, human fascia (or
sophical aspects of these questions can be connective tissue) dries out and is altered
grounded in a bodily visceral experience. by the embalming process. ˜ is insight was
˜ rough such a process the disembody- made as anatomists waited for the fascia to
ing aspects of our concept of anatomy, and dry out, or even scraped it away so that they
of the existing ontology of knowledge that could look at the muscles and organs. “What
dominate our thinking processes, can be if the fascia is the good stu˛ ?” she postulat-
neutralized. ˜ e question of what is a body ed. Fascia provides a means for a signiÿ cant
can be answered based on inner experience. improvement in several of the disembodying
˜ e question of determining meaning in our tendencies of the concept of anatomy. Recall-
lives can be given an answer that is ground- ing the list of the concerns just enumerated,
ed in inner experience. Spiritual exercises fascia destroys the binary exclusivity of the

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 Anatomy as an Organizing Principle

atomism versus wholism paradigm. ˜ e suppositions are being scientiÿ cally veriÿ ed
reality is that fascia establishes relationships and expanded. An entire branch of publish-
among body parts that are not reˆ ected in ing chronicles this explosion of insight and
musculoskeletal anatomy, such as the pre- creativity. Most noteworthy in this regard
viously mentioned fascia on the bottom of is the work of Jean-Claude Guimberteau,
the respiratory diaphragm that runs con- whose book, Architecture of Human Living
tinuously and becomes the top of the pelvic Fascia (Guimberteau and Armstrong, 2015),
diaphragm. Also, fascia provides a means and whose video, Strolling Under the Skin
of explaining complex movement patterns (Guimberteau, 2005), are wonders to behold.
that cannot be explained by referencing a ˜ is qualiÿ es as a sea change in the way the
sequence of single muscles. ˜ ereby, fascia body is perceived within Western culture.
provides a means for explaining much of
the disparity between the felt sense of the
body and the actual occurrences within the Fascia and embodiment
body. Taken as a whole, Dr. Rolf postulated As much as the reality of fascia is a crucial
that fascia was the organ of will, being able component of the workings of the body, and
to bring all of the body’s systems into syn- as much as it o˛ ers an understanding of
chrony to carry out the person’s intentions anatomy, it is still possible to be fully aware of
(Rolf, 1977). fascia and still treat one’s body as “a thing”...
Dr. Rolf’s paradigm-destroying observa- and still be lost in the body-mind split. Body-
tions established the importance of fascia as builders undoubtedly try to ÿ gure out ways
a discrete system. ˜ e next culture-shi˝ ing to harness fascia as another variable, like
innovation of thought came from the Rolfer creatine, in their quest to achieve their goals.
˜ omas Myers, who discovered and articu- In terms of the limiting characteristics of the
lated pathways of fascial and kinetic connec- concept of anatomy as enumerated above,
tivity within the totality of fascia. Anatomy fascia, as an organizing principle, certainly
Trains (Myers, 2001) furthered the process has advantages over a musculoskeletal per-
of undermining the atomism and opac- spective. Our felt sense of our bodies and our
ity that characterized the study of anatomy. bodies in movement corresponds to fascial
˜ en, in 2007, the physician and Rolfer Tom sheaths more than origins and attachments
Findley organized a conference at Harvard of muscles. And yet humans regularly expe-
University, gathering together scientists who rience numerous perceptions that cannot be
studied fascia with Rolfers and other body- traced back to either the fascia or our ÿ ve
workers who worked with fascia. ˜ e explo- senses. Sheldrake covers many of these per-
sion of creativity from these two sources ceptions, which may ÿ t into the category of
transformed the cultural landscape to such extrasensory perception, in his books (e.g.
an extent that all people interacting with Sheldrake, 2003).
the body now speak of fascia, whether they ˜ e existence of fascia makes no sugges-
know anything about it or not. A full centu- tions regarding the larger questions of what
ry a˝ er Dr. Rolf’s initial work with fascia, her is healing and what is health. Nor does it

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 CHAPTER 1

have any direct overlap with the idea of vital- that something is that leaves the body is not
ity. Finally, despite Dr. Rolf’s idea that fascia the most important subject in all of scien-
in aggregate may be the organ of will, we still tiÿ c inquiry.) It is the argument of this book
don’t know how fascia may have something that this life-force is something that each of
to do with the self. us can perceive within our own bodies, but
we need to be taught how to do so. As we
learn these skills, we will reliably learn how
If not fascia, what can serve as an to have access to our own deep selves and,
organizing principle? in turn, learn how to rely upon ourselves, as
˜ e Western scientiÿ c approach to the body contacted through our bodies, rather than
is unique among the belief systems and the- an external source or authority.
ories of knowledge throughout the world
By utilizing vitality rather than anatomy
in terms of how it sees the body and where
the body ÿ ts into the larger worldview of as our organizing principle, we can beneÿ t
the deÿ nition of reality, in the cosmology of from the ways other systems use vitality in
what life is, and how humanity ÿ ts into this their approaches to knowledge in address-
cosmology. Fundamental to this distinc- ing these fundamental shortcomings as we
tion is how other medical/health systems learn about ourselves and deepen our access
throughout the world deÿ ne the body, health to our resources. Keying into our own vital-
and healing. It’s interesting to note that other ity sidesteps the issue of scale, connecting
medical systems in the world did not begin us to the elements and forces of the planet,
with cadaver studies. ˜ ree thousand years and possibly beyond. We develop a felt sense
of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and of all of life’s processes that is not static, but
Ayurvedic medicine based their interven- is living on a moment-to-moment basis. We
tions on evidence-based practice. Somehow can contextualize our own health as the ˆ ow
these systems kept people alive while only of vitality and support the optimization of
rarely studying dead bodies. What these sys- that ˆ ow. We can identify the self within the
tems have in common is the concept of vital- ˆ ow of our vitality and connect that ˆ ow to
ity or life-force. Most famously, qi within
the movement of vitality, qi and prana in the
classical Chinese medicine, and prana within
Ayurveda or classical Indian medicine, are environment. Finally, connecting with those
fundamental to both the concept of human ˆ ows gives us access to our own spiritual and
health and all forms of life, and to the con- transcendent existence.
cept of life in a cosmos which is not random. ˜ is process is reconceiving the body,
˜ ose of us who have witnessed a mammal moving our perception and assumptions of
dying know that something leaves the our bodies away from our concepts of anato-
body, and that something is the life-force. my and towards identifying with the vitality
(It never ceases to amaze me that whatever ˆ owing through us.

10

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Harvey_Breathing Mudras and Meridians.indb 11 30/04/21 4:22 PM
 12

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 HEALTH AND VITALITY

As we have noted, among the larger impli-

cations of basing our analysis of human
health upon the concept of anatomy is
that the question of what health actu-
ally is will not be directly addressed. This
leaves us with the default supposition
that health is involved with the atomistic
2
In this schema, American medicine tends
to span the area from dysfunction to death,
with no real concern about the area between
dysfunction and optimum function. (In
post-surgical situations, the rehabilitation
is outsourced to a physical therapist, and
the gulf between physicians and physical
(smaller and smaller) components of our therapists is profound.) In my career as a
anatomy. Furthermore, the constituent Rolfer, my work encircles the dysfunction
components of a more comprehensive category and is weighted towards optimum
concept of health, such as environment, function. ˜ at’s because Rolfers work with
fascia, which medical doctors tend not to do,
social relations and spiritual relations
and with working with movement patterns,
(if any), are to be considered separately which many complementary healthcare
from the health of the body. These separa- practitioners also do, and again, medical
tions are supported by prevailing belief authorities tend not to. Of course, there’s an
systems, and whether the “authority” is overlap with medicine around dysfunction,
contacted through a personal trainer, a and an important part of my job is to be able
personal or family therapist, or through a to discern and refer to medical practition-
religious affi liation, the body is a vehicle ers so that a medical intervention is the ÿ rst
and the authority on its optimization is choice whenever necessary. As my skills have
outside of the self. developed for nearly four decades in working
with Biodynamic Craniosacral therapy, my
˜ rough many years of discussing health work covers much more of the continuum.
with my clients I have found it useful to con-
Work at either end of the continuum, by
sider health as a continuum from death to
necessity, alters the linear graph presented
optimum function. It may be pictured as:
above by introducing a vertical dimension.
Death___ Dysfunction____Optimum Function ˜ at dimension is connection to the Earth,

13

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 CHAPTER 2

and connection to whatever one’s concept of of our connection to the Earth or our con-
a source or higher power may be. By deÿ ni- nection to spiritual matters. ˜ e focus of
tion, any willingness to consider either con- this book, however, is not to have cognitive
nection separates us from the consensual discussions upon these topics, but rather to
reality that we are born into: at least since explore the phenomenology, or direct expe-
the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire, rience of these domains. Not only is it pos-
connection to the Earth caused suspicion, sible to have direct experience of these con-
because it implied an authority which the nections, it happens readily. As we look at
church cannot control. We are culturally concepts of medicine and healthcare around
suspicious of anyone who says they have this the world, except for what is considered
connection to the Earth. Western medicine, we ÿ nd that the distinc-
tion of dysfunction is not as prominent. In
Similarly, we have a suspicion (if not an other words, especially in the major medical
actual hostility) towards those who speak of systems, such as Ayurveda, Tibetan medi-
having “spiritual” experiences (I distinctly cine and classical Chinese medicine, all of
remember the disdain and horror among which are thousands of years old, healthcare
Americans that greeted the Hare Krishnas is centered around optimum function rather
when they started chanting and dancing at than dysfunction. (Preventive medicine in
airports in the early 1970s). But the entire the West is still centered around forestalling
range of spiritual experiences, including the possible dysfunction rather than optimizing
soaring of our spirits, which may be ignited function. We really do not have a concept of
by evocative music, artistic expression of any what health is.) Additionally, each of these
nature, or religious expression, tends not to healthcare systems includes the direct expe-
be perceived as a set of perceptions and sen- rience of their concepts of vitality.
sations that we are able to cultivate, much
less as a part of our health. ˜ e point that is lost in America is that
health is not the absence of sickness. From
Acknowledging the vertical dimension those classical medical systems mentioned
allows for a deÿ nition of health that includes above, the concept of health and the con-
both the physical and spiritual environ- cept of vitality, whether it is called chi, qi or
ments in which we live. In other words, at prana, are intertwined.
every point in our lives from birth to death,
In the Western context, my ÿ rst exposure
our health includes both an earthly and a
to this idea came in the late 1990s, in a class
spiritual connection. Furthermore, these
taught by Franklyn Sills, a teacher of Biody-
dimensions contribute to every discussion
namic Craniosacral therapy, a non-medical
of our health at a given moment. ˜ is reality
treatment modality which is an outgrowth of
demands that we undertake a re-conception
Cranial Osteopathy (Sills, 2001; Sutherland,
of the physical body to take these factors into 1998; Handoll, 2000). Health, Sills taught,
account. is a function of what that community calls
To be sure, extremely cogent intellectual potency. Potency is what we’re born with, it
discussions can be held regarding the nature brings about healing within us while we’re

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 Health and Vitality

alive, and it does not die when we die. “When of considering, if not embracing, the more
we expire, the Potency transpires” (a fre- ancient concepts of vitality. ˜ at’s because
quent saying among the cranial osteopaths within classical Chinese medicine, qi is
who studied with Dr. William Sutherland). related to a life-force within the Earth,
Cranial Osteopathy grew from the work of and a force within the cosmos. Of course,
Dr. William Sutherland (1873–1954), who osteopathic physicians are not interested
created the specialty of working with the in this belief system, which is understand-
cranium, initially ÿ nding what he felt was a able, except for one thing: these forces can
divine force, “a ˛ uid within a ˛ uid” within be perceived through direct experience, with
the cerebrospinal ˛ uid (Sutherland, 1998). very little training. ˜ e issue is not so much
Much of the emphasis of Sills’ approach accepting a foreign belief system, it is culti-
to Biodynamic Craniosacral therapy was vating one’s ability to perceive the phenome-
placed on perceiving and interacting with na that surround us. What we make of those
this potency. Within the cranial osteopath- phenomena existentially, theologically and
ic community at large, the identiÿ cation of ontologically, suggest an entirely di˝ erent set
potency with qi or prana has not been made, of questions to the reality of what we are able
largely because of a reticence to abandon the to readily feel.
underpinnings of Western scientiÿ c inquiry
(Jealous, 2005A). Embedded in the osteopathic concept of
potency is the idea that healing is an action
Many years ago, as an undergraduate in or set of actions that result from the interac-
the late 1960s, my horizons were widened by tion of potency and the physical body. ˜ is
a Muslim student who pointed out to me that insight provides the basis for understanding
if Christians believe in one God and Mus- what needs to be established to reconceive
lims believe in one God, then it’s got to be the current Western concept of the body as
the same God. ˜ is insight changes the con- anatomy to a concept that incorporates our
versation from “my God is better than your life-force.
God” to “it seems that God is revealed in
di˝ erent ways to people in di˝ erent environ- Health may be deÿ ned as the moment-
ments.” Accordingly, much can be gleaned to-moment consequence of the interaction
from contemplating the di˝ erent perceptions between our vitality and our physicality.
of the di˝ ering revelations. Similarly, I am ˜ is may explain why when people speak
disposed toward acknowledging that if vital- of profound healing experiences there is
ity is called prana in India and chi or qi in o˙ en reference to radiance and luminosity.
China, it’s probable that the same phenom- Profound healing is not the disappearance
enon is being discussed. ˜ is is also true for of symptoms, it is a process whereby every-
potency. Any subtle di˝ erences in the con- thing changes at a cellular level.
cept that may be discerned will only expand ˜ is deÿ nition points to how engagement
our understanding of the phenomena. in activities such as meditation can be so
As it happens, this reticence of the osteo- thoroughly supportive to optimal health.
pathic community deprives it of the beneÿ ts One of the primary activities of meditation

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 CHAPTER 2

is to activate our awareness of our own vital- learning to help perceive our connections
ity through our chakras. ˜ e point of many to both our physical environment and the
forms of movement in Chinese, Indian and life-forms within it, as well as (for lack of a
Tibetan philosophies is to activate and clar- better term) our spiritual environment. In
ify the ˛ ow of prana or chi/qi through our this way we can nurture our sense of belong-
physical bodies. ˜ e entire goal of qigong is ing on this planet. Moreover, we can ground
to promote longevity through the conscious the sensations we feel when our spirit soars.
activation of qi. ˜ ese expanded abilities of self-perception
It is the purpose of this book that each of provide the basis of both the concept of our
us can readily perceive our own vitality. ˜ e own bodies and what constitutes optimal
instructions in the text will reliably foster health. With this foundation we can address
these sensations and perceptions. Further- any question within ourselves, be still, and
more, the exercises in this book will facilitate know the truth.

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Harvey_Breathing Mudras and Meridians.indb 17 30/04/21 4:22 PM
 18

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 PLACING THE BREATH

Breathing is, and will always be, the most

important activity in which each of us
engage. The general guidelines for living
are well known: we can live for 30 days
without food, three days without water,
but just 10 minutes without breathing will
result in irreparable brain damage. Yet,
3
diaphragm and pelvic ˛ oor are in either
direct or indirect contact with each of
our organs. It therefore follows that if we
are breathing shallowly, some of those
organs are not receiving the movement
which they need.
4. Breathing is the path to embodiment,
for the average American, knowledge of providing the means of working with
breathing is universally meager.
our physicality consciously rather than
More explicitly, breathing is crucial for making our bodies do our bidding uncon-
seven primary reasons: sciously.
5. Breathing adds the dimension of the pre-
1. Breathing oxygenates the blood. ˜ e sent time to all of the processes in which
blood is responsible for nourishing, we engage, interrupting the constant
cleansing and driving all processes of mental “thing-iÿ cation” imposed upon
local metabolism within every part of our thoughts by our language. Not being
our bodies. mindful of breathing fosters the mind/
2. Breathing o° ers the most direct access body split that is the default position of
for us to interact with our autonomic our thought processes.
nervous systems, providing the means 6. Mindfully breathing o° ers us the most
for us to gather our resources and direct, meaningful conscious awareness
energies to become calm when neces- of our physical hearts. ˜ e pericardium
sary. that surrounds and protects the heart
3. Breathing provides the movement that is ÿ rmly attached to the respiratory
each of our organs needs to function diaphragm. ˜ us, each breath interacts
optimally. ˜ e muscle attachments to the with the heart, a° ecting each heartbeat

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 CHAPTER 3

and heart rate variability. Conscious brakes at the same time.” In practical terms,
breathing builds heart rate variability, dysregulation of the ANS means dysregu-
which builds resilience in the heart-brain lation of breathing. Life in the twenty-ÿ rst
connection. century, with the ubiquity of mobile phone
7. Breathing is our direct connection to our technology (following the increase in the
own vitality or life-force. All ancient and number of co° ee shops across urban land-
traditional cultures recognize this identity. scapes), is o˙ en cited as the cause of a gen-
eralized “sympathetic overload” of western
Accordingly, accessing the breath, breath-
societies. But this tendency is rooted in the
ing consciously and precisely, forms the
unconsciousness that we as a society carry
basis of many paths to spiritual growth. with regard to breathing.
Pranayama is the most well-known of
these approaches. ˜ e diˆ culties we have in breathing are
compounded by the complex lives we lead.
Still, as humans, we are probably the only Physical injuries establish patterns of non-
mammal that separates the way we breathe movement in injured areas. ˜ is lack of
from the activity in which we are engaged. motion is locked down in the body’s fascia
For example, a galloping horse could only or connective tissue. Health issues lead to
have the breathing pattern of a gallop. ˜ e less movement in the involved organ sys-
movements of the limbs and the lungs are tems, and emotional challenges cause us to
inextricably coordinated. hold our breath and restrict the movement of
the respiratory diaphragm in a manner that
Babies start with this coordination of becomes chronic over time.
breathing and movement with the ÿ rst
breath they take, but it is quickly lost as My own interest in breathing has always
the habit of holding and modulating our had a singular focus, the placement of the
breath in the face of physical and emo- breath.
tional threat becomes ingrained. ˜ e ÿ rst My ÿ rst indication that there might be
breath could already be compromised from advantages to breathing into speciÿ c parts
a diˆ cult prenatal or birth experience. ˜ e of the ribcage was initiated by an experience
unconscious imprinted need to control the I had in the late 1980s when watching high
impulse to emote and the cultural need to level opera students performing at a local
not be embodied interrupt our responsive- restaurant. Each of the performers held their
ness to the promptings of our autonomic ÿ ngertips together in front of their bellies
nervous system (ANS). ˜ ese promptings while singing, a gesture commonly made by
either speed up or slow down our heartbeat German opera singers. When I asked them
to respond to the input from the environ- why they did that, several of the students
ment. ˜ eorists, who are concerned with replied they didn’t know why, that it was just
how we form attachments with others, state the way it was done, and that it seemed to
that these behavioral patterns o˙ en lead to support their composure. When I experi-
the dysregulation of the ANS, or “driving mented with this later, remarkable things
with one foot on the gas and one foot on the were revealed.

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 Placing the Breath

Exploration 1: How fingertips affect • As you inhale this time, touch the pad
the placement of the breath of the index finger of one hand to the
• Begin your inhalation and then touch pad of the ring finger of the other hand.
the pads of your two index fingers • Now reverse hands while you are
together. Notice what you feel. touching the index and ring fingers as
• Now, as you inhale, touch the pads you inhale.
of your two middle fingers together.
Notice what you feel.
What the reader might discover is that the
• Begin to inhale and touch the pads of pads of the ÿ ngers correspond to the three
your ring fingers together. Notice what lobes of the lung on the right side, and to the
you feel. two lobes separated by the pericardium or
• And finally, as you inhale, touch the the membrane protecting the heart on the
pads of your pinky fingers together. le˙ side. ˜ us, if we want to breathe into a
Notice what you feel. particular part of the ribcage, then we can
• Not sure what you felt? accomplish this by touching the pad of the
ÿ nger which corresponds to that lobe or area
of the ribcage (Figure 3.1).

Trachea

Upper lobe Upper lobe

Figure 3.1 The lobes

of the lung

Middle lobe

Lower lobe Lower lobe

Cardiac notch

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 CHAPTER 3

• The pads of the pinky fingers corre- soft fist. If, because of arthritis or
spond to the crura, or to the back of other challenges to your hands you are
the diaphragm, which attaches to the unable to do this, then pressing your
front of the spine at the bottom where fingernails against any surface will
the ribs attach to the spine. have the same effect.
• The pads of the thumbs, if touched to a • As you inhale you will experience your
surface such as a desktop, rather than breath traveling to the back of your
by a finger pad, send our awareness to lungs on the left. If you press the fin-
the corpus callosum, the area of the gernails of the right hand against the
brain which connects the left brain to fingernails of the left hand then you
the right brain. will breathe into the entirety of the
back of your lungs.
• This correspondence works for each
˜ is access can be useful for every activ- individual fingernail as it does for each
ity in which we engage, from falling asleep
finger pad.
to gathering the support of our breath for sit-
• The fingertips offer access to breath-
ting, standing, meditating, supporting spe-
ciÿ c openings during yoga asanas, adding ing into the top lobe of the lungs.
ease and grace to a particular dance combi- • Press the fingertips of your index fin-
nation…on and on for each sports endeavor, gers against each other. On the inhale
the list is endless. Many applications will be you will experience your breath rising
discussed in later chapters. But let us contin- to just underneath your collarbone.
ue to develop our ÿ nger-mapping skills. • Similarly, pressing the fingertips of the
middle fingers will send your breath to
Exploration 2: Breathing placement the top of your middle lobe on the right
specifics side, and assist you in locating the gen-
eral location of the top of your pericar-
The finger pads are not the only part of dium on the left side.
the ends of our fingers that relate to the • Pressing the tips of the ring fin-
lungs; the entire end joint of the finger has gers together will help you to locate
a correspondence in our breathing. Let us the line of demarcation between the
consider each part. second and third lobes on the right. On
The fingernails offer access to breathing your left side this will help you locate
into the back of our lungs. where the second lobe of the lung
comes up to meet the bottom of the
• Place the thumb of your left hand first lobe immediately lateral to the
across your fingernails, as in a very pericardium.

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 Placing the Breath

• Pressing the tips of the pinky fingers while inhaling will lead to the experi-
together helps us to locate the area ence of breathing from the middle of
immediately behind our kidneys and your back across to the sides of your
adrenal glands. back.
• With our hands palms down, the thumb
side of our fingers offers us access to
the inner borders of the lobes of our
lungs: the outside or pinky side of our The bottom of the fingertip joint gives
fingers gives us access to the lateral access to the bottom of the lobes of the
borders of the lobes of our lungs. lungs.
• Place the edges of your index fingers
• Using the nail of your thumb, or any
together with your palms facing down.
edge, such as the side of a table, press
As you inhale, rotate your hands so
into the joint at the bottom of your left
that your palms are facing upwards.
index finger as you inhale.
During this motion you will experience
the air moving in the upper lobe of your • This directs your inhalation to the area
lung, from the top of your sternum to of your left ribcage that borders the
your armpits. apex of the pericardium towards the
• Placing the edges of your middle fin- center and into your armpit on the
gers together with your palms facing side.
downward, and rotating your fingers • Similarly, pressing into the bottom
so that they face upwards while inhal- of the first joint of your left middle
ing, will lead the experience of breath- finger will send your breath to the
ing from the middle of your sternum to bottom of the first lobe; as you press
the middle of your sides. into the bottom of the first joint of the
• Placing the edges of your ring fingers ring finger, your breath will go to the
together with your palms facing down- bottom of the second lobe as your dia-
wards, and rotating your fingers so phragm is just above your stomach in
that they face upwards while inhaling, the front, and just above your spleen
will lead to the experience of breath- in the back.
ing from the bottom of your ribcage • Pressing into the bottom of the first
across to the sides of your ribcage. joints of the right fingers will give
• And placing the edges of your pinky you access to the space between the
fingers together with your palms first and second lobes of the lung for
facing downward and rotating your the index finger, the second and third
fingers so that they face upwards lobes of the lung for the middle finger,

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 CHAPTER 3

˜ e spatial relationship of the ÿ ngers to the

and the bottom of the third lobes as surface of your hand encourages your breath
the diaphragm abuts the liver on the to go to either the front of your lungs, as in
right, the gallbladder in the middle, the case of ˛ exion, or to the back of your
and moves in front of the right kidney lungs, as in the case of extension. ˜ is works
in the back for the ring finger. for each of the ÿ ngers and the thumbs simul-
taneously.

Exploration 3: Mapping the hands Exploration 4: Tucking the fingers

and fingers in space into your palm
• Begin your inhalation and, while inhal- • Loosely tuck either index finger into
ing, stretch the palmar surface of your your palm and hold it in place with
left hand. Notice how the stretch influ- your thumb. You now have pressure on
ences your inhalation. both the front of your fingertip and the
• Repeat the exploration, stretching fingernail. The hand position will send
the palmar surface of your right hand. the breath into the upper lobe of your
Notice the effects of the stretch on lungs. As you press more firmly with
your inhalation. your thumb it will feel as though the
• The stretching of the hand dramatical- breath is going into your armpit.
ly augments (turbocharges) your inha- • Loosely tuck either middle finger into
lation. This effect can be called upon your palm and hold it in place with your
when you notice that your breathing is thumb. Light pressure will direct your
shallow. inhalation to the front of the middle of
• Begin your inhalation and reach and your ribcage. Stronger pressure from
stretch your left index finger. Repeat your thumb will direct your inhala-
with each of your fingers. Notice the tion to the back of the middle of your
specificity of the augmentation of your ribcage.
inhalation. • Loosely tuck either ring finger into
• Hold an open hand in front of your body. your palm and hold it in place with
Begin by moving one finger into a flexed your thumb. Light pressure from your
position on your inhalation. Repeat for thumb will direct your inhalation to the
each finger, and then for all fingers. front of the bottom of your ribcage,
• On your next inhalation, move your and stronger pressure from your
fingers, individually, and then together thumb will send your inhalation to the
into an extended position. back of the bottom lobes of your lungs.

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 Placing the Breath

• Loosely tuck either pinky fingertip superficial aspect of the corpus callo-
into your palm and hold it in place sum for the end of the thumb to the
with your thumb. Light pressure from deep aspect of the corpus callosum for
your thumb will direct your inhalation the segment nearest the hand.
to the area of your spine where the
diaphragm attaches (12th thoracic
vertebrae and lumbar vertebrae one).
Stronger pressure will increase your Mudras
awareness of this connection.
˜ e above discussion of how our hand posi-
• Loosely fold your fingers over either tions may a° ect our breathing inevitably
thumb. This position draws the inhala- brings to mind Indian Mudras or hand posi-
tion to your sides. tions used in meditation and dance. ˜ e
• Make a fist. This hand position sends speciÿ city of breathing that has been forged
your breath to the entirety of the in these explorations demonstrate that each
ribcage. As you hold your fist more Mudra is an orchestration directing our
tightly, the pressure inside your ribcage breathing and our awareness with precision.
will increase. Awareness of the elements of this orchestra-
tion contributes to our understanding of how
Mudras can be so powerful. Consider the
Exploration 5: The segments of the following simple mudras:
fingers
We’ve explored the effects of pressure Prana Mudra (for calm alertness)
on the fingertips. The second and third
With both hands, your thumbs press the
segments of the fingers also affect our
tips of your fourth and ÿ ˙ h ÿ ngers. Your
breathing and our awareness of our
index and middle ÿ ngers reach out in exten-
breathing. Pressure on the fingertips sion. ˜ e reach of the ÿ ngers augments your
sends our awareness to the surface of inhalation into the back of the upper lungs.
the lobes of the lungs. Pressure in the ˜ e touching of the thumb to the fourth
middle segment of each finger sends and ÿ ˙ h ÿ ngers encourages breathing into
our breath to a deeper layer of the lobe, the lower back and lowest lobes of the lungs
and pressure to the third segment of the (Figure 3.2).
finger, nearest to the hand, sends the
breath to the deepest layer of the corre-
sponding lobe of the lung. Hridaya Mudra (heart opening)
• Pressure on the segments of the Tuck in the index ÿ nger, press the middle
thumb draws our awareness from the and ring ÿ ngers with the tip of the thumb,
and extend the pinky ÿ nger. ˜ e pinky ÿ nger

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 CHAPTER 3

Figure 3.2 Prana Mudra

stretching augments your inhalation into

your lower back, while the touching of your
middle and ring ÿ ngers brings the breath to
the area around your heart. Tucking in your
index ÿ nger encourages lateral breathing
(Figure 3.3).

Figure 3.3 Hridaya Mudra

Gyan Mudra (mental clarity)
Join together the tips of your thumbs and your
index ÿ ngers. Reach through the remaining
ÿ ngers. By directing the breath to the upper
lobes of the lungs with the index ÿ ngertips,
while augmenting a full breath with the out-
stretched remaining ÿ ngers, the oxygenated
blood is forced through the carotid arteries
into the brain. Simultaneously, the pressure
on the thumb tips brings our awareness to
the center of our brain. Over several min-
utes, this orchestration supports mental clar-
ity (Figure 3.4).

Figure 3.4 Gyan Mudra

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 Placing the Breath

Exploration 6: What is true for the • Moving either your arms or your legs
hands is also true for the feet into internal rotation while inhaling will
• Begin an inhalation, then stretch out direct your breath to the back of your
the toes of one of your feet. lungs.
• Feel the augmentation to your inhala- • The arms and legs act as rudders as
tion. you inhale. As you breathe in and move
• As you inhale, flex your foot into dor- your arm forward, your breath will be
siflexion. Feel your inhalation as it is directed to the back.
directed to the front of your lungs. On • As you inhale and move your arm
your inhalation, point your foot down- behind you, the breath will be directed
wards in plantar flexion. Feel your to the front of your ribcage.
breath as it is directed to the back of • As you raise your arm up your breath
your lungs. will be directed to the lower portion of
• Pointing your toes towards the sky will the ribcage. As you reach towards the
direct your breath to the front of your ground, your breath will be directed to
lungs. the upper portions of the ribcage.
• Pointing your toes towards the ground
will direct your breath to the back of
your lungs. Exploration 8: The importance of the
• Putting pressure on the outside of interosseous membranes
your feet (eversion) will direct your
breath to the lateral portions of your The sheaths of fascia connecting the
ribcage. radius and ulna bones in the arms, and
• Putting pressure on the inside of your the tibia and fibula in the legs, are called
feet (inversion) will direct your inhala- the interosseous membranes. Their
tion to the middle of your ribcage. importance goes far beyond maintaining
a harmonious relationship between the
bones as they move from palms facing
the ceiling (supination) to palms facing
the floor (pronation). This movement
Exploration 7: The position of your has a profound effect on our breathing
limbs while breathing (Figure 3.5).
• Moving either your arms or your legs • Begin an inhalation, and during that
into external rotation while inhaling inhalation rotate your forearms from
will direct your breath to the front of palms up to palms down. Feel what
your lungs. this motion does to your inhalation.

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 CHAPTER 3

˜ e e° ects of this motion are dramatic.

• Now begin an inhalation and rotate No doubt they are wired into our breathing
your forearms from palms down to and enabled fellow primates to breathe fully
palms up. and powerfully while swinging through tree
branches and vines.
Notice what this motion does to your
inhalation.
Exploration 9: Breathing placement
and the pelvic floor
Very few discussions of breathing include
the importance of the pelvic floor. And
yet without resilience in the pelvic floor
our breathing will always be shallow,
and all of the organs of the abdomen
and pelvis will be denied what could be
continuous massage by the movement
Interosseous
through the torso of our breathing. When
membrane I first discovered the increase in general
well-being that can come from breathing
that includes the pelvic floor, I felt I had
stumbled upon a secret about which few
people knew. And this has been borne
out through years of teaching breathing.
The pelvic floor is a diaphragm, as is
the respiratory diaphragm. It separates
cavities within the body, in this case the
contents of the pelvis from the outside
world, and its resilience is crucial to both
breathing and movement of the torso
and legs. The idea of resilience within the
pelvic floor seems to only reach the gen-
eral public in terms of Kegel exercises. But
so much more awareness and fine motor
control of the musculature is possible.
To feel the pelvic floor as a whole, tuck
your index fingernail into the crease at
Figure 3.5

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 Placing the Breath

Urogenital apparatus
the base of your thumb. Purse your lips
to fit inside the space inside the circle Squeeze and release the muscles that you
of your finger. This circle activates the would use to stop the ˛ ow of urine. Once you
perimeter of the pelvic floor. can distinguish this muscle from the mus-
cles below it, squeeze and release rapidly.
• Keeping the shape of the circle, spread
your lips and breathe in. The perimeter
of the pelvic floor will descend. Main- Vaginal canal for females, base of
taining awareness of this area, you will scrotum for males
either feel the pelvic floor descend and
ascend with the inhalation and exha- Squeeze and release this musculature. Work
lation, or you can easily coach your slowly, making every e° ort to distinguish
pelvic floor to follow this regimen. these muscles from surrounding muscles.
• Keeping the shape of the circle, spread-
Once you are able to distinguish these mus-
cles from those above and below them,
ing your lips on the inhale will also cause
squeeze and release rapidly.
the perimeter of the pelvic floor to flare.
• Keeping the shape of the circle, purs-
ing your lips will elicit the sensation of Perineum (the area between the
the entirety of the pelvic floor filling genitals and the anus)
with pressure and descending.
Squeeze and release these muscles. Work
slowly, making every e° ort to distinguish
these muscles from the surrounding mus-
It is also possible to di° erentiate the mus- cles. Once you are able to make these dis-
culature within the pelvic ˛ oor. To experi- tinctions, squeeze and release rapidly.
ence these possibilities, lie down on a bed or
massage table. It’s important that there is a bit
of give on the surface. If you’d like to lie on a Anus
yoga mat, please triple up the mats. Place the
back of the hands underneath the buttocks. Squeeze and release the anus. Work slowly,
Pressure on the back of the hands activates making every e° ort to distinguish this
the back of the lungs. Keep your knees up, muscle from the surrounding muscles. Once
your feet ˛ at, and at least one shoulder width you are able to make these distinctions,
apart or more if practical. Allow your knees squeeze and release rapidly.
to fall together so that your legs stay propped
up with no e° ort on your part. ˜ is position
allows your pelvic ˛ oor to be vertical and out Coccyx
of gravity. Wag the tail bone to free any habit-
ual holding patterns. We will now activate Move your coccyx forward and backward.
ÿ ve separate areas within the pelvic ˛ oor: It is possible to move your coccyx without

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 CHAPTER 3

activating the anus. Use as little e° ort as pos- awe at the intricacy of the orchestration of
sible, this is a movement that you allow. our breath. Breathing up, breathing down,
Once you gain some facility with these breathing front, breathing back: this is the
movements, many other possibilities unfold. potential that is available to us as mam-
For starters: mals, as our breathing and our activities are
allowed to be coordinated and intertwined.
• contract each muscle sequentially on
the right side of the pelvic floor
Breathing Correspondences
• contract all of the muscles on the right All the round muscles in the body, includ-
side of the pelvic floor ing all sphincters, from the eyes to the anus,
• contract all of the muscles on the left a° ect each other. If one or more of them is
demonstrably tighter than any of the others,
side of the pelvic floor
then that tightness will be generalized. To
• perform a pelvic clock by sequentially
demonstrate, let us try a brief exploration.
activating each of the five areas of
activation.
• Squeeze your eyes shut and inhale.
With ÿ ve points of activation we can gradu- Notice the quality of your inhalation is
ally learn to push down one set of muscles also constricted.
while pulling up another. Since anatomical • Squeeze your nose as though you
referents di° er for men and women, we can smelled something unpleasant, and
assign numbers, from 1, for the urogenital inhale. Notice the effect this has on
muscles, to 5, for the muscles which attach to your breathing.
the coccyx. For example: • Squeeze your mouth and inhale. Notice
how this affects your breathing.
• Push down 1 while pulling up 4 • Squeeze your throat tightly and inhale.
• Pull up 3 while pushing down 1 and 5 Notice how this affects your breathing.
• Push down 3 while pulling up 1 and 5. • Squeeze your gluteal muscles togeth-
er tightly and inhale. Notice how this
affects your breathing.
Summary • Squeeze the front of your pelvis tight-
Every movement that we make, and every ly as if to stop the flow of urine, and
muscle that we engage, has the potential to inhale. Notice how this affects your
a° ect our breathing. As we consider these ability to inhale.
multitudinous e° ects, for instance, as a
pianist plays up to 24 notes per second (as
is necessary with some of Rachmanino° ’s ˜ ere are many more sphincter muscles
works), or a dancer’s precise activations throughout the body (for example, sur-
of musculature, we can only be ÿ lled with rounding the ears, leading into and out of

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 Placing the Breath

the stomach, from the pancreas and gall

bladder into the common bile duct, from the • Begin an inhalation and look down.
common bile duct into the duodenum, from You will notice that your breath fills up
the duodenum into the small intestine, from the upper portions of your ribcage.
the small intestine into the large intestine), • Begin an inhalation and look to the
and the relative health and ease of each of left. Allow your head to follow your
these structures also a° ects the ability of the eyes as you look over your shoulder.
diaphragm to expand widely and deeply into Notice your breath moving with your
the thorax. eyes from the front of your lungs to
Discussions of round muscles universally the back of your lungs.
omit the most important round muscle of all:
the diaphragm itself. Its attachments com-
pletely encircle the bottom of the ribcage.
And, as a round muscle, the diaphragm is ˜ e recruitment of the eyes to help with
exquisitely sensitive to the mobility of each of breathing is useful in a number of exam-
the other round muscles. ˜ is correspondence ples. We may notice that, because of a slight
allows us to direct the preponderance of our anxiety, we may be holding our breath on an
breath to a speciÿ c area of the thorax through exhalation. Looking up will encourage us to
the use of any other round muscle. ˜ e most inhale deeply. Looking into the direction of
e° ective round muscles to activate are those any type of bending will provide additional
around the eyes and those around the mouth. length.
Using the eyes to augment our breath-
ing will probably not attract much atten-
tion from those nearby. ˜ e same cannot be
Explorations using the eyes to direct said for the far more powerful intervention
the breath accessed by the correspondences with the
round muscles of the mouth.
• Begin an inhalation and look to the
left. You will notice that your breath
fills the right side of your ribcage more Explorations using the mouth to
fully than the right side. direct the breath
• Begin an inhalation and look to the
right. You will notice that your breath • As the most accessible and pliable of
fills the left side of your ribcage more our round muscles, the mouth offers
fully than the left side. the best access to the totality of our
• Begin an inhalation and look up. You diaphragm attachments.
will notice that your breath concen- • The upper lip corresponds to the front
trates in the lower part of your ribcage. of the diaphragm.

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 CHAPTER 3

• The lower lip corresponds to the back • Smiling, or even breathing through the
of the diaphragm. outsides of your mouth, will send your
• Project your lips forward and hold your breath laterally to the outsides of your
mouth open in a medium size “O”. Inhale. lungs.
Notice that you can feel your diaphragm
move all the way around your ribcage. Protruding the lower lip into a pout will
If you cannot feel a particular portion of speciÿ cally activate the crura, or the attach-
your diaphragm, move your mouth in the ment of the diaphragm, to the bottom of the
following ways, until you can feel it: thoracic spine. ˜ is demonstrates that the
mechanism for self-soothing is hard-wired,
• Moving your mouth to the left will as breathing deeply into the back of the dia-
direct the breath to the left side of phragm also activates the parasympathetic
your ribcage. nervous system. ˜ e e° ectiveness of the pout
• Moving your mouth to the right will for self-soothing should be utilized any time
direct the breath to the right side of there is some privacy.
your ribcage.
˜ e point of playing with all of these explo-
• Moving your lips in opposite directions rations is to expand our repertoire of breath-
will send the breath to the front of one ing speciÿ cally. ˜ ese new possibilities will,
side of your ribcage and to the back of in turn, spontaneously grow in conjunc-
the other side of the ribcage; project- tion with our activities. For example, as we
ing either lip forward will direct the meditate we send the breath speciÿ cally to
breath to that area. the areas that are tightening and rebelling
• Retracting either lip will direct the against our lack of movement. By working
breath more emphatically to the oppo- with our bodies in this way we are not split
site diaphragm attachments. from our bodies, we are not making our
bodies do our unconscious mental bidding.

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Harvey_Breathing Mudras and Meridians.indb 33 30/04/21 4:22 PM
 34

Harvey_Breathing Mudras and Meridians.indb 34 30/04/21 4:22 PM

 With these fundamentals of breathing

The Heart
THE ORGANS

placement, we can now begin to use our

breath to feel our organs (Figure 4.1).

˜ ere are an abundance of clues for locating

4
returning your lips to center during the
inhalation to fine-tune the flare of the
respiratory diaphragm and thereby us-
ing the pressure of the air to feel the
different density of the pericardium.
• Move your lips to the left and then
the heart within the chest cavity. ˜ e heart is raise and lower them while inhaling.
roughly the size of your ÿ st. ˜ e ÿ bers of the This movement begins to reveal the
bottom of the pericardium, which is the pro- outline of the lateral edge of the peri-
tective sac surrounding the heart, are ÿ rmly cardium.
attached to the top of the respiratory dia- • Scrunch your nose into a sniffing posi-
phragm. Any inhalation that moves the dia- tion. Inhale steadily and forcefully. Feel
phragm must move the pericardium. While the air move laterally as it streamlines
sensing for these distinctions, you may want around the top of the pericardium.
to initially close your eyes. We will initially
• Open your hands with the palmar
direct our inhalations to ÿ nd a consistency
side facing you. Press the tops of
di˛ erence within the lungs that surround
the sides of the ring fingers togeth-
the pericardium.
er. This forces a medial breath at the
level of the bottom of the pericardium
as it connects to the respiratory dia-
phragm. Notice that from the medial
• Breathe laterally into your left lung
placement of the breath, the breath
by moving your lips over to the left.
moves more easily to the right than to
Play with this lip placement, gradually

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 CHAPTER 4

Brain

Spinal cord
Pharynx

Esophagus
Larynx

Trachea

Lung
Pericardium sac
and heart within

Liver Spleen

Stomach

Kidney

Pancreas
Colon

Small intestine Large intestine

Bladder
Rectum
Anus

Figure 4.1

the left. Notice the difference in den- • In this case the lateral expansion of the
sity. Now press the sides of the tops breath both to the left and to the right
of the middle fingers together. Again, will be more equal.
notice the relative ease of movement • Move your lips to the left. While slowly
of the air to the right. Finally, press the inhaling, move your lips in a circle, but
tops of the sides of the index fingers only on the left side. This movement
together. will encircle the pericardium.

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 The Organs

We can now turn our attention to the

front and back of the pericardium. ˜ ere are The front-to-back breath, achieved by
several ligaments to the pericardium that pursing the lips and inhaling into the
anchor the heart in place, including the front middle of the throat, directs the breath to
of the neck, sternum, front of the rib cage, this area. Getting the back of the fourth
and the inferior vena cava in the back. ˜ ere vertebrae to move backwards with the
is lung tissue between the chest wall and the breath takes practice. (It is well worth
pericardium, and we can direct our breath
doing.)
directly into this tissue.

the respiratory diaphragm, with its thick-

Purse your upper lip, directing your inha- est area being on the right side. ˜ e shape
lation to the front of the chest. Flare the tapers as it moves to the le˝ , with a liga-
upper lip while inhaling. This flares the ment attaching the top of it through the
front of the diaphragm, thereby accen- diaphragm to the bottom of the pericardi-
tuating the space between the chest wall um. Immediately underneath it on the right
and the pericardium. is the gall bladder, and underneath it to the
le˝ of the midline is the stomach. Breath-
ing deeply into the front of the respiratory
diaphragm to the right of the midline will
massage the liver.
The back of the pericardium is espe-
cially important. It is firmly attached to
the vena cava, which sits in front of the
spine. Because of these attachments our With eyes closed, seated in neutral,
unconscious breathing patterns tend not forcefully press the tip of your right
to move these areas as much as the move- thumb into the tip of your right ring fin-
ment in the front of the pericardium. ger. This directs the breath to the right
Emotional heart pain, which each of us
front quadrant of your ribcage, thereby
face, tends to lodge at this place, in the
pushing down on the top of the liver.
back of the pericardium, compounding
the lack of mobility there.

The Liver The retroperitoneal space

˜ e liver is much larger than we suppose, To make further distinctions in our aware-
typically weighing about 2.25 kg. Picture ness of our organs, let us revisit the perito-
that amount of ground beef, then imagine neum, the vertical boundary between the
a package of that size inside your abdomen. mesentery, which anchors our small
˜ e liver is ÿ rmly attached to the bottom of intestines, and the kidneys, pancreas,

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 CHAPTER 4

Kidneys
The stomach
Adrenal glands

With your eyes closed, seated in neutral,

forcefully press your left thumb to the
thumb side top of your left ring finger.
This pushes the respiratory diaphragm Pancreas

down into the top of the stomach. Descending

aorta
Inferior
vena cava

The spleen

With your eyes closed, seated in neutral,

forcefully press your left thumb to the lit-
tle finger side of your left ring finger. This
Figure 4.2
pushes the respiratory diaphragm into
the top of your spleen.

and the major artery and vein (aorta and

vena cava) (Figure 4.2). • With an awareness of your heartbeat,
you may feel the downward movement
The anterior abdomen of blood through the aorta and the up-
ward movement of blood through the
Immediately behind the stomach and liver vena cava.
will be the transverse colon, which is con-
• Tucked behind the stomach, near the
tinuous with the ascending colon all the
bottom surface of the respiratory dia-
phragm, is the pancreas. The texture of
the pancreas is similar to that of tapio-
• With eyes closed, seated in neutral, ca, so it is unlikely that you’ll be able to
lean forward onto your forearms with feel it right away.
your lower back slightly arched. Stick • The first dense structure you will en-
out your lower lip to activate the cru- counter as the motion of the dia-
ra, the back of your respiratory dia- phragm affects the organs below it will
phragm. be the adrenal glands and the kidneys.

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 The Organs

Moving your lower lip to the left during lips, and breathe into your navel. To
inhalation will cause a greater pressure distinguish the anterior abdomen from
on the left kidney, and moving your the retroperitoneal space, alternate-
lower lip on the right will cause more ly protrude and retract your lower lip
pressure on the right kidney. You may while inhaling.
notice that your right kidney is lower
than the left one, because, of course,
the size of the liver.
• While aware of your kidneys, take your The organs of the pelvis
fingertips and press firmly into the ˜ e relationship between the pelvic dia-
space just above your pubic bone. This phragm and the organs of the pelvis mimics
pushes onto the bladder, and you may that of the respiratory diaphragm and the
be able to feel the ureters or the tubes organs of the abdomen, that is, the motion of
which take urine from the kidneys to the pelvic diaphragm while breathing mas-
the bladder. sages the organs of the pelvis either direct-
ly or indirectly through one of the organs
(Figure 4.3).

way to the right between the ribcage and The bladder

pelvis, and the descending colon, all the
way to the left between the ribcage and ˜ e bladder is right behind our pubic bone
pelvis. These tubes have a thickness of and we have already contacted it by con-
5–7.5 cm. Feeling around the borders of tracting and releasing the urethra, and by
your abdomen should allow you to feel the triangulating the position of the ureters. It
difference between the colon and the small is roughly the size of a squashed tennis ball.
intestine inside the border created by the
colon. The rectum
˜ e rectum, of course, is at the very bottom
of the colon. It can be felt by slowly squeez-
ing the anus so˝ ly and progressively more
• To feel your colon while seated, smile powerfully. You can augment your aware-
with your mouth closed, or at least ness of the rectum by gently pulling your
smirk and inhale. The colon will expand coccyx forward.
laterally.
• To feel the mesentery while seated, The uterus or prostate
lean back slightly, widely purse your
In between the bladder and the rectum is
either the uterus or the prostate. Females can

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 CHAPTER 4

Ureter Sacrum
Peritoneum
Fallopian tube

Ovary
Uterus

Anterior abdominal wall Cervix

Pubic symphysis Vagina

Bladder Rectum

Urethra Anal canal

Figure 4.3

contact the uterus by contracting the vagina the rectum on the sigmoid colon. To feel
and perineum, while males can contact the the cecum, cradle your right hand inside
prostate by contracting the perineum and the top of the pelvis, again underneath the
base of the scrotum. intestines. Push down on the right side of
your abdomen. You should feel the cecum
come into your hand.
The sigmoid colon and the cecum
The sigmoid colon connects the descend-
ing colon to the rectum and is the hold- Coordinating the diaphragms - the
ing area for feces before evacuation. To feel
it, cradle your left hand inside the top of self-nourishing breath
the pelvis, and underneath the intestines. We are now able to explicitly deÿ ne a breath
Then squeeze the anus and rectum, and that allows the optimal ˙ ow of air and blood
push down on the left side of your abdo- throughout the body, providing nourish-
men. You should be able to feel the pull of ment to the whole.

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 The Organs

With the inhalation: facilitating blood and lymph flow to the

thorax.
• The eye horizontal ascends, providing • The respiratory diaphragm descends,
movement to and enlivening the pi- massaging the liver, gallbladder, kid-
tuitary and pineal glands, supporting neys, stomach, spleen and pancre-
blood flow to the brain. as, facilitating the flow of blood and
• The roof of the mouth horizontally de- lymph.
scends, allowing for more space for • The pelvic diaphragm descends, mas-
the filtration and treatment of air be- saging the bladder, uterus and, by ex-
fore it reaches the bronchials. tension, ovaries or prostate, facilitating
• The floor of the mouth horizontally the flow of blood lymph and semen,
descends, freeing the jaw and relax- supporting digestion and evacuation.
ing the musculature, affecting the top
of the throat, supporting blood flow
from the brain. ˜ is centering breath connects the top of
• The throat expands radially, allowing the head with the perineum. As you breathe,
for the passage of air, fluids and food. you feel yourself lengthen, and all of the pro-
• The cervicothoracic diaphragm as- cesses that comprise your optimal function-
cends, allowing air into the bronchials, ing are enhanced.

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 42

Harvey_Breathing Mudras and Meridians.indb 42 30/04/21 4:23 PM

 SKIN-BREATHING

One “superpower” that all mammals share

is that we respond to the sensation of
well-intentioned touch with the sensation
of breathing into that touch. Breath and
attention are intertwined, so much so that
the thought of a body part, for most of us,
will be met with the sensation of breathing
5
happens through the skin is with qi, which
is also transliterated as chi. To date, West-
ern scientists have not proven (or disproven)
the existence of qi, so in general the topic
tends to be ignored. ˜ e phenomenological
approach, on the other hand, is to experi-
ment with sensation. Can qi be felt? Can the
into that body part. This is true in a felt phenomenological explorations performed
sense whether or not the movement of air by countless millions of people over thou-
could possibly reach that body part. Try it! sands of years be taken seriously?
While at rest in a neutral position, think of A simple deÿ nition of qi would be life-
your big toe, and feel the effects of breath force and life-force is everywhere. We have
in it. The warmth of the blood will be the no idea of the molecular size of qi, but by
primary sensation (unless there’s a pre- paying attention, we are able to absorb qi
existing discomfort), followed by the sensa- through the skin into the capillary bed. Qi
tion of a lengthening or radial expansion. travels with and intermingles with blood. As
Humans have approximately five million the qigong master, Robert Peng, states, “I am
skin pores that support temperature regu- in qi, qi is in me” (Figure 5.1).
lation. With minimal practice, by focusing To experience the movement of qi through
our attention, we are able to bring blood skin-breathing:
and expansion to any area of the body
through touch or concentration.
• Sit in neutral at a table or desk with
According to TCM, the skin is considered
this book in front of you.
to be the third lung, honoring the impor-
• Rest your hands on your thighs with
tance of the interchange between the world
the palms up.
outside and inside the skin. According to
TCM and qigong masters, the exchange that

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 CHAPTER 5

• As you breathe in through your nose, • Skin-breathe into the area between
breathe qi in through the palms of your your respiratory diaphragm and your
hands. pelvic diaphragm, front, back and
• As you breathe out through your nose, sides. Continue to skin-breathe until
breathe qi out of the skin of the palms you feel tingling.
of your hands. • Skin-breathe into the area between
your pelvic diaphragm and your knees,
front, back and sides. Continue to skin-
breathe until you feel tingling.
Do this several times. Your breath will • Skin-breathe into the area between
lengthen naturally. Usually, by the third
your knees and your ankles, front, back
breath, you’ll feel a tingling in the palms of
and sides. Continue to skin-breathe
your hands.
until you feel tingling.
Now touch the tips of your ÿ ngers, and • Skin-breathe into your feet, top, bottom
gently point your thumbs towards the ceil- and sides. Continue to skin-breathe
ing or the sky. Increase the area of your until you feel tingling.
skin-breathing to include the insides of
• Skin-breathe into the area between
your forearms. As this area begins to tingle,
expand your skin-breathing to include the your cervico-thoracic diaphragm and
backs of the hands and the backs of the fore- the floor of your mouth, front, back
arms. Increase the area of skin-breathing and sides. Continue to skin-breathe
to the entirety of both arms, shoulders and until you feel tingling.
armpits. Continue to breathe into these areas • Skin-breathe into the area between
until you’re feeling the tingling of your atten- the floor of your mouth and the roof
tion and the blood in your capillary beds. of your mouth, front, back and sides.
At this point our inhalations and exha- Continue to skin-breathe until you feel
lations will be quite long. We’ll breathe tingling.
into the areas bordered by the horizontal • Skin-breathe into the area between
diaphragms. Skin-breathe into the region the roof of your mouth and your eye
between your cervico-thoracic diaphragm horizontal, front, back and sides. Con-
and your respiratory diaphragm, front, back tinue to skin-breathe until you feel tin-
and sides. gling.
Continue to skin-breathe until you feel tin- • Skin-breathe into the area between
gling. your eyes and the top of your head,
front, back and sides. Continue to skin-
Just as it is possible to experience some-
thing entering and leaving through our skin breathe until you feel tingling.
that synchronizes with the inhalation and

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 Skin-Breathing

your forearms. As this area begins to tingle,

• Skin-breathe into all of the skin of your expand your skin-breathing to include the
body at once. Balance the tingling un- backs of the hands and the backs of the fore-
til you feel that you are whole and not arms. Increase the area of skin-breathing
simply a collection of parts. to the entirety of both arms, shoulders and
armpits. Continue to skin-breathe into these
areas until you are feeling the tingling of
your attention and the blood in your capil-
lary beds.
exhalation of breathing, we are also able to
At this point, our inhalations and exha-
experience that something leaving our body
lations will be quite long. We’ll reverse
during inhalation. ˜ roughout the years
skin-breathe into the areas bordered by the
I have referred to this as either “inside out
horizontal diaphragms. Reverse skin-breathe
breathing” or “reverse skin-breathing.”
into the region between your cervico-thoracic
Naturally, we can experience the e˛ ects of diaphragm and your respiratory diaphragm,
this systematic breathing on our bodies and front, back and sides. Continue to reverse
on our sense of being. skin-breathe until you feel tingling or warmth.
Performing whole body skin-breathing
and whole body reverse skin-breathing
• Sit in neutral position with this book quickly reveals those areas of your body that
in front of you on a table or desk, with are unable to join in the wholeness, guiding
your hands against your thighs with
us to where we need to ÿ ne-tune our atten-
tion and skin-breath.
the palms up.
• As you breathe in through your nose,
feel chi leaving from the palms of your Skin-breathing into the horizontal
hands. diaphragms
• As you breathe out from your nose,
feel chi come into the palms of your As mentioned earlier, the horizontal dia-
hands. phragms separate one body cavity from
another. ˜ is allows pressure di˛ erentials
• Repeat until the palms of your hands
to optimize the functioning of the organs
are tingling or buzzing with warmth.
in each cavity. For example, the pressure
inside the chest cavity is -10 atmospheres.
˜ is allows the pressure of the atmosphere
to push air out of us. ˜ at way we can be lazy
Now, touch the tips of your ÿ ngers, and and the environment can exhale for us. Sim-
gently point your thumbs towards the ceiling ilarly, the pressure in the abdomen reaches
or the sky. Increase the area of your reverse 40 atmospheres, aiding peristalsis and evac-
skin-breathing to include the insides of uation. ˜ us, the horizontal diaphragms

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 CHAPTER 5

are structures, sometimes substantial struc- Skin-breathe into both the top and bottom
tures, that we are able to feel. of the pelvic diaphragm without tightening
any of the muscles in the pelvic ˙ oor.
The respiratory diaphragm Reverse skin-breathe into the bottom of
the pelvic diaphragm.
While seated in neutral, open your mouth as
wide as a circle made with your index ÿ nger Reverse skin-breathe into the top of the
and your thumb. Inhale and exhale through pelvic diaphragm.
your mouth to feel the perimeter of the res- Reverse skin-breathe into both the top and
piratory diaphragm. bottom of the pelvic diaphragm.
Close your mouth and close your eyes.
Skin-breathe into the bottom of your respir- The cervico-thoracic diaphragm
atory diaphragm.
Skin-breathing o˛ ers an e˛ ective method for
A˝ er you feel comfortable with that, skin- feeling the entirety of the cervico-thoracic
breathe into the top surface of your respira- diaphragm, and also relaxes the lower cervi-
tory diaphragm. cals in the process.
Now skin-breathe into both top and bottom Skin-breathe into the front of your clavi-
simultaneously. cles. Now skin-breathe into the front of your
Reverse skin-breathe out of the bottom of scapula, the surface closest to the ribcage.
your respiratory diaphragm. Within a short amount of time the shoulders
Reverse skin-breathe out of the top of your drop and the lower cervicals relax.
respiratory diaphragm. However, to maintain the format that we’ve
Now reverse skin-breathe from both the been using to contact the diaphragms, while
top and bottom of your respiratory dia- seated in neutral, open your mouth into a
phragm. circle the size of a drinking straw or ciga-
rette. Inhale and exhale through your mouth
to feel the activation of the cervico-thoracic
The pelvic diaphragm diaphragm.
While seated in neutral, open your mouth as
wide as a circle made by tucking your index
ÿ nger into the base of your thumb. Inhale • Skin-breathe into the bottom of the
and exhale through your mouth to feel the cervico-thoracic diaphragm.
perimeter of the pelvic diaphragm. • Skin-breathe into the top of the cervi-
Skin-breathe into the bottom of the pelvic co-thoracic diaphragm.
diaphragm. • Skin-breathe into both the top and bot-
tom of the cervico-thoracic diaphragm
Skin-breathe into the top of the pelvic
diaphragm.

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 Skin-Breathing

without tightening your throat mus- • Skin-breathe into the bottom of the
cles. roof of the mouth.
• Reverse skin-breathe into the bottom • Skin-breathe into the top of the roof of
of the cervico-thoracic diaphragm. the mouth.
• Reverse skin-breathe into the top of • Skin-breathe into both the top and
the cervico-thoracic diaphragm. bottom of the roof of the mouth with-
• Reverse skin-breathe into both the top out tightening the eyes.
and bottom of the cervico-thoracic di- • Reverse skin-breathe into the bottom
aphragm. of the roof of the mouth.
• Now skin-breathe into all of the dia- • Reverse skin-breathe into the top of
phragms of the thorax simultaneously. the roof of the mouth.
Then reverse skin-breathe into all of • Reverse skin-breathe into both the
the diaphragms of the thorax simulta- top and the bottom of the roof of the
neously. mouth without tightening the top of
the throat.
• Skin-breathe into the bottom of the
eye horizontal.
The diaphragms of the head • Skin-breathe into the top of the eye
horizontal.
While seated in neutral:
• Skin-breathe into both the top and the
bottom of the eye horizontal.
• Reverse skin-breathe into the bottom
• Skin-breathe into the bottom of the of the eye horizontal.
floor of the mouth. • Reverse skin-breathe into the top of
• Skin-breathe into the top of the floor the eye horizontal.
of the mouth. • Reverse skin-breathe into both the top
• Skin-breathe into both the top and and the bottom of the eye horizontal.
bottom of the floor of the mouth with-
out tightening the top of the throat.
• Reverse skin-breathe into the bottom
of the floor of the mouth. Finally, skin-breathe into all of the dia-
• Reverse skin-breathe into the top of phragms of the head simultaneously. Reverse
the floor of the mouth. skin-breathe into all of the diaphragms of
• Reverse skin-breathe into both the the head simultaneously. Skin-breathe into
all of the diaphragms of both the thorax and
top and bottom of the floor of the
head simultaneously. Reverse skin-breathe
mouth.
into all of the diaphragms of both the thorax
and head simultaneously.

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 CHAPTER 5

Neurovisceral diaphragm

Bottom of nasal passages

Roof of mouth

Floor of mouth

Top of throat

Cervicothoracic diaphragm

Skin breathe into the bottom of the floor of the mouth Reverse skin breathe into the bottom of the roof of the mouth
Skin breathe into the top of the floor of the mouth Reverse skin breathe into the top of the roof of the mouth
Skin breathe into both the top and bottom of the floor of the mouth Reverse skin breathe into both the top and the bottom of the roof
without tightening the top of the throat of the mouth without tightening the top of the throat
Reverse skin breathe into the bottom of the floor of the mouth Skin breathe into bottom of the eye horizontal
Reverse skin breathe into the top of the floor of the mouth Skin breathe into the top of the eye horizontal
Reverse skin breathe into both the top and bottom of the floor of Skin breathe into both the top and the bottom of the eye horizontal
the mouth Reverse skin breathe into the bottom of the eye horizontal
Skin breathe into the bottom of the roof of the mouth Reverse skin breathe into the top of the eye horizontal
Skin breathe into the top of the roof of the mouth Reverse skin breathe into both the top and the bottom of the eye
Skin breathe into both the top and bottom of the roof of the mouth horizontal
without tightening the eyes

Figure 5.1

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 Skin-Breathing

Enjoy your expanded state of conscious- The kidneys and adrenals

ness.
Leaning over onto your forearms while
seated will direct your breathing to the
Skin-breathing into the organs retroperitoneal space. Skin-breathing and
We have seen in our breathing explorations reverse skin-breathing into the bladder
thus far that many of our organs di˛ er from will help to reveal the exact location of the
their surroundings because of their density. kidneys and the adrenals on top of the kid-
Our experiences of breathing into our hori- neys. Skin-breathing into the front of the
zontal diaphragms, in combination with our kidneys will support you in gaining more
experience of these dense borders, act as spaciousness in the retroperitoneal space,
guides, both for skin-breathing and reverse and thus more comfort throughout your
skin-breathing into the surface or skin of abdomen. ˜ e relative tightness of these
each organ. organs and glands will give you the sense
of whether or not any lower back discom-
fort is centered in the organs or in the sur-
The heart rounding musculature.
As we breathe into the front of and to the
sides of the pericardium, the density of this The stomach and spleen
protective sac around the heart is promi-
nent. Skin-breathe into the entirety of the Skin-breathing and reverse skin-breathing
pericardium until it is tingly and warm. will help you to di˛ erentiate the bound-
Repeat the process with reverse skin- ary between the stomach and the spleen. It
breathing, noting how readily you are able will also help with breathing into areas of
to feel your heart beating. Pay special atten- discomfort.
tion to any areas of tightness, especially
near the spine, as the combination of skin- The bladder and uterus/bladder,
breathing and reverse skin-breathing may and uterus/prostate and rectum
ease discomfort.
Skin-breathing and reverse skin-breathing
around the bladder will reveal the path that
The liver the ureters take to enter the bladder. It also
Skin-breathing, more than directing the helps to di˛ erentiate the back of the blad-
breath, gives us a fuller impression of the der from the front of the uterus or prostate.
dimensionality of the liver, and the approxi- Likewise, skin-breathing and reverse skin-
mate location of the gallbladder. breathing will allow a perceptual di˛ eren-
tiation between the uterus/prostate and the
Hopefully your liver feels supple, but if not, rectum because of the dramatically di˛ er-
or if there are areas which feel more dense, a ent texture of the rectum from the organs of
regular regimen of skin-breathing may ease generation.
discomfort.

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 50

Harvey_Breathing Mudras and Meridians.indb 50 30/04/21 4:23 PM

 UJJAYI BREATHING

We now have sufficient background infor-

mation and body awareness to truly appre-
ciate the genius of Ujjayi breathing. The
Ujjayi breath is the most basic technique
in pranayama, yogic and taoist breath-
ing practices. Ujjayi breathing requires an
ever-so-slight constriction of the back of the
6
As we explore awareness throughout our
bodies we can use the Ujjayi breath in con-
cert with the other awareness activations
covered thus far:

throat as we breathe in through the nose. • In the head, Ujjayi breathing with the
We accompany this tightening by generat- eyes closed gives us the clear sensa-
ing a sub-audible sound, usually likened to tion of the differentiation of the vis-
the gentle sound of the surf of the ocean or ceral cranium from the neurocranium.
the labored efforts of the Star Wars charac- Further, the constriction of the throat
ter, Darth Vader. Together, the constriction clarifies the extent and pathway of the
and the sound mobilize the entire breathing nasal passages and how the expansion
apparatus, sending the breath through the of the eye horizontal and the nasal
middle of the respiratory diaphragm, all the horizontal may be supported by fron-
way down to the middle of the pelvic dia-
tal and nasal sinuses. This relation-
phragm. The sound in particular forces the
opening of the cervico-thoracic diaphragm. ship facilitates the treatment of the air
With the slightest awareness we can also that we inhale. Selective relaxation of
open the top of the throat by the relaxation the facial muscles around the eyes or
of the floor of the mouth diaphragm. This, cheeks and mouth can augment the
in turn, encourages the upward open- receptivity of the sinuses to do their
ing of the eye horizontal diaphragm and job.
the downward opening of the roof of the • In the throat, Ujjayi breathing can
mouth-nasal diaphragm. This combined highlight our ability to radially ex-
effect is profoundly centering as the center pand the entirety of the length of the
of the head and the center of the thorax are
moving simultaneously and with continuity.

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 CHAPTER 6

throat, selectively relaxing the larynx throughout the pelvis, so that density
and pharynx to allow the throat to ex- differentiation will reveal the bottom
pand anteriorly. Combining Ujjayi and of the sigmoid colon and the bottom of
skin-breathing to the clavicle and front the cecum.
of the scapula will rapidly facilitate the
relaxation of the lower cervicals and
the shoulders. Ujjayi breathing and organs
• In the chest, Ujjayi breathing further
Combining Ujjayi breathing with skin-
clarifies what is the center and what breathing will also help us in clarifying the
is periphery. Adding a gentle smile to location of our organs.
Ujjayi breathing will encourage breath-
ing in the center of the thorax com-
bined with lateral expansion of the
ribs. Pursing the lips while smiling and • In the head, increasing the volume
performing the Ujjayi breath will give from the gentle surf to the Darth Vadar
us a joyful 360-degree expansion of breathing noise increases sensation at
the entire ribcage. the front of the cerebrum as it abuts the
• In the abdomen, the Ujjayi breath will back of the upper throat. Nestled into
travel along the peritoneal space straight the front of the center of the cerebrum
into the mesentery. Leaning forward will is the brainstem: its texture is slight-
expand the retroperitoneal space, and ly denser than that of the cerebrum.
leaning slightly backwards will expand (Let us hypothesize that some of the
the abdominal space. health-generating benefit from sing-
• In the pelvis, the placement of the ing or playing a wind instrument can
Ujjayi breath straight into the perine- be traced to the constant vibration into
um will further clarify the back of the this area of the brain.) As we increase
vaginal canal and uterus from the the vibration of the Ujjayi breathing
rectum, or the back of the prostate towards the top of the head we will
from the rectum. This action can be encounter both the pineal gland in the
encouraged by gently pushing down center of the cranium and the pituitary
on the perineum during the inhalation gland, perhaps 2.5–3.8 cm forward of
of Ujjayi breathing, and pulling up the the pineal. These glands will respond
perineum during the exhalation. differently to the vibration than the sur-
• Applying skin-breathing to the back of rounding brain tissue. Concerted effort
the pubic bone and the front of the sa- over a few breaths may cause these ar-
crum will widen the area of awareness eas to tingle.

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 Ujjayi Breathing

• In the chest, Ujjayi breathing will allow vena cava as they go through the re-
us to discern the textural difference spiratory diaphragm.
between the lung tissue and the bron- • In the abdomen we can combine Ujjayi
chioles. As we settle into the more oce- breathing with moving our mouth
anic variety of Ujjayi breathing we can slightly to the right. This outlines the
turn our attention to our heartbeats. liver. Moving the mouth to the left
Again, textural differences will allow while Ujjayi breathing will separate the
us to become aware of the blood flow- stomach from the spleen in our aware-
ing from the vena cava into the top of ness.
the heart slightly to the right of blood • As mentioned above, Ujjayi breathing
pumping out of the heart through the into the pelvis will support our differ-
aorta. entiation of the organs in the front,
• In the retroperitoneal space, Ujjayi the bladder, from the middle, the uter-
breathing will clarify all of the dis- us/prostate, and, from the back, the
tinctions we’ve covered. The kidney/ rectum.
ureter/bladder connections become
clear. As we lean forward and activate
Consciously engaging in Ujjayi breathing
Ujjayi breathing into the retroperitone- realizes our goal of embodiment by facilitat-
al space, we can follow the aorta and ing an “inside/out” sensation, rather than a
mind-directed “outside/in” experience.

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 54

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 MUDRAS FOR SUPPORTING
DIAPHRAGMS AND ORGANS

Thus far we have highlighted the inner

terrains of human anatomy by contacting
specific structures through the breath. The
benefits of this awareness, in conjunction
with that afforded by the shift in perspec-
tive which arises from contextualizing
ourselves within our environment, pro-
7
˜ is sense of being in our physical bodies
can, of course, be a great resource. We can
use directed breathing to ease our pains. We
can broaden our perspectives of our physical
and emotional challenges by including the
environment, thereby di° using our anxie-
ties and placing our challenges in a broader
vides the means for each of us to ground perspective. And we can speak more speciÿ -
ourselves within our own physicality. cally and knowledgeably about our health.
In other words, the benefit is a sense of ˜ ese realizations are not trivial. However,
embodiment for the moment. Each of in the big picture they might be characterized
the breathing techniques that we have as mildly clever, mildly interesting, and per-
described thus far increase our repertoire haps mildly life-changing for those interested
of possibilities for the body to choose at the enough to stick with it. However, in moments
appropriate moments. They also provide of unexpected crisis, these resources present-
directions for exploration for those of us ed thus far are unlikely to be available. It’s
who are naturally curious about the capa- not helpful to suggest to someone that they
bilities of our bodies. The techniques also should breathe deeply when they are unable
give us tools to analyze and deconstruct to catch their breath or breathe at all.
automatic auto-pilot behaviors that are less Still, the true importance of this path of
than ideal. A typical example of this could learning is that it gives us a huge head start in
be claustrophobia in traffic jams. Noticing experiencing Mudras, and gives us tools for
a rise in tension might start the inquiry as making Mudras work even more e° ectively.
to which of the horizontal diaphragms has
tightened. Over time these exercises may
help with more ingrained behavioral issues Mudras
such as social anxiety or public perfor- ˜ e awareness, the expansion of perception
mance anxiety. which accompanies the various conÿ gurations

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 CHAPTER 7

of hand gestures that we’ve been working pictures are quite accessible, and this book
with so far, immediately suggests the phe- acts as a comprehensive and satisfying intro-
nomena of Mudras. Mudras are commonly duction to studying Mudras. Mudr˜ , ° e
known as hand gestures associated with Sacred Secret (Arora, 2013), was my intro-
Indian Classical dance and meditation. ˜ e duction to Mudras being taught from within
actual meaning of the word Mudra refers a living tradition. ˜ e presentation, descrip-
to a gesture or body position that a° ects tions and content are delightful and support
the completion of a particular energy ˝ ow deepening of the practice of Mudras. Fur-
through the body, or a “seal” as it is called ther, Arora o° ers di° erent Mudras from the
in esoteric traditions. ˜ ere are many types Carrolls, and each of the di° erent Mudras
of Mudras, which may involve not just the furthers our understanding of the range and
hands, but the eyes, the lips, the tongue, the power of Mudras. Finally, Mudras for Heal-
entire body, or even states of consciousness. ing and Transformation (Le Page and Le
˜ e concept of a Mudra is foreign and pos- Page, 2014), in my opinion may be the most
sibly exotic in a western context on many perfect book ever published. ˜ e discussions
levels. We are unaccustomed to practices of Mudras are deÿ nitive and comprehensive,
that increase self-awareness. In some circles and cover all aspects of how each Mudra
throughout the US, even the idea of mind- a° ects our bodies and spiritual growth. ˜ e
fulness meditation is met with suspicion and selection of Mudras is careful. ˜ e Le Pages
hostility. have both chosen 104 Mudras, each of which
immediately a° ects the totality of the partic-
My own interest in Mudras was piqued ipant. To date, in my own search, I’ve found
many years ago by a fellow student during over 2000 di° erent Mudras. Revisiting some
my Rolÿ ng training. In those days the only of the sources used by the Le Pages, I fully
way to learn Mudra was through one-to-one concur that their choices were among the
contact. ˜ e advent of the Internet made most accessible and most powerful Mudras
some information on Mudras available, but of those that I’ve researched. If the reader is
scouring the Internet reveals superÿ ciality
interested in delving deeper into Mudras, I
and redundancy. It is only in the last few
would heartily recommend purchasing these
years that solid substantiated information
three books.
that is grounded in years of practice has
come forth. I have found three books to be Similar to any other practice, undertak-
invaluable in studying Mudras. ˜ e ÿ rst is ing Mudras regularly will increase their
Mudras of India (Carroll and Carroll, 2013), power and e° ectiveness. But, unlike any
which provided welcome relief from visit- other practice, Mudras work immediately.
ing a dozen similar Mudras websites online. ˜ is was demonstrated to me several years
Mudras of India is an encyclopedic undertak- ago during a two-day breathing class I was
ing, including several hundred Mudras from teaching. I’d already presented many of the
meditative traditions as well as Mudras from hand and facial correspondences to breath-
classical Indian dance. ˜ e descriptions and ing that have been included in this book.

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 Mudras for Supporting Diaphragms

As a teaser, I o° ered a protocol for Mudras So, you can imagine my excitement when
which activate each of the chakras. Among the woman came up to me the next morn-
the introductory Mudras, a simple Mudra ing and said, “I had heart palpitations last
for the Heart Chakra which I taught is fre- night.” “Really?” I replied, feeling bad that I
quently called Hridaya˙ (pronounced “rid was excited about her having a rough night.
ya”). ˜ is is performed by tucking the index “And I tried what you taught me…”—my
ÿ nger into the base of the thumb, joining the heart rate picked up a bit—“…and it didn’t
tip of the thumb with the tips of the middle help at all, but that heart Mudra you taught
and ring ÿ ngers, and stretching the pinky stopped the palpitations within seconds!”
ÿ nger. When this Mudra is discussed, it is Every now and then we respond with a
claimed it can stop heart attacks. depth and wisdom that we didn’t know we
When one of the participants came up to had; “well it ÿ gures that something that’s
me at the end of the ÿ rst day and told me she been around for thousands of years would
su° ered from heart palpitations during the be more powerful than a clever mind experi-
night, I was able to help her with the strate- ment that I worked up a couple of years ago.”
gies I had ÿ gured out. ˜ e points I empha- I realized that my real breakthrough in my
sized to her were that, as we know, breathing ongoing studies of the phenomenology of
in the front of the body activates the sym- breathing is that hand Mudras can be more
pathetic nervous system, and breathing into powerful than our runaway, out-of-control
the back of the body activates the parasym- physiological episodes and occurrences. ˜ e
pathetic nervous system. So if one is experi- consequences, the e° ects of doing Mudras
encing heart palpitations then it is important (even in the most desultory manner), are so
to activate the parasympathetics. ˜ is can powerful that they defy rationality. In other
be best achieved by curling up, leaning over words, it’s diˇ cult to talk about Mudras
to the leˆ to stretch the leˆ side of the dia- with great enthusiasm. And since that is the
phragm, thereby giving actual space to the case, I embrace it.
heart. Next, hug yourself, with your leˆ arm
over your right, to further block the breath The superpowers of Mudras
from entering the front of the body, thus
forcing the breath into the back. ˜ en, as Explanations for why Mudras are so e° ective
the breath slows down, in combination with do not include the staples of Western scien-
the inner spaciousness around the heart, the tiÿ c thought. We cannot trace direct circu-
palpitations should subside. latory, nerve or dermatome connections.
We have demonstrated that hand positions
Try it (even though it is unlikely that you direct our breathing to certain parts of the
are having a panic attack at this moment). body. In this respect, what my studies have
You will ÿ nd that your breath slows in three uncovered could be called “pre-mudras” or
or four cycles and that your general demea- “inadvertently stumbled upon mudras”. But
nor will calm. in the explanations that Mudras teachers

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 CHAPTER 7

o° er, the breath is not seen as causal for their

e° ectiveness. Rather, there are frequent ref- • The first superpower of Mudras is that
erences to the ÿ ve elements which comprise they unlock the innate intelligence of
the ˝ ow of vital currents throughout the the hands. Since 2005, with the pub-
body, and how those elements interact. Each lication of Daniel Golman’s Emotional
ÿ nger represents an element, and each point Intelligence, there has been an ongo-
in the hand represents an element. ing discussion regarding types of intel-
Western scientists do not acknowledge the ligence. It is curious that none of these
elements and their movement throughout discussions include the intelligence of
the body. I believe the primary reason for the hands. As anyone who has worked
this is lack of curiosity, because both Ayur- with their hands knows, they know
vedic and TCM o° er plenty of hints which how to do things that our minds do not
could be tracked down.
understand. All forms of art and crafts
However, for our purposes here, the fact are activities that are performed with
that Mudras direct the breath consistently the hands. Classic Chinese acupunc-
and reliably will suˇ ce. In the absence of ture can be done exclusively through
traditional Western scientiÿ c proof, we have the hands. This intelligence is made
phenomenological proof: the evidence that
manifest through doing Mudras.
everyone who goes through these exercises
experiences similar results, and the forma- • The second superpower of Mudras
tion of morphogenic ÿ elds of Mudras, a con- is they are effective immediately! For
sequence of millions of people performing example, they are able to stop the in-
Mudras for thousands of years. cessant inner monologue of our minds.
In other words, Mudras achieve one
In the West, we do not run into phenom-
ena with the characteristics of Mudras. We of the primary goals of Mindfulness
may be used to the concept of yoga. We can Meditation, to stop thought instantly.
take a yoga class and feel somewhat better, or • The third superpower of Mudras is
believe the idea that if we stick with it we’ll that they commandeer our physiol-
get healthier, and be more in touch with what ogy, stopping runaway reactions. For
we like about ourselves. But yoga requires example, Mudras can be used to clear
discipline and persistence. We might study stuffy sinuses, to mitigate blood pres-
tai chi or qigong. ˜ ey, too, require disci- sure issues, and to ameliorate the ef-
pline and persistence. ˜ ere’s one form of fects of diabetes. Thus, they provide a
qigong in which the instruction of the class pathway for us to improve and main-
is to stand like a tree. And the students do
tain our physical well-being.
that in every class for a minimum of one
• The fourth superpower of Mudras
year.˙ So we are unprepared for practices
such as Mudras, which have profound and is that they facilitate and foster our
relatively immediate e° ects.

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 Mudras for Supporting Diaphragms

spiritual development, deepening our

meditations, increasing our concentra-
tion, appreciation, equanimity and rev-
erence. Further, they foster our ability
to contact our innate wisdom and spir-
ituality.

Of course, Mudras were not created to

neatly ÿ t the schema of self-awareness by
learning about diaphragms and organs, as
presented here. Nonetheless, there are many
Mudras which are immediately supportive
of this aim. I have chosen fun, easily acces-
sible and powerful Mudras with the hope of
inspiring the reader to explore Mudras on
Figure 7.1 Kaleshvara Mudra
their own. Generally, each Mudra should be
held for 5–45 minutes. Signs from your body
that you are progressing will include an invol-
untary deep breath, to signify that your auto-
nomic nervous system is being calmed and
balanced by the Mudra. ˜ e second sign is a together the tips of middle ÿ ngers pointing
series of involuntary deep breaths. ˜ is will upwards. Touch together the tips of thumbs
represent a profound reset of your nervous pointing downwards. Hold them in front of
system. Finally, you may feel that you are your heart (Figure 7.1).
no longer breathing, but rather that you are
being breathed. Time slows down. Both your
inhalations and exhalations seem to go on for The roof of the mouth/lower nasal
a very long time. ˜ is is the ideal situation, as passage horizontal: breathing/
you gain all of the beneÿ ts of deep meditation.
tasting diaphragm
Eye horizontal: neurovisceral Kubera Mudra
diaphragm ˜ e tips of the thumb, index, and middle ÿ n-
Kaleshvara Mudra gers touch, while the ring and pinky ÿ ngers
are curled into the palm of the hand. Use one
Bring together the second phalange of or two hands to open your breathing passag-
your index, ring and pinky ÿ ngers. Touch es (Figure 7.2).

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 CHAPTER 7

Figure 7.2 Kubera Mudra

Figure 7.3 Vishuddha Chakra Mudra

The floor of the mouth/top of the
throat horizontal
Kechari Mudra
Respiratory diaphragm
˜ is is one of the most exotic Mudras for the
Westerner. Place the tip of the tongue behind Matangi Mudra
the soˆ palate, reaching up behind the nasal Fold your hands, with the middle ÿ ngers
passages. ˜ is is impossible for practically touching each other throughout their length
everyone. Even the initiates who learn this and pointing outwards. Form two interlock-
Mudra as adults must have their uvulas ing rings with the thumbs and index ÿ ngers.
snipped. However, the e° ort of trying to Rest your palms in front of your solar plexus
place the tongue behind the soˆ palate opens (Figure 7.4).
up this diaphragm dramatically.
Pelvic diaphragm
Bottom of the throat/cervico-
thoracic diaphragm Shakti Mudra
Vishuddha Chakra Mudra Fold your thumbs into the base of your ÿ n-
gers and secure them with your index and
Loosely fold your ÿ ngers towards the palm. middle ÿ ngers. Touch the middle phalange
Interlock the thumbs and index ÿ ngers. of the index and middle ÿ ngers together.
Apply slight pressure to the middle joints of Touch the tips of the ring and pinky ÿ n-
the thumbs against each other. Hold in front gers. Hold the Mudra in front of your heart
of the throat (Figure 7.3). (Figure 7.5).

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 Mudras for Supporting Diaphragms

Figure 7.4 Mantangi Mudra

Figure 7.6 Panchamukha Mudra

˜ is Mudra is oˆ en held by Angela Merkel

(Chancellor of Germany). It balances the brain,
and improves concentration (Figure 7.6).

The eyes
Mahashirsha Mudra
˜ e index ÿ nger, middle ÿ nger and thumb
are joined together. ˜ e ring ÿ nger is folded
Figure 7.5 Shakti Mudra into the palm of the hand, and the pinky
ÿ nger is straight. ˜ is Mudra relieves head-
aches, eases tension in the eyes, and clears
the sinuses (Figure 7.7).
Organs
Again, although the Mudras tend not to be
centered around speciÿ c organs, they oˆ en
The lungs
have speciÿ c impacts. Bhramara
With the index ÿ nger curled into the base
The brain of the thumb, touch the tip of the thumb to
Panchamukha Mudra the ÿ rst joint of the middle ÿ nger. Extend
the ring and pinky ÿ ngers. ˜ is is believed
Join together all the tips of the ÿ ngers and to soothe coughs and irritated lungs
thumbs, with your hands and ÿ ngers spread. (Figure˙7.8).

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 CHAPTER 7

Figure 7.7 Mahashirsha Mudra

Figure 7.9 Hridaya Mudra

The stomach and the liver

Manipura Chakra Mudra
˜ read the right index ÿ nger over the leˆ
index ÿ nger, under the leˆ middle ÿ nger and
rest it on top of the leˆ ring ÿ nger. Fold the
right middle ÿ nger over the leˆ index ÿ nger
so that the middle joint of both middle ÿ n-
Figure 7.8 Bhramara Mudra gers touch each other. Join together the tips
of the pinky ÿ ngers, ring ÿ ngers and thumbs.
With the thumbs pointed upwards, rest your
hands on the solar plexus (Figure 7.10).
The heart
Hridaya Mudra
The pancreas
Viparita Mudra
Curl your index ÿ nger into the base of the
thumb, and touch the tip of the thumb to the With your palms facing you, turn your hands
tips of the ring and middle ÿ ngers. Extend outwardly so that the backs of the hands rest
the pinky ÿ nger. ˜ is calms heart palpita- against each other in front of the heart. ˜ is
tions, and it is reputed as being capable of activates and warms the pancreas, and is
stopping a heart attack (Figure 7.9). said to be good for diabetes (Figure 7.11).

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 Mudras for Supporting Diaphragms

Mesentery
Agni-Namaskara Mudra
Join the tips of the four ÿ ngers together,
with the heels of the hands apart from each
other. Cross the right thumb over the leˆ
thumb with the tips resting on the side of
the knuckle at the base of the index ÿ nger
(Figure 7.12).

The kidney
Figure 7.10 Manipura Chakra Mudra Kurma Mudra
Fold in the middle ring and pinky ÿ ngers of
the leˆ hand, leaving the index ÿ nger and
thumb extended. Fold in the middle and ring
ÿ ngers of the right hand leaving the index

Figure 7.11 Viparita Mudra Figure 7.12 Agni-Namaskara Mudra

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 CHAPTER 7

ÿ nger, pinky ÿ nger and thumb extended. Kidney/bladder

Place the tip of the right pinky ÿ nger on the
tip of the leˆ index ÿ nger. Place the tip of Kilaka Mudra
the right index ÿ nger on the tip of the leˆ
With wrists crossed and your hands back
thumb. Place the tip of the right thumb at the
to back, hook your pinky ÿ ngers. Touch the
base of the leˆ palm on the far side of the
tips of the thumbs, index and middle ÿ ngers
inner wrist. Rest your hands in front of your
together, with the ring ÿ nger pointing out at
solar plexus (Figure 7.13).
a 45-degree angle. Hold in front of the heart
(Figure 7.14).

Figure 7.13 Kurma Mudra Figure 7.14 Kilaka Mudra

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 66

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 MUDRAS FOR CHAKRAS AND
THE CENTRAL CHANNEL

Thus far we have applied Mudras to our

developing perception of our internal anat-
omy. The anatomy that we have explored
has been squarely within the traditions of
anatomy as studied in any Western institu-
tion. Eastern visions of anatomy include
many currents of vitality that could never
8
have been carefully observing and reÿ ning
awareness of the phenomena that occupy
that 99.999% of atom space for at least 3000
years. What has been observed and codiÿ ed
are pathways of vitality throughout the body,
which are also known as nadis, marmas and
meridians. ° is vitality is called Prana or
be deduced from dead bodies. The only qi. ° e currents in these pathways are fed
way to know about these currents is to by vortexes within the body, called dan tien
experience them. Mudras provide the sim- and chakras. Organizing all of these path-
plest, surest way to have these experiences. ways and vortexes is the central channel or
Sushumna. ° e fact that these phenomena
It is generally agreed that about 99.999% are not readily perceived or easily measured
of an atom is empty space, and that only does not mean that they do not exist.
about 0.001% consists of actual matter. It is
also well known that whether one perceives A pioneer in the study of the phenomenol-
matter as a particle or a wave is completely ogy of the human body, Dr. Ida P. Rolf (1895–
dependent on the expectation of the observ- 1979) was the founder of Rolÿ ng Structural
er. And yet the entire superstructure of sci- Integration (RSI). RSI has become the most
entiÿ c inquiry for the last 300 years or more successful modality in the ÿ eld that has
has been based on measuring the 0.001% of become known as alternative or complemen-
matter. ° erefore, it’s reasonable to wonder tary healthcare. Dr. Ida P. Rolf was an early
about what else is happening in the remain- adopter of the discipline of yoga that was new
ing 99.999% consisting of space. Could it be to America in the 1920s. She certainly knew
something that we don’t yet have the instru- about Eastern concepts of chakras and the
ments or will to measure? central channel. She developed an entirely
new way of perceiving and conceiving the
Systems of thought that have emerged human body, as a structural or architec-
on the Indian subcontinent and in China tural phenomenon. ° is radical alteration

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 CHAPTER 8

to our vision of reality is based on the idea Teaching materials on the functions of
that a human body is held together by the chakras abound everywhere. In keeping with
tensegrity-like coherence of fascia rather than my phenomenological approach, it makes
musculoskeletal biomechanics. ° is was her more sense to me to actually learn to feel the
central message. In bringing forth this idea chakras. As our feelings become commonplace
she chose not to take on the larger question then we can gradually relate those feelings
of what organizes the entirety of that bodily to occurrences in our lives. From that point
structure in any detail. She taught that the onwards we can use the Mudras to normalize
body was organized around a midline. ° is the ˝ ow of the chakras and thereby a˙ ect how
midline has no anatomical correlative but we are able to respond to events a˙ ecting the
rather is a perception that co-arises as a body circumstances of our lives. I have chosen two
is brought into alignment with gravity. When Mudras per chakra based on the ease of their
I trained as a Rolfer over 35 years ago (ÿ ve accessibility and the power that they have
years a˛ er Dr. Rolf’s death), discussions of demonstrated to me and my students. A˛ er
the midline were mystical, and torturous if naming the Mudra I have added the name of
scrutinized by a scientiÿ c mind. the primary source providing my knowledge
Dr. Rolf’s central message concerning the of it. As you do the Mudras, you may notice a
importance of fascia, 75 years a˛ er she began tingling in the area of the chakra, followed by
to teach, provided the impetus for the cur- feelings of warmth, and then movement. As
rent growth in research and mainstreaming with the other Mudras, it’s best to hold these
of information regarding fascia, which arose positions for 5–45 minutes, or at least until
as the alternative healthcare community (led you experience an involuntary deep breath.
by Rolfer Dr. Tom Findley) joined with the
scientiÿ c research community concerned Muladhara Chakra
with fascia, starting with the ÿ rst Fascial
Research Congress in 2007. ° e ÿ rst chakra, which is located in the
perineum.
Fascia is the bridge between Western
scientiÿ c knowledge and Eastern phe-
nomenological, evidence-based scientif- Chinmaya Mudra (Le Page)
ic knowledge. Acupuncturists and other
followers of TCM accept that fascia is Curl your ÿ ngers into a ÿ st, touch thumbs
the highway supporting the movement and index ÿ ngers together forming a circle.
of qi. ° us, we can own the reality that Rest hands on thighs, palms downwards
Dr. Rolf’s mystical midline is actually the (Figure 8.1).
central channel or Sushumna.
° e easiest path to perceiving the central Muladhara Chakra Mudra (Carroll)
channel is through feeling the chakras that
generate its existence. And the easiest way to Fold your hands inwardly. Extend your
sense the chakras is by doing Mudras. middle ÿ ngers until they join at the tips.

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 Mudras for Chakras and the Central Channel

Yoni Mudra (Arora, Carroll)

With hands outstretched and palms facing
upwards, bend your ring and middle ÿ n-
gers into palms and secure them with your
thumbs. Place ring ÿ ngers behind the oppo-
site middle ÿ ngers and secure them with
your index ÿ ngers. Release the middle ÿ n-
gers and touch the sides of the tips together.
Release the pinky ÿ ngers and place them side
by side. Allow the thumbs to touch the base
of the pinky ÿ ngers (Figure 8.3).
Figure 8.1 Chinmaya Mudra
Svandhisthana Mudra (Le Page)
Place the right hand, cupped, over the lower
abdomen below the navel. Cup the le˛ hand,
facing slightly upward at the level of the
navel, with your forearm parallel to the ˝ oor
to the le˛ of the body (Figure 8.4).

Manipura Chakra
° e third chakra, which is located at the
solar plexus.

Figure 8.2 Muladhara Chakra Mudra

Form two interlocking rings with thumbs

and index ÿ ngers. Hold in front of the pubic
bone. Contract and relax the pelvic ˝ oor at
one-second intervals (Figure 8.2).

Svandhisthana Chakra
° e second chakra, which is located in the Figure 8.3 Yoni Mudra
uterus/prostate.

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 CHAPTER 8

Figure 8.4 Svandtisthana Mudra

Vajra Mudra (Le Page)

Touch the tips of the thumbs and index ÿ n-
gers together in an angular rather than circu-
lar manner. ° en touch the tips of each index
ÿ nger together and of each thumb together.
Now raise the middle ÿ ngers, touching the
tips together, to form a diamond shape. Curl Figure 8.5 Vajra Mudra
the ring and pinky ÿ ngers into the palms.
Hold hands at the solar plexus (Figure 8.5).

Ganesha Mudra (Carroll)

With palms facing in opposite directions,
bend ÿ ngers to hook hands. Rest thumbs
on the outside of the opposite pinky ÿ ngers.
Gently pull. Hold in front of the solar plexus
(Figure 8.6).

Anahat Chakra
° e fourth chakra, which is located behind
the sternum to the right and slightly above Figure 8.6 Ganesha Mudra
the heart.

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 Mudras for Chakras and the Central Channel

Padma Mudra (Le Page)

From a prayer position, separate index,
middle and ring ÿ ngers. Keep the sides of
thumbs, pinky ÿ ngers and wrists togeth-
er. Hold this gesture in front of your heart
(Figure 8.7).

Anahata Chakra Mudra (Carroll)

Place the le˛ ring ÿ nger in the web between
the index and middle ÿ ngers of the right
hand. Place the right ring ÿ nger in the web
Figure 8.8 Anahata Chakra Mudra
between the index and middle ÿ ngers of the
le˛ hand. Curl the le˛ middle ÿ nger to lock
the le˛ ring ÿ nger in place. Curl the right
middle ÿ nger to lock the right middle ÿ nger
into place. Touch the tips of the two middle
ÿ ngers together. Touch the tips of index ÿ n-
gers, pinky ÿ ngers and thumbs together.
Hold in front of the heart (Figure 8.8).

Vishuddha Chakra
° e ÿ ˛ h chakra, which is located at the base
of the throat.

Figure 8.9 Kali Mudra

Kali Mudra (Le Page)

Interlace ÿ ngers to the outside with your
right thumb over le˛ thumb. Extend the
index ÿ ngers upwards and point them
Figure 8.7 Padma Mudra towards your throat. Hold hands at the ster-
num (Figureˆ8.9).

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 CHAPTER 8

Vishuddha Mudra (Carroll)

Interlace ÿ ngers inside. Touch thumbs and
index ÿ ngers at the tips, forming interlock-
ing circles, pulled slightly apart. Hold hands
at chest or throat level (Figure 8.10).

Ajna Chakra (third eye)

° e sixth chakra, which is located at the
pineal gland (in the middle of the brain).

Ajna Chakra Mudra (Carroll) Figure 8.11 Ajna Chakra Mudra

Extend the le˛ index ÿ nger, curling the
other ÿ ngers into the palm. Cover the nails
with your thumb. Grasp the extended index
ÿ nger with your right hand. Use the thumb-
nail to press the outer corner of the le˛ index
ÿ ngernail. Hold in your lap or point towards
the third eye center (Figure 8.11).

Trishula Mudra (Le Page)

Curl your little ÿ ngers towards the base of
your thumbs. Hold them in place with the

Figure 8.12 Trishula Mudra

thumbs. Extend the other ÿ ngers straight

outwards. Rest the back of your hands on
your thighs, or hold them out to the side of
the body (Figure 8.12).

Saharasrara Chakra
Figure 8.10 Vishuddha Mudra ° e seventh chakra (crown), which is located
in the middle of the top of the head.

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 Mudras for Chakras and the Central Channel

Ananta Mudra (Le Page) Sushumna – central channel

From the prayer position, separate hands Dharma Chakra Mudra (Le Page)
and ÿ ngers with wrists kept together. Hold
hands in front of the heart (Figure 8.13). Touch the tips of the thumbs and index ÿ n-
gers together. Place the le˛ palm in front of
the solar plexus facing it, and the right palm
Sakti Mudra (Arora) above it, facing outwardly. Touch the tips of
Interlace ÿ ngers outside. Point your ring ÿ n- thumbs and index ÿ ngers together, extend-
gers upwards. Hold hands above your head ing all other ÿ ngers (Figure 8.15).
with shoulders relaxed (Figure 8.14).
Shakata Mudra (Le Page)
With palms facing down, make loose ÿ sts.
Extend your thumbs and index ÿ ngers, with
the tips of the thumbs touching. Hold hands
below the navel, pointing straight ahead
(Figure 8.16).
Practicing these Mudra sequentially with
regularity will quickly familiarize you with
the presence, frequently heralded by a sense
of tingling, of your chakras. With an aware-
ness of their presence, a gradual awareness
of the connection between the chakras will
Figure 8.13 Ananta Mudra emerge. In attending to the sensation of these

Figure 8.14 Sakti Mudra Figure 8.15 Dharma Chakra Mudra

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 CHAPTER 8

connections, it is useful to experiment with

your posture. Achieving verticality while
being at ease will facilitate this awareness
of the connectivity through your central
channel. ° e exercises on breathing into the
diaphragms will support you in achieving
ease in your structure.

Figure 8.16 Shakata Mudra

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 DIAPHRAGMS REVISITED

Now that we have been exposed to the

existence of chakras within our physical
bodies, it is time to take another look at
the six diaphragms. Exploration of these
diaphragms reveals that, in addition to
their physical body functions, the dia-
phragms serve to unlock those aspects of
9
I have uncovered two generalized approach-
es which systematically elicit these e° ects:
wringing the diaphragms (as in wringing
a washcloth) and activating the shape of
inÿ nity. ˜ e essence of the wringing action
involves moving each diaphragm in oppo-
site directions. Doing this interrupts our
ourselves best described as “spiritual.” By habitual human holding patterns, which in
spiritual, I am not referring to a con- turn awakens our awareness of these areas.
ventional conception of an external and Moving our diaphragms in the shape of
separate divinity, but rather, to the more inÿ nity also includes a non-habitual move-
phenomenological internal experience of ment, thereby also awakening awareness.
accessing something that exists beyond Further, when undertaking this motion in
anatomy: the animating life-force. an embodied, comprehensive way, we are
inviting our bodies to organize and integrate
By targeting our breathing and by the brain function.
selective tightening and releasing of our
musculature we can “turn on” or ignite many Indeed, these techniques have been proven
esoteric or non-physical structures. ˜ ese eso- to positively impact cognitive functioning in
teric structures are thoroughly explored and children
commonly included in TCM and qigong
practices (for example, Dantien), as well as (Hannaford, 1995).
in Ayurveda (for example, the Sushumna),
or in discussions of the central channel and, We shall consider these two approaches with
of course, the chakras. each of the diaphragms, beginning with the
˜ us far, through experimentation, both diaphragms of the head, and then progress-
in my personal development practices and ing downwards to the diaphragms of the
through working with clients and students, thorax.

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 CHAPTER 9

Diaphragms of the head

• Hold your left hand about 30.5 cm in
Wringing the neurovisceral diaphragm front of your left ear. Relax your left eye
As we have discussed, anatomists generally until you can sense your left hand. You
divide the head into the neurocranium (the may visually see it, or you may simply
area housing the structures of the brain) have a general impression of its exis-
and the viscerocranium (the breathing/ tence in space. Even this impression
eating/speaking part of the face). ˜ e one will be enough to achieve the desired
variable that I have never seen discussed effect. Take your time, and allow this
with reference to experiencing this divi- double focusing to settle. Now, look
sion is the conscious activation of the focal sharply to the right. Then close both
lengths of the eyes. of your eyes and feel the area of your
Eyes have the capability of changing their brain that is activated as a result.
focal length so that they can see objects at • Repeat this process focusing your
a distance, and they can perceive objects in left eye on the lines of your left hand,
their periphery. Using the muscles of the and your right eye on the wide-angle
eye, we are able to change our focus from periphery of your right ear. Now, look
close to far and everywhere in between. We sharply to the left. Close your eyes
can also so˝ en the focus to receive images and feel the entirety of your brain.
rather than to reach out and grab whatever
we are focusing upon. As we do so, more
and more of the periphery comes into our
vision. We tend not to consider that it is
possible to change the focal length of each
eye independently from the other, mainly
because we haven’t considered that such an ˜ is activity brings into awareness the
action is possible. But in fact it is not only dimensionality of the brain. It becomes pos-
possible, it is also easy to do. sible to navigate with your awareness from
the front to the back of the brain, from the top
to the bottom, and through all the involved
diagonals. ˜ is has important neurogenera-
• Hold your right hand 5.1–7.6 cm away tive, physiological and psychological impli-
from and slightly underneath your cations and can stimulate brain healing with
right eye. Feel the muscles in the bot- accuracy and immediacy. ˜ us when we do
tom of your eye focus on the lines on the Mudras for the Ajna Chakra (third eye),
the palm of your hand. As you do this, we can identify the location of the pineal
gland with precision. ˜ is in turn allows us
allow the muscles of your left eye to
to locate the energetic center of the Upper
relax.
Dantian to the general brain structures
surrounding it, as seen in Figure 9.1.

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 Diaphragms Revisited

Pineal

Falx cerebri

Corpus callosum

Frontal sinus

Pituitary

Cerebellum
Medulla
Pons
Spinal cord

Figure 9.1 Neurovisceral diaphragm (separating the brain from the seeing-breathing-
tasting apparatuses)

Wringing the breathing/tasting front of the right side of your throat towards
diaphragm the middle. Again, relax your face. As you
relax, feel the li˝ -physical elongation that
˜ e breathing/tasting diaphragm separates emerges as the middle of your face lengthens
the nasal passages from the roof of the mouth away from the neurovisceral diaphragm.
until they join together at the opening to the
throat. To wring this diaphragm, raise the
right side of your nose into the facial expres- Wringing the floor of the mouth/top
sion of a sneer. At the same time, move the of the throat diaphragm
right side of your face forward from the nose.
Now, squeezing the front of your face on the Finally, move your lips and your jaw all the
right, while simultaneously squeezing the way to the right, then move your lips and jaw
front of the throat on the le˝ , squeeze both all the way to the le˝ . As you relax, feel the
towards the middle of your face. Relax your top of your throat open as the length that
face then reverse the process. Sneer on the started to emerge from the middle of your
le˝ then squeeze both the le˝ front and the face is extended down into your throat.

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 CHAPTER 9

Activating the infinity sign in the dia- in tarot card decks. It is the sign of having
phragms of the head access to spiritual power (Figure 9.2).

Many explorations have revealed that if we

follow the shape of the inÿ nity sign, ˙ , then, Neurovisceral diaphragm
with our awareness, we will also activate our
awareness of the esoteric structures in our Accessing the eyes’ ability to change their
body. ˜ is is the meaning of the inÿ nity sign focal lengths is the key to activating the inÿ n-
over the head of ˜ e Magician, and over the ity sign for the neurovisceral diaphragm.
head of the lion-tamer in the strength card Close your eyes. With the muscles of your

Figure 9.2 Illustrations taken from The Rider-Waite Tarot Deck, published in 1909, by
William Rider & Son, London.

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 Diaphragms Revisited

right eye, pull your right eye in towards the ward and back to the middle. Repeat this
midline, as though you were actually look- motion and then relax. Feel the entirety of
ing inside your head. Now, pull your eye your throat so˝ en and open.
back and look to the right side. When your
eye is at its farthest most lateral point, begin
to lengthen your focal length. As your eye Working with the diaphragms of
is looking straight ahead, have your sharp-
est distance focus. As your eye moves back the thorax
medially, reduce the focal length and switch Wringing the cervico-thoracic
over to your le˝ eye. diaphragm
Now, your le˝ eye will naturally move back-
wards, as if looking at something very close, As you may recall, we can become aware of the
and will consequently follow the mirror pat- division between the bottom of the neck and
tern of the right eye. ˜ e aggregate impact of the top of the thorax through conscious, tar-
these movements will add up to a naturally, geted breathing. Two simple strategies high-
almost e° ortlessly created ˙ . A˝ er perform- lights its existence in our awareness. We may
ing this motion several times, relax, and feel inhale and exhale through our noses while
the inside of your brain. maintaining awareness of the lateral sides of
our tongue. ˜ is forces breath into this dia-
phragm. Alternately, we may breathe both in
The breathing/tasting diaphragm and out, as through a very small straw. ˜ is
way of breathing concentrates the air and
Bring the right side of the roof of your mouth draws our awareness to this diaphragm.
back towards the center of your head, then
move right and then around in a circle. As We also may use our pre-mudras to both
you return to the midline, resume the cir- direct the breath to the cervico-thoracic dia-
cular motion with the le˝ side of the roof of phragm and to bring about its wringing.
your mouth. Relax and feel the spaciousness With the right hand, touch the tips of
between the roof of your mouth and the back your thumb and index ÿ ngers. With the le˝
of your eyes. hand, touch the tip of the thumb to the ÿ n-
gernail of the index ÿ nger. ˜ is pre-mudra
The floor of the mouth diaphragm forces the air into the front of the right side
of the cervico-thoracic diaphragm and into
An identical ˙ motion can be easily made the back of the le˝ side. Reverse the ÿ ngers,
with the ˆ oor of the mouth by moving the touching the tips of the le˝ thumb and index
jaw. Pull the right side of your jaw back- ÿ nger together while touching the tips of the
wards, then make a circular motion moving thumb to the ÿ ngernail of the right index
towards your right ear, then out to the front, ÿ nger. ˜ is will force the air into the front of
and then back to the middle. Take over this the le˝ side of this diaphragm, while forcing
motion with the le˝ side of the jaw, moving air into its back side on the right. Relax and
backwards, then towards the le˝ ear, for- feel the diaphragm so˝ en and open up.

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 CHAPTER 9

Several Mudras also have the capacity to Next, reverse this conÿ guration. Touch the
bring about the sensation of opening the tip of the le˝ thumb to the tip of the le˝
cervico-thoracic diaphragm and, as a result, ring ÿ nger while touching the tip of the
to relax the entirety of the throat. In par- right thumb to the ÿ ngernail of the right
ticular, Linga Mudra powerfully activates pinky ÿ nger. ˜ is forces the air into the
the Udana Vayu. front of the le˝ half of the respiratory dia-
phragm while forcing the air into the back
of the right half. Relax.
Udana ˜ e dimensionality of the Middle Dantien
Upward and circulating from the neck up is revealed as we gain awareness of the spa-
into the head
ciousness inside our ribcage and the front of
our abdomens. Also, the path of the central
channel, from the solar plexus (Manipura
Linga Mudra (Le Page) Chakra) up to the third eye (Ajna Chakra)
Increased energy and mental clarity, good through the middle of our bodies becomes
for headaches. Interlace your fingers on clariÿ ed and outlined by breathing in this
the outside of your hands with your right way (Figure 9.3).
thumb on top of the left thumb. Extend
your left thumb straight upwards in the
air while resting your wrists on your solar
plexus.

Trachea

Wringing the respiratory diaphragm

To refresh the body memory of feeling the
entirety of the respiratory diaphragm, open
your mouth into the size of a large circle. Heart

Breathe in and out with your mouth in

this shape. ˜ is will engage all of this dia- Liver
phragm. Diaphragm
We can wring this diaphragm, again, Stomach
using pre-mudras. Touch the tip of the Kidney
right ring ÿ nger with the tip of the right
Aorta
thumb. Touch the tip of the le˝ thumb to
the ÿ ngernail of the le˝ pinky ÿ nger. ˜ is
will force the air into the front of the right Figure 9.3
half of the respiratory diaphragm while
forcing the air into the back of the le˝ half.

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 Diaphragms Revisited

Wringing the pelvic floor Now tighten the urethra on the le˝ side of
the pelvic ˆ oor while tightening the mus-
Mimicking breathing through a large straw culature to the right of the coccyx. Again,
will direct the breath to the pelvic ˆ oor squeeze. Relax.
during both the inhalation and exhala-
tion phases. Speciÿ c muscle tightening, as ˜ e spaciousness of the Lower Dantien,
performed in the section on toning and encompassing the pelvis, the lower belly
clarifying the musculature of pelvic ˆ oor, and the retroperitoneal space behind the
will facilitate wringing this diaphragm. solar plexus, is now revealed. You will also
Tighten the urethra on the right side of the become aware of the lower part of the cen-
pelvic ˆ oor while tightening the muscu- tral channel from the solar plexus to the
lature on the le˝ side of the coccyx. Now base chakra (Muladhara chakra) located at
squeeze those two muscles tightly. Release. the perineum (Figures 9.4 and 9.5).

Liver
Liver
Spleen
Spleen Aorta
Aorta Stomach
Stomach

Ovary

Bladder
Bladder

Pubic symphysis

Rectum
Rectum

Figure 9.4 Lower Dantian - Female Figure 9.5 Lower Dantian - Male

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 CHAPTER 9

Now that we have gone through this phragm is enough for the esoteric structures
protocol, practice will make it possible to to reveal themselves.
merely wring the pelvic ˆ oor diaphragm, It is helpful to use the mouth positions
then wring the neurovisceral diaphragm, for breathing into each diaphragm while
and the entire central channel will become moving that diaphragm. For the cervico-
energetically illuminated (as if by magic). thoracic diaphragm, breathe as if through a
It even becomes possible to engage in small straw. For the respiratory diaphragm,
these two wringing exercises simultane- breathe with your mouth shaped into a large
ously, which in and of itself will feel like an circle. And for the pelvic ˆ oor, breathe as
intense spiritual experience. It will awaken, though through a large straw.
enlighten and transform you, and can be
accessed almost instantaneously a˝ er dili- I ÿ nd that beginning your ˙ by initially
gent practice. moving towards the back of the body tends
to elicit the esoteric structures more read-
ily and more powerfully than by starting
Activating the infinity sign in the dia- moving forward.
phragms of the thorax
Once these sensations become a part of
Each of the diaphragms of the thorax can your normal body experience, simply by
e° ortlessly be moved in the shape of the Ujjayi breathing then you can activate the
inÿ nity sign. ˜ e simple motion at each dia- entire spiritual/esoteric complex.

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 VAYUS

vitality known as Vayus. Through Mudras,

10
In addition to the energy flows through the
Sushumna, the Indian or Vedic vision of
the body includes five separate currents of

it is possible to feel these currents read-

ily. Every moment spent practicing these
Vayu Mudras will increase the quality of
Prana Mudra (Le Page)
Increases vitality and optimism. Touch the
tips of the thumbs to the tips of the ring
and pinky ÿ ngers, and extend the index and
middle ÿ ngers into a V-shape. Rest the backs
of your hands on your thighs, or, for more
your life. Prana will lift your spirits. Apana energy, extend your hands to the sides, with
has reduced my blood pressure dramati- palms facing forward.
cally and grounded me in real time as I
faced potentially ungrounding situations.
Samana connects us to the environment Prana Mudra (Arora)
and also to a state of equanimity that is
˛ e same as Prana Mudra (le Page) above
conducive for self-healing. Udana opens
except the index and ring ÿ ngers are
the throat, encouraging self-expression
together. For a more powerful invocation,
in real time as well as managing cold-like
the thumbs hold the pinky and ring ÿ ngers
symptoms. And Vyana facilitates distribut-
at second phalange to increase the ÿ re and
ing heat to the extremities. Those effects
burn up fat (Figure 10.1).
are at the superficial, one involuntary deep
breath level. Deeper benefits of connect-
ing us to our environment and to deeper Apana
aspects of ourselves are also readily avail-
able. Downward purifying current, letting go.

Prana Apana Mudra (Le Page)

Upward vitalizing current, which li˜ s the Supports all kinds of elimination and lowers
heart. blood pressure. Touch the tips of thumbs,

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 CHAPTER 10

Samana
Inward and outward horizontally with the
breath.

Matangi Mudra (Le Page)

Digestion and assimilation. Interlace ÿ ngers
to the outside, right thumb over le˜ . Extend
middle ÿ ngers, joining together and point-
ing forward. Rest your wrists on the solar
Figure 10.1 Prana Mudra plexus.

Samana Mudra (Arora)

middle and ring ÿ ngers together (both
hands). Extend the index and pinky ÿ ngers. Assimilation. Join all your ÿ ngers and both
Rest the backs of your hands on thighs or thumb tips together. Hold them at the level
knees. of the solar plexus (Figure 10.3).

Apana Mudra (Arora) Udana

˛ e same as Apana Mudra (Le Page) above. Upward and circulating from the neck up
To intensify letting go, hold a second phal- into the head.
ange of middle and ring ÿ ngers with thumbs
(Figure 10.2).

Figure 10.2 Apana Mudra Figure 10.3 Samana Mudra

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 Vayus

Linga Mudra (Le Page)

Increased energy and mental clarity, good for
headaches. Interlace ÿ ngers outside with the
right thumb on top. Extend the le˜ thumb
straight up. Rest your wrists on the solar
plexus (Figure 10.4).

Figure 10.5 Udana Mudra

Vyana
Circulating from the center to the periphery.
Figure 10.4 Linga Mudra
Anushasana Mudra (Le Page)
Udana Mudra (Arora) Make a ÿ st with your thumb resting on the
second knuckle of the ring ÿ nger. Extend
Good for the thyroid, it makes the voice your index ÿ nger straight outwards. Rest the
melodious. Join the tips of the thumbs with backs of your hands on your thighs.
index, middle and ring ÿ ngers. Extend the
pinky ÿ nger. Hold at the level of the solar
plexus (Figure 10.5).

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 CHAPTER 10

Vyana Mudra (Arora)

Good for high blood pressure and also to
distribute heat. Join the tips of the index and
middle ÿ ngers together with the tips of the
thumbs. Extend your ring and pinky ÿ nger.
Rest the backs of your hands on thighs
(Figure 10.6).
(Figures from Le Page, Mudras pp 126–137.
Aurora, Mudra: the Sacred Secret pp 191–201.)

Figure 10.6 Vyana vayu

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 FIVE ELEMENTS
REVISITED

We have ample evidence that the position-

ing of our fingers and the positioning
of our hands directs the location of our
breathing into specific areas of our bodies.
By affecting breathing, the positioning
of our hands, and Mudras, affect the
way our hearts beat. This in turn affects
11
of hormonal support for the body’s self-
healing processes.

Ideally, a biochemically oriented physi-

ologist might be able to track the changes
linking the change of breathing patterns to
changes in hormonal secretions, lympho-
the functioning of our hearts. As the cyte activity, histamine reactions, etc. ˜ is
true master endocrine organ, the heart would suggest a causal relationship between
is exquisitely sensitive to the metabolic/ breathing di° erently and bodily functions.
hormonal needs of each part of the body. (Such a train of inquiry could easily be the
This information is updated in real time basis of an argument for Mindfulness Medi-
as the blood returning through the vena tation.) It also allows us to blithely continue
cava carries within it reports on how the with default thinking habits. In other words,
rest of the body is faring. This real-time those chemical reactions which are initiated
update is remarkably fast: blood travels by more e˛ cient breathing are no di° erent
from the heart, throughout the body, and to a chemical chain reaction reproduced in
back to the heart in an average time of a laboratory. ˜ ere’s no life-force included or
60 seconds. Thus, by changing the way we necessary. By maintaining our default mech-
breathe, we upgrade the body’s metabolic anistic perspective we are locked into the
functioning. This upgrade is supported by idea that health is deÿ ned by a lack of some
the addition of spaciousness introduced pathological processes, an out-of-control
by the expansion caused by the inhalation, chemical reaction, which we can stop with a
which in turn allows the body to perform silver bullet.
numerous local metabolic functions that ˜ is is the moment that the paradigm shi˙
ordinarily would be inhibited by local from the idea of the body as anatomy to the
tightness. These functions include cleans- body as the locus of experience and perception
ing and, as mentioned, the introduction can come forth. Blood, as the carrier of the

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 CHAPTER 11

ingredients necessary for self-healing, is alive ˜ e idea of our bodies being comprised of
and full of life-force. Blood in the embryonic the interaction of ÿ ve elements appears an
state circulates before there is a heart, before abstract notion. Nothing we’ve learned in our
the heart develops. In fact, the blood creates standard Western educations provides any
the heart as an organ of impedance for the means or methodologies for confronting or
blood ˆ ow to synchronize and regulate all understanding this idea.ˇFor those of us truly
body functions. (Scientists no longer con- locked into Western scientiÿ c orthodoxy, the
sider the heart to be a pump, largely because idea of ÿ ve elements is at worst regarded as
blood is responsible for its own movement.) one of arrogance and condescension.
˜ us, the functioning of the blood is not a Mudras, however, transform these abstract
mechanical process, but a living, intelligent notions into universal reproducible body sen-
process which is governed by the morphoge- sations. By taking baby steps we can develop
netic ÿ eld into which we are born and live a library of sensations, which, in turn, can
(Furst, 2014). support the transformation of our vision
As has been noted earlier, Western scien- of our bodies and how they relate to our
tists do not consider vitality.ˇAccordingly, environment.
there is no inherent overview within Western ˜ e ÿ ve elements within the three systems
science as to the components of these living are not identical, perhaps reˆ ecting the vast
processes. Since we are entering new territo- and di° erent terrains of India, Tibet and
ry, it may be wise to learn from other systems China. Nonetheless, although the name ele-
of health that have been considering ques- ments di° er between systems, they are large-
tions of vitality for thousands of years. ˜ e ly analogous with regard to the areas of the
three major systems of health (o˙ en referred body to which they direct the breath.
to as Eastern Medicine), the Hindu system,
Ayurveda, the Tibetan system of health, and Let us consider each of the elements in
the Classical Chinese Medicine, di° er from turn. Hold each Mudra for at least two min-
Western science in that each values a coher- utes. Note where your breathing is directed,
ent life view which incorporates all forms of and notice which part(s) of your body come
life within the context of the phenomenolo- to your attention.
gy of the Universe, or what can be perceived
and studied. Earth
˜ ese three systems begin with the prem- In Ayurveda representing solidity and groun-
ise that the human form is a microcosm of dedness; in Chinese Medicine representing
the Universe. All three systems state that all nourishment and nourishing.
life comprises ÿ ve archetypal elements, each
of which is a pure expression of a type of life- Prithvi Mudra
force. ˜ e interaction of these ÿ ve archetypal
elements gives rise to the multiplicity of life’s Touch the tip of the thumb with the tip of the
expression, both within the human body ring ÿ nger. Keep the other ÿ ngers straight
and the macrocosm. (Figure 11.1).

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 Five Elements Revisited

Figure 11.1 Prithvi Mudra

Water
In Ayurveda, representing ˆ uidity and
adaptability; in Chinese Medicine, repre-
senting energy and ˆ uidity.

Jala Mudra
Figure 11.2 Jala Mudra
Touch the pinky ÿ ngertip with the tip of
the thumb. Keep the other ÿ ngers straight
(Figure 11.2).

Fire
In Ayurveda, representing energy, luminos-
ity and enthusiasm; in Chinese Medicine,
representing energy and enthusiasm.

Agni Namaskara Mudra

Bend the ring ÿ nger from the second phal-
ange to the base of the thumb.ˇPress with
the thumb. Keep the other ÿ ngers straight Figure 11.3 Agni Namaskara Mudra
(Figure 11.3).

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 CHAPTER 11

Vayu Mudra
Bend the index ÿ nger from the second joint to
the root of the thumb. Press with theˇthumb.
Keep the other ÿ ngers straight (Figure 11.5).

Ether (space)
In the Vedic system representing vastness
and expansion.

Metal
In the Chinese system representing inspira-
tion and elimination.

Figure 11.4 Surya Mudra

Surya Mudra
˜ e same as for Agni Mudra, but the action
of the thumb is more forceful (Figure 11.4).

Air
In the Vedic system representing mobility
and lightness.

Wood
In Chinese Medicine representing growth Figure 11.5 Vayu Mudra
and determination.

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 Five Elements Revisited

Akasha Mudra speciÿ c elements. ˜ anks to this, we can

gain both clarity and complexity in our
Touch the top of the middle ÿ nger with the study of the elements. Allow me to suggest a
tip of the thumb. Keep the other ÿ ngers few of my current favorites.
straight (Figure 11.6).
˜ ese Mudras eliciting awareness of the Earth – Murti
Five Elements have been recommended
by the main authorities on Mudras, upon
whom I have relied most heavily in my stud-
ies, the Le Pages and Indu Arora.ˇBecause
of the superb organization of the Mudras
for Healing and Transformation (Le Page
and Le Page, 2014), it is possible to compile
an extensive list of Mudras that highlight

Figure 11.7 Murti Mudra

Water – Mira

Figure 11.6 Akasha Mudra Figure 11.8 Mira Mudra

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 CHAPTER 11

Fire – Abhisheka Wood – Vajrapradama

Figure 11.9 Abhisheka Mudra Figure 11.11 Vajrapradama Mudra

Earth – Adhara Metal – Garuda

Figure 11.12 Garuda Mudra

Figure 11.10 Adhara Mudra

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 Five Elements Revisited

Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood – Finally, it must be pointed out that, unlike
Shakata the smaller and smaller units of anatomy
which are di˛ cult to relate to, each of the
elements inspires our connection to the fea-
tures of the Earth. ˜ rough that identiÿ ca-
tion our imaginations are kindled. We can
go into reverie and discover meaning for
ourselves (Bachelard, 2006, 2011A,B, 2012).

Figure 11.13 Shakata Mudra

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 USING MUDRAS
TO EXPERIENCE
MERIDIANS

By upgrading our perception of our bodies

beyond the limited concept of ourselves as
anatomy to the lived experience of numer-
ous flows of life-force (qi) as it travels
throughout our bodies, we transform
our awareness of our bodies from being
“things” to becoming the center of our
12 precision, that with minimal training you
will be able to perceive the flows within
the meridians.
Our starting point is to review the expe-
rience of the Vayus. As discussed earlier,
Vayus are vital currents of Prana, or life-
force, which Ayurvedic practitioners have
perception and experiences. observed circulating throughout our bodies
One of the difficulties that we West- for thousands of years. Of the ÿ ve Vayus,
erners can often experience as we try to three are directly relevant to experienc-
understand TCM is that, within our soci- ing the ° ow of chi in the meridians. Once
ety, there is no framework for explain- we feel the sensation of the current, we
ing the phenomena of chi/qi or life-force. will then reÿ ne that sensation by doing the
Thus meridians, or the pathways where Mudras for the ÿ ve elements. ˛ ese in turn
this mysterious life-force travels, remain will heighten our awareness of the merid-
purely conceptual to us. That is, of course, ians.
until we have an experience through acu-
puncture or shiatsu, during which we can
feel those flows. However, because we have Prana Vayu
been taught to distrust our experiences, Perhaps the simplest vital current to experi-
even if we do feel these flows, our first ence is the upward vitalizing current known
inclination will often be to doubt our feel- as Prana. ˛ is current travels up the entire
ings—and doubt ourselves. Fortunately, front of the body. Remember that the ana-
because of the existence of Mudras and the tomical position for meridians requires the
understanding through application that I arms reaching up with your palms facing
hope you will have derived from the exer- forward. Accordingly, the upward moving
cises in this book, you will be able to per- current goes up the front of the body and up
ceive sensations in your bodies with such the front of the arms.

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 CHAPTER 12

To feel this current, we will perform Prana pinky ÿ ngers at the second phalange. Prac-
Mudra. tice this Mudra until you feel the aforemen-
tioned vitalizing current (Figure 12.2).

Prana Mudra (Le Page)

Apana Vayu
Increases vitality and optimism. ˛ e second Vayu that can be readily experi-
Touch the tips of the thumbs to the tips enced is the Apana Vayu. ˛ is current ° ows
of the ring and pinky ÿ ngers. Extend the down the back of the body. ˛ e Mudra that
index and middle ÿ ngers into a V-shape. assists us in perceiving this ° ow is called
Rest the backs of your hands on your thighs, Apana Mudra.
or for more energy, extend the hands to
your sides, with your palms facing forward
(Figure 12.1). Apana Mudra (Le Page)
Supports all kinds of elimination, lowers
blood pressure.
Prana Mudra (Arora)
Using both hands, touch the tips of the
˛ e same as for Prana Mudra (Le Page) thumbs and middle and ring ÿ ngers together.
above, except that the index and ring ÿ ngers Extend the index and little ÿ ngers. Rest the
are together. For a more powerful invoca- backs of your hands on your thighs or knees
tion, use your thumbs to hold the ring and (Figure 12.3).

Figure 12.1 Prana Mudra Figure 12.2 Prana Mudra

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 Using Mudras to Experience Meridians

Water element – kidney and

bladder meridians
We can reÿ ne the movements of the Vayus
by using Mudras for the elements of the
meridians that ° ow up the front and down
the back of the body. For example, in TCM,
the water element is comprised of the kidney
meridian, which ° ows up the front of the
body, and the bladder meridian, which ° ows
down the back of the body.
We can apply the Mudra for the water ele-
Figure 12.3 Apana Mudra ment to reÿ ne both the upward moving cur-
rent and the downward moving current as
these currents transform from a general sen-
sation into the speciÿ c ° ows of the kidney
and bladder meridians.

Jala Mudra
Instilling ° uidity and ° exibility in mind and
body.
Touch the tip of the pinky ÿ nger with the
tip of the thumb. Keep your other ÿ ngers
straight. Rest the back of your hands against
your thighs (Figure 11.2).
You may want to revisit Prana Mudra to
Figure 12.4 Apana Mudra feel the generalized upward moving cur-
rent. Once you feel that current, let go of
Prana Mudra and put your ÿ ngers into Jala
Mudra. ˛ e upward moving current will
coalesce into the kidney meridian. Note
Apana Mudra (Arora) that the internal pathway of the kidney
meridian goes from the front of the pelvis
To intensify the letting go e˝ ects, hold the to the front of the sacrum, and then back
second phalange of the middle and ring ÿ n- to the front of the body. As we switch from
gers with your thumbs. Prana Mudra to Jala Mudra, this inter-
Practice this Mudra until you feel the nal pathway will reveal itself, di˝ erentiat-
desired current (Figure 12.4). ing the kidney meridian from Prana Vayu.

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 CHAPTER 12

External channel flow

Figure 12.5 Kidney Meridian

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 Using Mudras to Experience Meridians

External channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 12.6 Bladder Meridian

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 CHAPTER 12

Now revisit Apana Mudra to feel the Vayu Mudra

downward moving current. Once this sen-
sation is apparent, again let go of Apana Spaciousness within boundaries.
Mudra and perform Jala Mudra. ˛ e sensa- Bend the index ÿ ngers from the second
tion, which coalesces, will give you a physi- joints to the roots of the thumbs. Press both
cal sensation that should heighten your index ÿ ngers down with the thumbs. Keep
awareness of both the kidney meridian and the other ÿ ngers straight and rest the back of
the bladder meridian. ˛ e angle of the fore- your hands against your thighs.
arm will accentuate the two branches of the
Notice that the generalized upward moving
meridian on the back. ˛ e neutral position
current of Prana Mudra swi˙ ly ° ows to the
of the forearm will highlight the medial
path of the liver meridian. Also, notice that
branch, while li˙ ing the pinky ÿ nger and
your sides begin to experience sensations,
going into external rotation will emphasize
following the path of the gall bladder merid-
the lateral branch of the bladder meridian
ians.
(Figuresˆ12.5 andˆ12.6).
A˙ er experiencing these ° ows for up to
With minimal practice, you will feel both
ÿ ve minutes, have a look at Figures 12.7 and
the upward moving current and the down-
12.8. Again, incorporate the internal ° ows of
ward moving current simultaneously, proof
the meridians as you practice.
that there is more to you than your anatomy,
irrefutable evidence of the existence of chi.
As you practice, be sure to incorporate the
internal ° ows of the meridians. Earth element - spleen and
stomach meridians
To experience the Earth element, which con-
Wood element – liver and gall sists of the spleen and the stomach merid-
bladder meridians ians, in action you should expect not only
˛ e Wood element, which consists of an “up the front” sensation but also a “down
theˆliver and gall bladder meridians, circu- the front” sensation, which will follow the
lates up the front of the body, yet its jour- pattern of circulation of the spleen and
neys do not involve the back. Instead, this stomach meridians. ˛ e procedure to be
meridian funnels energy down the side of followed is: Begin with Prana Mudra, this
the body. To experience this ° ow of vital time followed by the Mudra for the Earth
current, we will practice a speciÿ c Mudra element.
for releasing liver and gall bladder stag-
nation. But ÿ rst, let us begin with Prana
Mudra. ˛ en, once you have facilitated Prithvi Mudra
energetic awareness of the upward moving
current, we will follow that with Vaya Grounding and stability.
Mudra, the Mudra that corresponds to the Touch the tips of the thumbs to the tips
Wood element. of the ring ÿ ngers. Keep the other ÿ ngers

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 Using Mudras to Experience Meridians

Internal channel flow

External channel flow

Figure 12.7 Liver Meridian

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 CHAPTER 12

External channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 12.8 Gallbladder Meridian

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 Using Mudras to Experience Meridians

External channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 12.9 Spleen Meridian

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 CHAPTER 12

External channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 12.10 Stomach Meridian

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 Using Mudras to Experience Meridians

Vyana Mudra (Arora)

Good for high blood pressure.
Join the tips of the index and middle ÿ n-
gers to the tips of the thumbs while extend-
ing the ring and pinky ÿ ngers. Rest the backs
of your hands on your thighs.
˛ is circulation from the center to the
periphery also describes the movement of
many meridians. ˛ is movement describes
the paths of several meridians of both the
Figure 12.11 Prithvi Mudra Fire and Metal elements. Let us begin by
making distinctions on the basis of these
elements.

straight and rest the backs of your hands

against your thighs (Figure 12.11). Fire element – heart, pericardium,
A˙ er sitting with these sensations for up to
small intestine and triple heater
ÿ ve minutes, look at Figures 12.9 and 12.10 meridians
which describe these meridians in detail. ˛ e Fire element encompasses four merid-
Notice how the internal ° ows send vitality to ians: the heart, the small intestine, the
the organs. pericardium and the triple heater. Each of
these meridians traverses to and from the
Vyana Vayu arms and to and from the torso. Practice
the Vyana Mudra for up to ÿ ve minutes and
˛ e next set of sensations to be considered then immediately follow up with the Mudra
are those associated with the Vyana Vayu. for the Fire element, Agni Mudra.
˛ e currents of Vyana Vayu circulate from
the center of the body to its periphery. ˛ ere
are two Mudras that are o˙ en taught to expe- Surya Mudra
rience these currents.
Generates warmth and radiance.
Bend the ring ÿ nger from the second phal-
Anushasana Mudra (Le Page) ange to the base of the thumb. Press the ring
Make a ÿ st with the thumb resting on ÿ nger with the thumb. Keep the other ÿ n-
the second knuckle of the ring ÿ nger and gers straight and rest the backs of your hands
with the index ÿ nger extending straight on your thighs.
out. Rest the backs of your hands on your Surya Mudra will concentrate the sen-
thighs. sations of the currents to the arms. ˛ e

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 CHAPTER 12

External channel flow External channel flow

Internal channel flow Internal channel flow

Figure 12.12 Heart Meridian Figure 12.13 Pericardium Meridian

sensations can be further localized by turn- highlighted. Experiment with these feelings
ing the wrists. If the wrists are turned in and then study these charts.
anˆ extreme external rotation—in other
words, raising the little ÿ ngers up in the We will need the speciÿ city of the place-
air—then one current will be prominent. ment of the interosseous membrane to
With the wrist ° at on the thigh, another cur- di˝ erentiate among the Fire meridians. For
rent will be prominent. Moving into internal
rotation, with the hand perpendicular to the the heart meridian, while holding Surya
thigh, a third set of sensations will be promi- Mudra, slightly li˙ the little ÿ nger, turning
nent; and with the palm nearly ° at against the hand and forearm in external rotation.ˆIt
the thigh, a fourth set of sensations will be is also helpful to extend the pinky ÿ nger. Be

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 Using Mudras to Experience Meridians

Internal channel flow

External channel flow

Figure 12.14 Small Intestine Meridian

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 CHAPTER 12

External channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 12.15 Triple Heater Meridian

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 Using Mudras to Experience Meridians

sure to include the internal pathways of the Akasha Mudra

heart meridian in your inner sensing.
Join the tips of the middle ÿ ngers with the
For the pericardium meridian, maintain tips of the thumbs. Keep the other ÿ ngers
your forearms in a neutral position, but straight, and rest your hands at a 45-degree
slightly stretch the middle ÿ nger. angle on your thighs so that your ring and
For both the small intestine and the triple pinky ÿ ngers are touching your thighs.
heater meridians, place the palms of your Now, let us consider the charts for the Lung
hands face down on the thighs while hold- and large intestine meridians (Figures 12.16
ing Surya Mudra. From this position, extend
the pinky ÿ nger to feel the small intestine
meridian ° ow traveling up the arm. ˛ en
turn your hands into a stronger internal
rotation to feel the ° ow of the triple heater
meridians. For these meridians, experi-
encing the internal ° ows of vitality to the
External channel flow
appropriate organ is crucially important
(Figures 12.12–12.15).

Metal element – lung and large

intestine meridians
˛ e arms are also the site of the meridians
that comprise the Metal element, the lung
and the large intestine. Again, practice the
Vyana Vayu for several minutes ÿ rst.

Vyana Mudra (Arora)

Navel
Good for high blood pressure.
Join the tips of the index and middle ÿ n-
gers with the tips of your thumbs. Extend
Internal channel flow
your ring and pinky ÿ ngers. Rest the backs
of your hands on your thighs.
˛ e Mudra for the Metal element is Akasha
Mudra.
Figure 12.16 Lung Meridian

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 CHAPTER 12

External channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 12.17 Large Intestine Meridian

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 Using Mudras to Experience Meridians

and 12.17, respectively). Slightly angling the of chi, as opposed to increasing or decreas-
thumb towards the thigh will accentuate ing the ° ow. ˛ is caution acknowledges that
the ° ow of chi towards the thumb. Slightly as beginners in our awareness of chi ° ows, we
extending the index ÿ nger will highlight the have no idea of what is best. However, the self-
° ow of chi from the index ÿ nger up the side healing processes within us have complete
of the arm to the face. Again, make sure that knowledge of what we do and do not need.
you experience the ° ow of the life-force to Once we have the beginnings of awareness
the organs. of how our chi ° ows through the merid-
Practicing these Mudras and their resulting ians, we can seriously augment the beneÿ ts
sensations will quickly give us a baseline for derived from practicing within yogic tradi-
the ° ows throughout our bodies and within tions that work with Meridians, such as yin
our meridians. An outstanding feature of yoga or meridian yoga.
these illustrations of the meridians (Figures Finally, as we interact with an acupunctur-
12.5–12.8 and 12.10–12.17) is that Dr. Jerry ist or Shiatsu practitioner, we can deepen our
Alan Johnson included the internal ° ows of knowledge of how our systems are function-
each meridian, an aspect which is rarely cov- ing.
ered outwith the acupuncture community.
˛ e clarity that accompanies close attention An easy way to develop a kinesthetic sense
to these ° ows creates awareness of the spa- of the movement of chi in the meridians is
ciousness within our bodies. So much space to practice the feeling of each of the merid-
is revealed that we deepen the possibility of ians while watching an animation of those
an “inside/out” perception, rather than our ° ows. A good video guide to use is “See the
usual “outside/in” awareness. Further, our Qi Meridians in Action” (https://youtube/I_
awareness of these ° ows of chi can easily be sTtgvmya8). ˛ ese short videos graphically
augmented by skin-breathing chi speciÿ cally follow the paths of chi in each meridian
into each meridian. ˛ is will help in feeling clearly and succinctly. Although the inter-
each meridian and will also support the ° ow nal ° ows of the meridians are not included,
of chi through the meridians. While skin- hopefully the basic practices of this chapter
breathing chi into each meridian, ensure will provide enough of a foundation for you
that your intention is to normalize the ° ow to naturally include them as you practice.

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 A TOUR OF THE
MERIDIANS

One of the most basic fundamentals of

TCM is that qi flows continuously from
13
meridian to meridian in a specific order.
Ancient Chinese sages figured out the
meridian system phenomenologically, that
is, through the direct experience of feeling
it within their own bodies and then dis-
If we are able to surmount those chal-
lenges, ÿ nding a way into the perspective of
Chinese medicine has another set of chal-
lenges. Looking at readily available charts of
the meridians on the Internet does not reveal
how the meridians are connected, or how qi
° owing through the meridians relates to our
lives as lived. How does what we see a˛ ect
cussing what they felt with their peers.
our qi ° ow? How does what we eat a˛ ect our
In current times, feeling our own merid- qi ° ow? How does qi ° ow a˛ ect our diges-
tion or our physiological functioning?
ians is especially challenging. We do not
come from a meditative tradition, and we do ˝ e work of Dr. Jerry Alan Johnson (2005)
not normally attend to the inner sensations clariÿ es the internal pathways of the merid-
of our bodies (unless something is wrong). ians. Virtually no meridian charts, except
Even if we were to attend to our bodies, our for those created by Dr. Johnson, include
minds are ÿ lled with notions based on our the internal pathways. He also shows con-
nections to the senses, clarifying how eve-
conceptions of our anatomy. Our minds may
ryday lived life interacts with qi ° ow. When
even challenge the concept of life-force. Our
joined with the Mudras, meridians become a
minds may even challenge the concept of the phenomena that we experience, rather than
life-force. simply as concepts.

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 CHAPTER 13

I. Heart meridian
Feel your heartbeat, then do Surya Mudra (also known as Agni Mudra) with your forearms
in slight external rotation. Give an extra stretch to the pinky ÿ nger to accentuate the pathway
of the heart meridian (Figure 13.1). Note that Dr. Johnson also connects the internal pathway
from the heart to the external pathway to the eyes (Figure 13.2). ˝ is demonstrates that what
we see a˛ ects our qi ° ow.

External channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 13.1 Surya Mudra Figure 13.2 Heart Meridian

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 A Tour of the Meridians

II. Small intestine

˝ e qi ° ow goes up the inside of the forearm for the heart and then goes down the back
of the arm to the side of the face. At this point the qi ° ow interacts with food that goes
through the throat into the small intestine. As you hold Surya Mudra, turn your forearm in
internal rotation to accentuate your awareness of both the external and internal pathways of
the small intestine meridian (Figure 13.3).

Figure 13.3 Side view of Surya Mudra

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 CHAPTER 13

III. Bladder meridian and SI-18

Dr. Johnson indicates a pathway from SI–18 up to the inside corner of the eye to show how the
external pathway of the small intestine meridian connects to the beginning of the external
pathway of the urinary bladder meridian (Figure 13.4). Perform the Jala Mudra with your
forearm externally rotated to feel the movement of qi in the bladder meridian. If you need
extra assistance in feeling the downward movement of qi then perform Apana Mudra to aug-
ment your awareness of the Apana Vayu (Figures 13.5 and 13.6).

Internal channel flow

External channel flow

Figure 13.4 Connection to Small Intestine Meridian to Bladder Meridian

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 A Tour of the Meridians

Figure 13.5 Apana Vayu Figure 13.6 Jala Mudra

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 CHAPTER 13

External channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 13.7 Bladder Meridian

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 A Tour of the Meridians

IV. Kidney meridian

Open the bottom of your foot, then push into the ° oor. Perform Prana Mudra to feel the
upward moving current, which you may feel entering your body through Kd-1 on the bottom
of your foot. ˝ en resume doing Jala Mudra to feel the upward current of the kidney meridian
(Figures 13.8 and 13.9). Note that Dr. Johnson connects the internal pathway of the kidney
meridian to both the kidney organ and the pericardium (Figure 13.10).

Figure 13.8 Prana Vayu Figure 13.9 Jala Mudra

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 CHAPTER 13

External channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 13.10 Kidney Meridian

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 A Tour of the Meridians

V. Pericardium meridian
˝ e internal pathway of the kidney meridian is connected to the pericardium (also known as
the heart protector), which qi connects to the external pathway of the pericardium meridian
that travels through the arm to the middle ÿ nger (Figures 13.11–13.13).

Figure 13.11 Vyana Mudra Figure 13.12 Surya Mudra

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 CHAPTER 13

External channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 13.13 Pericardium Meridian (also known as the Heart Protector Meridian)

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 A Tour of the Meridians

VI. Triple heater meridian (also known as Triple burner meridian)

˝ e pericardium external pathway then moves to the back of the hand and arm for the begin-
ning of the triple heater meridian, which winds its way up the side of the face and around the
ear and to the side of the eyebrow (Figures 13.14–13.16).

Figure 13.14 Apana Mudra Figure 13.15 Surya Mudra

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 CHAPTER 13

External channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 13.16 Triple Heater Meridian

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 A Tour of the Meridians

VII. Gall bladder meridian

˝ e outside of the eye begins the gall bladder meridian. It travels concentrically around the
side of the head and then the external pathway goes down the side of the body before ending
on the outside of the fourth toe (Figures 13.17–13.19).

Figure 13.17 Apana Mudra Figure 13.18 Vayu Mudra

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 CHAPTER 13

External channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 13.19 Gall Bladder Meridian

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 A Tour of the Meridians

VIII. Liver meridian

˝ e qi pathway then jumps to the big toe and travels up the inside of the leg. To ÿ ne tune the
sensation of the liver meridian, while holding Vayu Mudra, rotate your forearms so that your
palms are facing downward to the ° oor. It then becomes internal, moving throughout the
viscera, up to the eyes and above (Figures 13.20–13.22).

Figure 13.20 Prana Mudra Figure 13.21 Vayu Mudra

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 CHAPTER 13

Internal channel flow

External channel flow

Figure 13.22 Liver Meridian

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 A Tour of the Meridians

IX. Lung meridian

˝ e internal pathway of the liver meridian goes through the lungs, to start the lung meridian
at the top of the armpit. Feel the movement from the center of the body to the limbs with the
Vyana Mudra, then you can ÿ ne tune your perception of the lung meridian by holding the
Akasha Mudra and rotating your forearms until your palms face each other. ˝ e qi then ° ows
to the front of the thumb (Figures 13.23–13.25).

Figure 13.23 Vyana Mudra Figure 13.24 Akasha Mudra

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 CHAPTER 13

External channel flow

Navel

Internal channel flow

Figure 13.25 Lung Meridian

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 A Tour of the Meridians

X. Large intestine meridian

˝ en the pathway jumps to the index ÿ nger, traveling towards the back of the shoulder on the
side of the arm. You may ÿ ne tune your perception of the large intestine meridian by holding
the back of hands against your thighs in the sitting position, with palms up while holding the
Akasha Mudra. It then dives into the internal pathway encompassing the lungs and the large
intestine before traveling to the base of the outer nostrils (Figures 13.26–13.28).

Figure 13.26 Apana Mudra Figure 13.27 Akasha Mudra

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 CHAPTER 13

External channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 13.28 Large Intestine Meridian

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 A Tour of the Meridians

XI. Stomach meridian

˝ e qi then ° ows from the eye to the mouth and jaw, then the internal pathway goes to the
stomach while the external pathway travels down the outside of the ribcage, the front sides
of the abdomen and the outside of the legs. Hold the back of your hands ÿ rmly against your
thighs in a sitting position while doing Prithvi Mudra to perceive the downward movement
of qi in the stomach meridian. ˝ e meridian ends on the top of the second toe (Figures 13.29
and 13.30).

Figure 13.29 Prithvi Mudra

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 CHAPTER 13

External channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 13.30 Stomach Meridian

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 A Tour of the Meridians

XII. Spleen meridian

Finally, the spleen meridian takes up the qi, traveling up the leg, the outside of the abdomen
and the outside of the chest. To ÿ ne tune your perception of the upward movement of the
spleen meridian, turn your palms face down while doing Prithvi Mudra. Meanwhile,
the internal pathway encircles the stomach and spleen, and returns to the mouth and heart
(Figures 13.31–13.33). At this point, the continuous ° ow begins again.
Practicing the continuous ° ow of qi, even minimally, will awaken your awareness of your
body as the locus of vitality and experience. Before long, tuning into your qi ° ows, how your
life a˛ ects them, and how they a˛ ect your life, will become normal and e˛ ortless.

Figure 13.31 Prana Mudra Figure 13.32 Prithvi Mudra

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 CHAPTER 13

External channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 13.33 Spleen Meridian

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 SAMANA VAYU
AND PRIMARY
RESPIRATION

nial Osteopathy, William G. Sutherland had a

14
In 1947, after nearly half a century of creating
and exploring what has become known as Cra-

startling realization: that the driving force of

the movement of cerebrospinal fluid through-
out the brain, spinal cord and sacrum comes
from outside of the body (Sutherland, 1990).
the environment as Primary Respiration,
which caused thoracic respiration. Dr. Suther-
land also suggested that Primary Respiration
could be referred to as the Breath of God.

˜ ese discoveries came at a moment

when the American Osteopathic Associa-
(Whenever I teach this aspect of the history of tion (AOA) decided that a Doctor of Oste-
craniosacral therapy, I pause dramatically to opathy (DO) degree was equivalent to
allow what has just been stated to sink in.) a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree. Advanc-
The initial hypothesis of why cerebrospinal es in pharmaceuticals, more speciÿ cally
fluid moves was based on the production of cer- penicillin and the polio vaccine, were per-
ebrospinal fluid in the ventricles of the brain, suading the American public away from
in a closed hydraulic system, between the brain osteopathy. ˜ erefore, osteopaths needed
and sacrum through the dura, which protects to be able to write prescriptions to remain
the spinal cord. This was proven to be wrong in business. ˜ e last thing the AOA wanted
once open spinal cord surgery was performed: was Dr. Sutherland, one of their prominent
videos clearly show the rhythmic movement members, talking about the Breath of God
of cerebrospinal fluid despite the dura having coming from outside the body. Accord-
been cut in order to carry out the surgery. ingly, Dr. Sutherland’s discoveries were
Without the hydraulic model Dr. Sutherland suppressed; consequently, his teachings
spent decades trying to figure out what caused went underground, where they were fur-
the fluid to move. Because the cause of the ther developed by succeeding generations
movement was not in the body but was of osteopaths, primarily led by Dr. Rollin
within the environment connected us to Becker and Dr. James Jealous. Meanwhile,
the environment in a profound way. Dr. Sutherland’s biomechanical model of
Dr. Sutherland, a deeply spiritual man, craniosacral therapy (which contained no
referred to this movement within references to non-scientiÿ c concepts such

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 CHAPTER 14

as the Breath of God) became well known what is wrong and how to ÿ x it. It also forces
through the tireless work of Dr. John the practitioner to conceptualize and expe-
Upledger. In time, over the last 30 years, rience what the self-healing process might
Dr. Sutherland’s discoveries have been ele- consist of.
vated from their underground status to As was pointed out in the introductory
become known as Biodynamic Craniosacral remarks concerning the limitations of anat-
˜ erapy (outside the osteopathic communi- omy as a lens for viewing the body, we have
ty). As this work evolved, a crucial concept no working concept of health, and we have
was clariÿ ed by Dr. Jealous. Within each of no overview of a meaningful way in which
us a life-force exists that is called Health or to discuss how the body heals itself. Of
Potency. ˜ ese terms refer to the vitality that course, we know about the biochemical and
is always within us. When we die, this life- pharmacological ways in which the body
force does not expire, it transpires. repairs itself. We understand that the body
My own exposure to Dr. Sutherland’s work heals itself while sleeping, and that it pro-
was in the late 1980s when a faculty member duces a precise hormonal bath to address
at a local osteopathic college became exas- aspects which are not optimum. Dr. Suther-
perated that osteopathic manipulation had land was suggesting, however, that the
been designated as an elective subject in that self-healing process was something bigger
college. In his disgust he sought out people than biochemistry, and that there might
interested in learning about the incredibly be other reasons why the body heals itself
rich manipulative tradition of osteopathy, while sleeping, indeed that the self-healing
and found an eager audience in a group of process is not only something which we can
Rolfers. I’ve studied and taught this work perceive, we can also interact with it.
ever since. ˜ e self-healing process is an experiential
concept, similar to being centered or being
grounded, in that discussions and read-
Perceiving primary respiration ings tend to not be illuminating—it must be
What became known as Biodynamic Crani- experienced. Once it has been experienced,
osacral therapy di˛ ered from the more widely meaningful conversations can proceed.
known Biomechanical Craniosacral therapy
taught through the Upledger Institute in
several ways. Most importantly, biodynam- Experiencing the self-healing
ic work starts with the supposition that the
body of the client or patient is already in the process of primary respiration
process of self-healing. ˜ e practitioner is ˜ e biodynamic processes of the body,
obliged to treat the self-healing process with that is to say the self-healing processes of
some level of respect, or, at the very least, not the body, have many cycles, each of which
disrupt it. ˜ is radically redeÿ nes the role has di˛ ering rates or durations. Di˛ erent
of the practitioner, challenging the idea of schools of biodynamics tend to empha-
the practitioner as someone who ÿ gures out size particular rates. ˜ e tradition that

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 Samana Vayu and Primary Respiration

I adhere to keys into a rate that lasts about

100 seconds, with 50 seconds of a current • Stretch out the muscles of your ears as
that moves towards the practitioner, and though you are listening to sounds in
50 seconds of a current that moves away the next room.
from the practitioner. • Soften your eyes, increasing your ac-
Immediately, it must be noted that a 100- cess to your peripheral vision.
second cycle is an extremely long period of • Feel an ever so gentle wind moving
time in our busy modern-day lives, which are either towards you or away from you.
dominated by social media and cell phones. • Maintain this awareness of the move-
Even the natural rhythms we may be aware ment of this gentle wind for 5–10 min-
of happen much more quickly: our heart- utes.
beats average 72 beats per minute; we aver- • Begin to notice how your breathing
age 15 breaths per minute. ˜ us, a cycle that interacts with this gentle current.
lasts nearly two minutes can be a challenge
to our ability to attend to our perceptions.
˜ e standard method for teaching the
perception of Primary Respiration begins Discussions of just what this current (i.e.
with reducing our normal (hyper)focus on primary respiration) is move us away from
our environment (for example, cellphones), actually experiencing it and searching for an
and turning our attention inwards. So˝ en explanation that complies with current sci-
the eyes so that they don’t focus so intently, entiÿ c thinking. ˜ is is usually enough to
stretch out the ears as though we are lis- discourage those who feel they must align
tening to faraway sounds. As we physically with current scientiÿ c thinking rather than
adjust our senses and settle our breathing, trusting in their own experiences.
we may begin to feel a current that is either
moving towards us or away from us. In fact, similar to experiencing qi, e˛ orts to
comprehend the sensations one feels may be
enough for people to doubt their own expe-
riences. ˜ is is disappointing, because it is
A protocol for perceiving Primary through experiencing Primary Respiration
Respiration and how it interacts with our bodies that we
can arrive at a phenomenological deÿ nition
Sit quietly with your spine straight. of health and healing.
• Listen to your heartbeat. If you are un-
able to do this easily, put your thumbs A phenomenological definition of
over your ears for a moment. health and healing
• Become aware of the skin of your face
During the last decade I have developed the
and the front of your torso.
habit of asking my students if they have ever
had an experience of healing. Invariably, the

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 CHAPTER 14

story volunteered in return has nothing to do interaction between these phenomena. ˜ is

with “being ÿ xed” or taking medication that is the essence of the training a Biodynamic
resolved the issue once and for all. If a session Craniosacral therapist undertakes.
of bodywork or an osteopathic or chiroprac-
tic adjustment were involved, the emphasis
would be placed on the processes that fol- Finding the esoteric precursors of
lowed the adjustment, which may have been
initiated by the adjustment, but ultimately Primary Respiration
involved processes that appeared unrelated ˜ roughout the many years I have studied
to the adjustment. Words and phrases like and worked with biodynamics, the one
“awe”, “radiance overtook my body” and thought I’ve never been able to get out of my
“reverence” are common in these narratives. mind is this: How could it be that a phenom-
(Granted, these narratives are anecdotal; enon existing in the natural world, one which
however, in the words of Raymound Wolÿ n- Dr. Sutherland perceived in a deep meditative
er, quoted in the Dictionary of Modern Prov- state, had never been perceived by anyone else
erb, “the plural of anecdote is data” [Yale before? Deep meditation is relatively unusual
University, 2012].) in an American Christian context. In Buddhist
Similarly, in the cranial work that I per- and Hindu contexts, however, deep meditation
form and teach, a process emerges that can is central and crucial to the perception of and
be said to come both from within and out- interaction with its most fundamental tenets.
side the client, “a deep stillness” or “a deep Finding a phenomenon that might be the
silence” which may overcome the client. equivalent of Primary Respiration by engag-
Time stands still, and one feels one is in the ing in a meditation practice (among the many
presence of something sacred. During this forms of meditation to choose from), which
sacred time the local issue is addressed, and may take decades to master, and without
the e˛ ects are felt throughout the body (and proper guidance, seemed unlikely. My own
even beyond). Also, the adjunct manifesta- superÿ cial studies of Buddhism, Hinduism,
tions around the issue are resolved. A total Chinese medicine and Ayurveda seemed an
transformation has occurred. even more unlikely path, yielding no clues as to
what this movement that Dr. Sutherland called
Dr. Sutherland, and those who have trave- Primary Respiration could be.
led the path which he cleared, would not
hesitate to state that the healing events Imagine my surprise, when practicing per-
described in anecdotes were the result of ceiving the Vayu or vital current known as
the interaction between Primary Respira- Samana, I immediately and easily felt Pri-
tion and the client’s or patient’s life-force mary Respiration.
or potency. ˜ is statement remains incom- As was discussed in Chapter 10, the Vayus
prehensible until we are able to feel the are the primary pathways in the body for
sensation of our own life-force or qi, the life-force energies, in this case Prana, with
sensation of Primary Respiration moving which to nourish the physical body. ˜ e pri-
both towards and away from us, and the mary purpose of Samana Vayu is to support

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 Samana Vayu and Primary Respiration

the digestion of food. Its movement is both 31 Mudras activate Samana Vayu. Of these,
inward and outward from the solar plexus, six activate all ÿ ve Vayus, and another six
and its element is the ÿ re needed for diges- speciÿ cally highlight digestive processes.
tion. ˜ e way that the Vayus are taught in I have chosen six, with which I, and a con-
the work of Le Page and Le Page (2014) and sensus of my students, prominently experi-
Arora (2013) conÿ nes the movement of the ence Primary Respiration.
Vayus to within the body. Not having grown
up within the Vedic traditions, and having
no idea of what I was supposed to feel when
Matangi Mudra
performing the Mudras for the Vayus, I read- With ÿ ngers folded on the outside of the
ily felt the sensations that were described in hand, and right thumb over le˝ , extend
the texts. I also felt those sensations connect- the middle ÿ ngers and rest the wrists against
ed to currents that were sourced outside my the solar plexus (Figure 14.1).
body. Were these more comprehensive con-
nections to the environment also a part of
Vedic and other meditative tradition teach- Vajra Mudra
ing? Did the Vedic vision of the human body Touch the tips of thumbs and index ÿ ngers
not stop at the skin as our Western point of together, touch the tips of the middle ÿ ngers
view does, but rather already includes aspects
of the environment which we would be una-
ware of? ˜ at information, based on radi-
cally di˛ erent world perspectives to those of
twenty-ÿ rst century life, seems unlikely to
be covered in introductory texts on Mudras.
However, because I was already trained to
perceive Primary Respiration, I was able to
perceive that each of the vital currents also
comes from outside the body, whether we
have a cogent explanation of this phenom-
enon or not. Further, these currents connect
us as physical beings to our environment in
ways that may be readily perceived.
˜ us, I stumbled upon an esoteric anteced-
ent of Primary Respiration.

Mudras for Samana Vayu that

reveal Primary Respiration
Figure 14.1 Matangi Mudra
In Le Page’s comprehensive overview of those
Vayus that are activated by which Mudras,

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 CHAPTER 14

Figure 14.2 Vajra Mudra

Figure 14.3 Hastaphula Mudra

together, curl the ring and pinky ÿ ngers into

the palms and rest the wrists against the
solar plexus (Figure 14.2).

Hastaphula Mudra
With hands slightly cupped, hold the hands
in front of the solar plexus, palms up, with
forearms parallel to the ˙ oor (Figure 14.3).

Mushtikam Mudra
With hands in ÿ sts, and middle knuckles
and heels together, raise the thumbs side Figure 14.4 Mushtikam Mudra
by side. Rest forearms against the abdomen
(Figure 14.4).

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 Samana Vayu and Primary Respiration

Abhisheka Mudra
With hands in loose ÿ sts in front of the solar
plexus, touch the tips of the index ÿ ngers,
join the thumbs side by side (Figure 14.5).

Adhara Mudra
From the prayer position with ÿ ngers facing
forward, maintain contact with the ÿ nger-
tips and heels while spreading the thumbs.
Rest the forearms against the abdomen
(Figure 14.6).
Even desultory practice of these mudras
for several minutes will evoke the sensations
of Primary Respiration.

Figure 14.6 Adhara Mudra

A protocol for perceiving Primary

Respiration using Mudras
Sit quietly with your spine straight. For assis-
tance in pulling your senses inward, perform
Ishvara Mudra. Interlace the ring and middle
ÿ ngers while joining and pointing thumbs,
index and pinky ÿ ngers. Rest forearms on
the abdomen (Figure 14.7).
For assistance with your posture, perform
Merudanda Mudra. Make hands into ÿ sts
with the thumbs pointing upwards. Rest
hands on thighs (Figure 14.8).
Activate your awareness of your central
channel by performing Shakata Mudra. With
Figure 14.5 Abhisheka Mudra hands in loose ÿ sts, point with the index ÿ n-
gers with the thumbs touching. Hold below
the naval (Figure 14.9).

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 CHAPTER 14

Figure 14.7 Ishvara Mudra

Figure 14.9 Shakata Mudra

Listen to your heartbeat. If you are unable

to do this easily, put your thumbs over your
ears for a moment.
Choose one of the six Mudras that activate
Samana Vayu.
Once connected to the rhythm of Pri-
mary Respiration, you will ÿ nd that access-
ing that rhythm taps into an incalculable
resource. Primary Respiration settles your
nervous system, settles those around you,
and deepens your meditations. Perform-
ing Mudras while simultaneously being
Figure 14.8 Merudanda Mudra aware of Primary Respiration will enhance
the eˆ cacy of the Mudras. Skin-breathing
while also being aware of Primary Respira-

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 Samana Vayu and Primary Respiration

tion will bring the power and experience of the natural world because Primary Respi-
the body’s self-healing capabilities to your ration is synchronized for all living beings.
areas of concern in real time. Being aware We will discuss this further in the chapter
of Primary Respiration also connects you to on walking.

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 WALKING PAST
MIDDLE AGE

All of the phenomenological perceptions

that we have covered throughout this book
can be brought into practical application
by actualizing their use while walking.

Movement specialists have provided many

15
exquisitely detailed descriptions of walking,
of the leg, going across the pelvis to the front
of the coccyx, then back up the front of the
body until it goes into the internal pathways.
At that point, the pathway of the qi goes
through the sacrum then surrounds the kid-
neys. From there it goes up through the heart
sensitizing the reader to speciÿ c variables. and up to the collarbones. Being aware of the
Rather than engage in those markers point internal pathways provides the sensation
by point, I’m going to partition the aspects of the breadth of the pelvis, the structural
of walking speciÿ cally to the phenomenol- importance of the sacrum, and the inside of
ogy of what we have been learning. the torso.
Let us consider walking step by step.

Kidney meridian
Become aware of K1, also known as “Bub-
bling Spring”, as your lead foot comes into
contact with the ground. ° is point is locat-
ed between the long bones of the second and
third toes, near the front of the arch (Figure
15.1). While maintaining this awareness,
make sure that you mentally “open up” the
point so that you can receive jing or qi from
the Earth (Figure 15.2).
Figure 15.1 Kd-1
As the qi enters through the Bubbling
Spring, be aware of its passage up the inside

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 CHAPTER 15

External channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 15.2 Kidney Meridian

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 Walking Past Middle Age

As the qi goes from the inside of the leg to Addressing this bouncing necessitates
the coccyx, it also provides vital kinetic sup- our next area of awareness as we walk, the
port for the proper relationship between the sequential movement of the muscles of the
psoas muscles and the muscles of the pelvic pelvic ˛ oor. As we learned in Chapter 3,
˛ oor. According to many movement special- the musculature of the pelvic ˛ oor can be acti-
ists, the ÿ rst 15° of the forward movement vated sequentially in various ways, including
of the femur are initiated by the psoas (Gra- from the front to the back, and from the back
covetsky, 2008). ° en, at least ideally, the to the front. As the two ends of the psoas sta-
quadriceps add to the forward momentum bilize the lead leg, ÿ ring the musculature of
of the femur. For this movement to work, that side of the pelvic ˛ oor from front to back
however, the muscles of the pelvic ˛ oor must introduces a graceful and powerful move-
be free to move separately from the psoas. ment, pulling the torso over the leg. ° is clar-
If such a freedom exists, the ideal pattern of ifying momentum adds ease to the movement
movement would be as follows: as the lead of the alternate psoas/femur. Once we get the
foot and leg approach verticality as the body hang of activating each side of the pelvic ˛ oor
weight moves over the foot, the two ends of separately, our walk becomes a glide.
the psoas on that side of the body stabilize In addition to having the muscles of the
the leg through the pelvis and that side of the pelvic ˛ oor pull the thigh, a previously
torso. ° is allows the psoas on the opposite untapped source of energy for walking when
side of the body to contract, initiating the fatigue sets in, this way of walking is ultimate-
movement from the lumbars, through the ly the easiest way to propel yourself through
pelvis, propelling the opposite femur and space. ° is is because the qi is doing the work
torso forward. rather than having your musculature do the
Being aware of an open Bubbling Spring, work. As we age, accessing this less energy-
and the movement of qi up the leg, through intensive method of walking will allow for sat-
the pelvis and up that side of the body, also isfying physical activity way past middle age.
prevents the collapse of the front of the torso
as the body moves over the leg. ° is collaps-
ing is rampant in Western populations, with The spleen and liver meridians
many younger people preferring to slouch As the forward momentum of the body pro-
(Gokhale, 2008), and many older people not pels the forward leg past verticality, the heel
having support for their upper bodies. In of that foot rises, forcing the foot into a toe
both cases, locked up fascia of the muscula- hinge at the big toe. ° is activates qi moving
ture of the pelvic ˛ oor with the psoas pre- through the spleen meridian, up the inside
vent the ideal movement through the pelvis, of the leg, through the pelvis, and up the
and the pelvis and upper legs tend to move outside of the front of the body. Meanwhile,
as a unit. However, with the awareness of qi the internal ˛ ow of qi of the spleen merid-
moving through the entirety of the kidney ian surrounds the stomach and spleen and
meridian, the purity of the movement intro- continues upwards to the base of the tongue
duces a certain bounciness to the step. (Figure 15.3). As with the ˛ ow of the kidney

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 CHAPTER 15

External channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 15.3 Spleen Meridian

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 Walking Past Middle Age

meridian, awareness of the ˛ ow of the spleen ° e raising of the heel also activates the
meridian provides depth to the front/back liver meridian going up the inside of the
relationship of the abdomen and chest. Also, leg, around the genitals and then internally
the length of this meridian gives a feel- surrounding the liver and gallbladder, then
ing of wholeness between the feet and the upwards through the eyes to the top of the
head. head (Figure 15.4).

Internal channel flow

External channel flow

Figure 15.4 Liver Meridian

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 CHAPTER 15

In terms of the kinetics of the movement of

walking, the toe-hinge activates the ÿ ring of
the opposing psoas, providing coherence for
both sides of the body.

The movement of qi is translated

from the lower to the upper External channel flow
body
As the upward movement of the kidney and
spleen meridians connect with the bladder
and stomach meridians and qi ˛ ows down
the body, the internal pathways connect
with the governing vessel and (ideally) aug-
ment the contralateral movement of the
spine.
° e internal pathways of the kidney and
spleen meridians also connect to the heart
and the pericardium, continuing the ˛ ow
Internal channel flow
of qi through the upper torso into the arms.
° e combination of all of these ˛ ows of qi
results in the physical manifestation of con-
tralateral movement of the arms in relation
to the hips as walking proceeds.

The heart, pericardium and lung Figure 15.5 Heart Meridian

meridians
° e qi movement of each of these merid-
ians begins internally then proceeds exter-
nally down to the pinky ÿ nger for the heart The small intestine, triple heater
meridian, middle ÿ nger for the pericardium
meridian and thumb for the lung meridian. and large intestine meridians
As we allow our arms to swing with the con- ° is qi movement in turn connects with the
tralateral motion established through walk- sequential meridians, through the pinky
ing, we can become aware of each of these ÿ nger, the ring ÿ nger and the index ÿ nger,
digits, to help activate our awareness of each directing our awareness to the inside of
of the meridians (Figures 15.5–15.7). the torso, covering the entire interior of

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 Walking Past Middle Age

External channel flow

External channel flow

Navel
Internal channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 15.6 Pericardium Meridian Figure 15.7 Lung Meridian

the ribcage and the inside of the abdomen port. Holding the middle and ring ÿ ngers
(Figures 15.8–15.10). together will add support to the middle of
the body and holding the ring and pinky ÿ n-
gers together will add support to the back of
Pre-Mudras while walking the body.
Holding the index and middle ÿ ngers
together while walking will add support to
the front of the body while moving through Mudras while walking
space. ° e ÿ ngers must be relatively straight. So many Mudras are easily done while walk-
If they are curved you will not feel the sup- ing. As we develop our abilities to feel the

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 CHAPTER 15

Internal channel flow

External channel flow

Figure 15.8 Small Intestine Meridian

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 Walking Past Middle Age

External channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 15.9 Triple Heater Meridian

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 CHAPTER 15

External channel flow

Internal channel flow

Figure 15.10 Large Intestine Meridian

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 Walking Past Middle Age

elements within our bodies and to feel the

˛ ow of qi in our meridians, it is a good idea
to practice the Vayus, which activates the
elements. Prana Mudra, Apana Mudra and
Vyana Mudra will connect with these ˛ ows
(Figures 15.11–15.13).
We can also perform Mudras that connect
to the speciÿ c elements of the meridians. We
discussed a number of these in Chapter 11
(Five Elements Revisited). Again, these will
support your self-knowledge of the ˛ ow of qi
within meridians, and also help you to get in
touch with the archetypal energies that char- Figure 15.12 Apana Mudra
acterize these elements. ° e manifestations
of these energies have both an inner and an
outer expression.

Fire element
Holding Mudras for the ÿ re element will
increase our awareness of the ˛ ow of qi
from the heart, small intestine and pericar-
dium into those meridians and activate our
awareness of the action of the heat generat-

Figure 15.11 Prana Mudra Figure 15.13 Vyana Vayu

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 CHAPTER 15

Figure 15.14 Surya Mudra

Figure 15.15 Prithvi Mudra

ed by the triple heater. In its outer manifes-
tation it is possible to feel the nearest source
of heat. In this case it is the mantle of the
Earth (Figure 15.14). To recap, while hold-
ing Surya Mudra, to feel the heart merid- Earth element
ian, slightly stretch your little ÿ nger while ° e Mudra for the Earth element will enable
the palms of your hands face slightly for- us to feel the upward movement of the
ward. To feel the pericardium, stretch the spleen meridian and the downward move-
middle ÿ nger with your palms slightly for- ment of the stomach meridian. In its exter-
ward. To feel the small intestine meridian, nal manifestation this Mudra will connect
stretch your little ÿ nger with the back of us to the entire ecozone we are a part of.
your hands facing slightly forward. And to Sometimes this zone is huge, and we may
feel the triple heater, ÿ rmly press your ring wonder whether or not we are connecting to
ÿ ngernail into your thumb, while the back its entirety. However, this thought is quelled
of your hands are slightly facing forward the moment this exercise is repeated in a dif-
while walking. ferent ecozone (Figure 15.15). While holding

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 Walking Past Middle Age

Figure 15.16 Akasha with slight inter- Figure 15.17 Jala Mudra
nal rotation

Prithvi Mudra, to feel the spleen meridian, from our lungs and large intestines to and
angle the palm of your hands slightly for- from the meridians in our arms. In the
ward. To feel the stomach meridian, angle outer manifestation of the metal element
the back of your hands slightly forward I ÿ nd an increased awareness of the topog-
while walking. raphy of the land on which I am walk-
ing (Figure 15.16). While holding Akasha
Mudra, to feel the lungs, angle the sides of
Metal element your hands forward and to feel the large
Holding this Mudra while walking will intestine meridian, angle the back of the
activate our awareness of the ˛ ow of qi hand forward while walking.

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 CHAPTER 15

Wood element
Holding the Mudra for the wood element
immediately activates our awareness of the
sides of our bodies and heads, where both
the liver and the gallbladder meridians lie.
In its outer manifestation, this Mudra con-
nects us to the trees around us. In fact, once
we have an open Kd-1 (Figure 15.1) and hold
this Mudra, we can silently speak to any
tree around us. ° e tree will immediate-
ly send a greeting back to us through the
kidney, spleen, and liver meridians (Figure
15.18). While doing Vayu Mudra, to feel the
liver meridian, face the sides of the hands
forward.
However, the most potent Mudras to
practice while walking are those that are
Figure 15.18 Vayu Mudra connected to Samana Vayu and Primary
Respiration, which we covered in Chapter 14.
Of those, we discussed Matangi Mudra,
Hastaphula Mudra, Mushtikam Mudra,
Abhisheka Mudra and Adhara Mudra. ° e
Water element powerful evocations of Primary Respiration
Holding this Mudra will immediately acti- will transform your walking into a transcen-
vate our awareness of the upward moving dental experience. By opening your Bubbling
kidney meridian and the downward Spring you will connect with the root struc-
moving bladder meridian. In its outer man- tures of the trees around you, and ultimately
ifestation we feel a pull towards the nearest the mycelium below the surface of the Earth,
source of water. I believe this sense is well- connecting you to the entire ecosystem.
developed in people who douse for water Also, by connecting with Primary Respira-
(Figure 15.17). While doing Jala Mudra, to tion you will experience forest bathing as the
feel the kidneys angle the palm of the hands self-healing impulse throughout nature joins
slightly forward while walking. To feel the your own self-healing impulse, cleansing the
bladder meridian, angle the back of the greater you from both above and below as
hands slightly forward while walking. the planet breathes.

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 CLAIMING INNER
SPACIOUSNESS

We are now poised to bring together all

the strands of inquiry we have covered
thus far. The act of breathing consciously
incorporates activating each of the func-
tional diaphragms, skin breathing, aware-
ness of the chakras and central channel,
and awareness of qi flowing through the
16
participating with our breathing enables
an exponential increase in our awareness
and availability for the myriad interactions
within ourselves and with our environ-
ments.
Starting with an inhalation, a simple pull-
ing back of the jaw by 5–10 mm will open
meridians. Consequently, perception of up the top of the throat to enable more
our bodies expands beyond the mechani- air to reach the lungs, whether we breathe
cal functioning of our parts to the vast through our noses or mouths. (For the pur-
horizons of our inner landscapes. This poses of the exploration, however, let us
includes the vitality of our hearts and the breathe through our noses.) ˜ is brilliant,
powerful living spirits of our organs (we simple movement cue is well known within
contain multitudes) coalescing as our life- the Tibetan meditation tradition. As you
force, flowing and interacting both within exhale, allow the jaw to return to its normal
ourselves and with our surroundings. The position.
physical sensation that we are more than
our bodies, indeed that what is within In addition, we may also gently move our
the skin cannot operate without our clavicles forward (again 5–6 mm), enabling
interconnectedness and interdependence the bronchioles to receive the air moving
within our ecosystems and social groups, through our throats. Note how this tiny
includes all animals, insects, microbes, adjustment increases the e° ciency of your
fungi, plants and minerals. breathing and slows the breathing rate. ˜ is
slight movement activates the cervicotho-
All of our interconnectedness begins racic (or more simply) thoracic diaphragm
with the breath. ˜ e simple exchange of (as discussed in Chapter 3). Again, allow this
carbon dioxide for oxygen usually occurs diaphragm to return to its normal position
quite unconsciously for us, but actively on the exhalation.

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 CHAPTER 16

We may enhance our awareness and and the thoracic diaphragm move towards
appreciation of what we breathe in through the front of the body. Practicing this allows
our noses by activating the functional dia- the body to settle during the exhalation
phragm, which includes the bottom of the phase.
nasal cavity and the roof of the mouth. As we come to the respiratory diaphragm,
Note that canines have an extra verti- remember that its shape follows the ribcage.
cal opening on the outside of their snouts ˜ is means that its connection to the spine
to allow more smells to be taken in and is farther down the back than its connec-
evaluated. Similarly, we can reach forward tion to the costal arch in front of the body.
ever so slightly with our noses, to actively As we inhale fully into this diaphragm, the
take in air and the scents that are around front will go forward while the attachment
us. This slight movement, once again, will at the back will go backwards. (If you do not
only go forward 5–6 mm. At this point feel the attachment in the back, remember
our breathing has slowed and we are more that pouting brings awareness to this con-
present. nection. Also remember that if you do not
As previously discussed, our eyes can feel the movement of all the diaphragm,
actively take in information by reaching out then inhaling through a wide-open mouth
and grabbing it, operating in what we call will activate its entirety.) Once your aware-
telephoto mode; or we can actively allow the ness of the entire respiratory diaphragm
environment into our eyes, which increases is natural, integrate this movement into
our awareness of the periphery, operating in the forward and backward movements of
what we call wide-angle mode. ˜ is back- the other functional diaphragms. At this
and-forth movement of the eyes occurs point, we have the smell/taste diaphragm,
along the functional diaphragm that sepa- the thoracic diaphragm and the front of the
rates the neurocranium (or braincase) from respiratory diaphragm moving forward on
the visceral cranium encompassing the the inhalation, while the neurovisceral dia-
nose and mouth. A so˛ ening of the eyes, phragm, the ˙ oor of the mouth diaphragm
allowing us to receive the periphery, may and the crura, or the back of the respira-
be accompanied by active listening through tory diaphragm, move backwards on the
our ears. Together, these perceptual adjust- inhalation.
ments have the e˝ ect of moving the neu- Finally, on the inhalation, the pelvic ˙ oor
rovisceral diaphragm towards the back of moves slightly backwards, or towards the
the head. coccyx, on the inhalation. Once again, this
˜ us far, in coordinating tiny move- is a very slight movement, no more than
ments of our functional diaphragms with 5–6 mm. (It is certainly not enough of a
the inhalation phase of our breathing, both movement to attract attention.) ˜ is gentle
the ˙ oor of the mouth and the neurovis- movement will tip the coccyx backwards
ceral diaphragm move towards the back of while causing the sacral base, or top of the
the body, while the smell/taste diaphragm sacrum, to move forwards.

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 Claiming Inner Spaciousness

B
A A F
E H

G
J

Figure 16.1 With a bit of practice, all of these actions will occur simultaneously. While
lying on your back, and during an inhalation through the nose:

A. Allow your jaw to drop towards the floor (1.5 mm).

B. Reach out (upwards) with your nostrils to inhale.
C. Soften your eyes and open your ears to allow the eyes to sink towards the center of your
cranium.
D. As the inhalation moves the nasal diaphragm and the floor of the mouth towards
the feet, the eye functional diaphragm moves towards the top of the head.
E. Allow your collarbone to rise upwards.
F. Breathing into the respiratory diaphragm, allow the front of the diaphragm to expand
upwards while moving towards the feet.
G. Allow the back of the diaphragm to move towards the floor while moving towards
the feet.
H. Allow the pelvic diaphragm to move towards the floor (1.5 mm).
I. As the expansion of the breath moves the respiratory diaphragm and the pelvic dia-
phragm towards the feet, the thoracic diaphragm moves towards the head.
J. The expansion of the breath will lengthen the entirety of the central channel.

While practicing these movements it may is revealed when we try moving any of these
be useful to couple pairs of diaphragms, diaphragms in the opposite direction while
such as the ˙ oor of the mouth with the pelvic inhaling.
˙ oor, until the ease and naturalness of these
movements becomes evident. ˜ e evidence In summary, while inhaling, our neurovis-
that these are the body’s natural movements ceral diaphragm, ˙ oor of the mouth, crura of

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 CHAPTER 16

the respiratory diaphragm and pelvic ˙ oor of the kidney meridian up the inside of the
move towards the back of the body, while the leg and, as the pelvic ˙ oor moves towards
nose, or smell/taste diaphragm, the thoracic the back of the body during inhalation, we
diaphragm and the front of the respiratory can follow the course of the meridian from
diaphragm move towards the front of the the pubic bone back to the coccyx then
body. up to the kidneys, while the outer path-
If you’ve been practicing your mudras for way moves up the front of the body to the
the chakras and for the central channel, it clavicles. While holding Agni Mudra for
will be apparent immediately that the acti- the Fire element, and stretching the pinky
vation of any two of these functional dia- ÿ nger, we can experience the movement of
phragms will also activate our awareness of the heart meridian from our beating hearts
the chakra in between those diaphragms. to the armpit location at the beginning of
Moving the neurovisceral diaphragm and this meridian, to the ÿ ngernail location on
the nasal diaphragms activates the third the pinky ÿ nger at its ending. In this way
eye. Moving the ˙ oor of the mouth and the we can ÿ ne-tune our awareness of each of
thoracic diaphragm activates our aware- our meridians.
ness of the throat chakra. Moving the tho- ˜ e speciÿ city of each of these sensations
racic and respiratory diaphragms activates is easily augmented by employing an aware-
our awareness of the heart chakra. Moving ness of the movement of qi through our
the respiratory diaphragm and the pelvic skin, or skin breathing. To review, aware-
˙ oor may activate our awareness of both ness of this can be activated by so˛ ening
the solar plexus chakra and the creativity the eyes and ears, and turning our attention
chakra. ˜ is e˝ ect is highlighted when we to the skin. As we become aware of the to
also activate the transversus abdominus or and fro of qi through the air, we also begin
core musculature as we breathe. ˜ e simple the process of becoming aware of the many
act of pulling in our navels as we inhale ways in which we interface and exchange
accentuates the clarity of the pelvic ˙ oor with our environment through each of the
moving towards the back of the body while elements.
the sacral base moves towards the front of ˜ is model suggests optimal movements of
the body. ˜ is emphasis also highlights our our functional diaphragms during breath-
awareness of the second chakra. ing. However, it is possible to experience
Similarly, the ease and clarity of our these movements without being aware of
awareness of our breathing, which is acti- the relationship between breathing and our
vated by employing the movement of our heartbeats. Our hearts were beating in utero
functional diaphragms, also helps us to long before we breathed air, and we should
experience both the outer and inner path- not lose sight of the fact that we breathe to
ways of our meridians. For example, hold- fulÿ ll the needs of the heart. ˜ is relation-
ing Jala Mudra while breathing with func- ship can be highlighted with one simple
tional diaphragms clariÿ es the movement adjustment. Most of the diaphragms that

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 Claiming Inner Spaciousness

we’ve been working with are more or less To accommodate these di˝ erences between
horizontal. Yet the organization of the body the model and reality, we may merely move
cannot be symmetrical because of the size of back the le˛ side of the jaw rather than the
the liver, and the fact that the heart is slightly entire jaw while inhaling. ˜ is allows space
to the le˛ of the centerline of the body, caus- in the thoracic diaphragm for the spiraling
ing there to be two lobes of the lung on the motion of the heart and hastens the moment
le˛ while there are three lobes of the lung on when the demands of the heart override our
the right. We’ve known conclusively for over imposition onto our pattern of breathing.
a century that the inner organization of the In this way we experience that the way to
body follows a spiral rather than a symmet- become heart-centered in our embodiment
rical pattern. is to greet life with a slight smile.

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 EMBODYING
TRANSCENDENCE

“The purpose of life is not to transcend the

body but to embody transcendence.”

(attributed to H. H. Dalai Lama but

not confirmed)
Intense self-awareness will gradually shi˜
our perception of the body as an anatomical
17
made that thousands of years ago, humanity
held that all of life and the Earth itself were
sacred. Some scholars argue that belief in the
sacredness of the Earth was destroyed by the
evolutionary move away from the hunter/
gatherer phase of human organization
towards the development of agriculture, and
the consequent hierarchy that resulted from
entity to the reality of the body as the con-
organizing groups of 20–30 people (Shepard,
text for the ° ow of many vital energies. Ulti-
1982). Other scholars attribute the loss of the
mately, we are our vitality, we are that which
sacred to the development of written lan-
leaves the body when we die. ˛ e body is the
guage, which substituted symbols for actuali-
musical instrument that we play.
ty, thereby separating the sacred nature of (for
With practice, the awareness activations example) trees from the word for trees. ˛ ese
included will result in a state of being ground- arguments are eloquently stated by Abram
ed within ourselves. ˛ is is a superb founda- (1996), Shlain (1998) and Shepard (1982). ˛ e
tion for being grounded on the planet. Simi- point is that humanity was already separat-
larly, by opening up our third eye and crown ed from the sacred long before monotheism
chakras, and connecting our central channels inserted itself into that relationship. What the
all the way up to our source, we are poised to spread of Christianity brought about was the
open up and develop our spiritual faculties. separation of humanity from the sacredness
We began by discussing the body/mind of the resources of the Earth.
split, which is usually dated to the sixteenth ˛ e medical systems that are highlighted
century. It is worthwhile pointing out that in this work, primarily Chinese medicine,
this body/mind split derived from a more Ayurveda and Tibetan medicine, all included
profound split, of that between the sacred and the sacred as the context for any interven-
profane. Convincing arguments have been tion. When TCM was exported to the United

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 CHAPTER 17

States, the Communist regime in China answer is never going to be racism, national-
carefully excised all references to its cosmic, ism or violence.
sacred superstructure. However, Chinese ˛ e central channel above our heads is our
medicine originated from shamanic roots, access to whatever guides us; the central chan-
as did Tibetan medicine. Ayurveda, being nel below us is our connection to the wisdom
based on polytheism, along with other reli- of the Earth. ˛ e self-awareness of the central
gious/medical systems based on shamanism, channel within gives each of us a head start
holds the Earth and its resources as sacred, for any spiritual practice we wish to learn.
and belief that humanity ÿ ts into the greater
structure of the cosmos. ˛ e phenomena of spiritual embodiment
are readily felt through a body of Mudras
Once we are able to reliably perceive our called Esoteric Mudras, many of which can
own vitality, we have the necessary ground- be found in Mudras in Buddhist and Hindi
ing to answer those confusing questions Practices (Bunce, 2005). In this book there
which confront our lives. What exercises are no descriptions of what each Mudra is
should I do? ˛ e ones that support the move- supposed to accomplish. Instead, the idea is
ment of vitality through our physical bodies. to perform the Mudra and experience what
What foods should I eat? ˛ ose that sup- it produces within you. An exceptionally
port the movement of vitality through our powerful example from Bunce’s book is the
physical bodies. In what ways can we assure Vajra Mushti Mudra, the Mudra for “open-
vibrancy throughout the aging process? By ing the Gates of the Mandala” (each of us is
maximizing the amount of time devoted to the mandala) (Figure 17.1).
fostering interactions between our vitality
and our physical bodies, through medita-
tion, yoga and qigong.
As we begin to address the question of
what the self is, we add meaning to the
inquiry by observing through our direct
experience that we are connected both above
to the source—however we deÿ ne it—and
below to the wisdom and beneÿ cence of
the Earth. Our experiences connecting our
central channels to the movement of Pri-
mary Respiration become crucial to under-
standing that any deÿ nition of the self must
include our connection to all that exists both
above and below. ˛ is reality means that we
are our own authorities for any question we
may have about our lives. We can pose the
question, connect ourselves to above and Figure 17.1 Vajra Mushti Mudra
below, then we will feel the true answer. ˛ at

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 Embodying Transcendence

Fold the thumb underneath the middle fully access the breath throughout our
and ring ÿ ngers, hook the pinky ÿ ngers, and bodies. To do so, we need supple, responsive
touch the sides of the index ÿ ngers together. diaphragms, which lead to a posture that is
Hold˙this Mudra for a minimum of three fully at ease.
minutes. As we embody transcendence, we become
To fully embody all of the spiritual poten- our fullest selves.
tial that this Mudra oˆ ers to us, we must

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Harvey_Breathing Mudras and Meridians.indb 180 30/04/21 4:30 PM
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 INDEX

position of limbs while, 27

A tasting diaphragm, 79, 81

F
Abhisheka Mudra, 98, 98f, 151, 151f
C Family Constellation therapy, 6
Academic knowledge and learning, 2 Fascia, 8, 9–10
Adhara Mudra, 98f, 151, 151f Findley, Tom, 9
Cecum, 40
Agni-Namaskara Mudra, 63, 95, 95f Fingertips
Central message, 68
Ajna Chakra Mudra (Carroll), 72 effects of pressure on, 25
Cervico-thoracic diaphragm, 46–47
Akasha Mudra, 115 role in access to breathing, 21–24
mudra for, 60
American Osteopathic Association (AOA), 145 Fire
wringing, 81–82
Anahata Chakra Mudra (Carroll), 71 Agni Namaskara Mudra, 95, 95f
Chakras, 67
Ananta Mudra (Le Page), 73 Surya Mudra, 96, 96f
Ajna Chakra (third eye), 72
Anatomy study, 1 Fire element, 111, 165
Anahat Chakra, 70–71
atomistic approach to, 3–5 Apana Mudra, 165f
Manipura Chakra, 69–70
of disembodiment, 2–3 Prana Mudra, 165f
Muladhara Chakra, 68–69
and felt sense, 4–5 Vyana Vayu, 165f
Saharasrara Chakra, 72–73
of health and healing, 5
Svandhisthana Chakra, 69–70
of movement, 5
musculoskeletal, 8–9
Anatomy Trains (Myers), 9
Vishuddha Chakra, 71–72
Chi, 14
Chinmaya Mudra (Le Page), 68–69
G
Anterior abdomen, 38–39
Christians, 15
Anus, 29
Coccyx, 29–30 Gallbladder Meridian, 108f, 132f
Anushasana Mudra (Le Page), 89
Conscious breathing, 19–20 Ganesha Mudra (Carroll), 70
Anxiety, 5
Cranial osteopathy, 14–15 God concept, 15
Apana Mudra (Arora), 88, 103
Apana Mudra (Le Page), 87–88 Guimberteau, Jean-Claude, 9
Apana Vayu, 123f
Archetypal elements, 94 D Gyan Mudra (mental clarity), 26

H
Architecture of Human Living Fascia
(Guimberteau and Armstrong), 9
Atomism (anatomism), 3–4 Dan tien, 67
Autonomic nervous system (ANS), 20 Death, 13
Ayurveda, 94 Descartes, Rene, 1
Hastaphula Mudra, 150, 150f
Ayurvedic medicine, 10 Dharma Chakra Mudra (Le Page), 73
Health
Diaphragms, 31–32, 77. See also Mudras
conception of, 14

B breathing/tasting diaphragm, 79, 81

cervico-thoracic diaphragm, 46–47, 60, 81–82
floor of mouth, 81
as a continuum, 13–14
definition, 15
Heart, 35–37
of head, 78–79, 80
mudra for, 25–26, 57, 62
Bhramara, 61–62 neurovisceral diaphragm, 59, 78–81, 84
Heart meridian, 112f, 120, 120f, 160, 160f
Biodynamic craniosacral therapy, 13, 14, pelvic floor diaphragm, 39, 46, 60, 83–84
Hindu system, 94
15, 146 respiratory diaphragm, 46, 60, 82
Hip replacements, 3
Bladder, 39 of throat, 79, 84
Holy Roman Empire, 14
mudra for, 64 Hridaya Mudra (heart opening), 25, 26f, 57, 62f
Meridian, 105f, 122, 122f, 124f
Bodies/body, 1 E
objectification of, 3
relationship between self and, 7–8
Brain, mudra for, 61 Earth
I
Breathing, 19–20, 77. See also Skin-breathing element, 106, 166
dysregulation of, 20 Murti, 97 Infinity sign, activating, 80, 84
fingertips and access to, 21–24 Prithvi Mudra, 94, 95f Inhalation, 27, 31, 41. See also Breathing
influence on stretching, 24 Embryonic state, 94 feet, influence of, 27
pelvic floor and, 28–30 Eyes, mudra for, 61 fingers, influence of, 23–24

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 INDEX continued

Interosseous membranes, 27–28 Medical research, 3 Perineum, 29

Ishvara Mudra, 152f Meditation, 15 Potency, 14–15
Merudanda Mudra, 152f Prana Mudra (for calm alertness), 25

J Mesentery, mudra for, 63

Metal
Akasha Mudra, 97, 97f
Prana Mudra, 87–88, 102, 102f
Prana Vayu, 101–102
Pranayama, 20
element, 115, 167 Primary Respiration, 148–149, 152, 168
Jala Mudra, 95, 95f, 103, 123f Mind/body split, 1, 2, 7, 9 Prithvi Mudra, 94, 95f, 106, 111, 139f, 166f
Western worldview, 6 Profound healing, 15

K Mindfully breathing, 19
Mira Mudra, 97, 97f
Prostate, 39–40

Kaleshvara Mudra, 59
Morphogenic fields, 6
Mudras for Healing and Transformation, 56, 97
Mudras in Buddhist and Hindi Practices, 178
Q
Kali Mudra (Le Page), 71 Mudras, 25–26, 55–57, 59–60, 61, 62, 63,
Kd-1, 155f 64, 82, 87, 88, 89 Qi, 10, 14, 15, 43, 67
Kechari Mudra, 60 Muladhara Chakra Mudra (Carroll), 68–69 Qigong, 16, 43
Kidney meridian, 126f, 155, 156f, 157 Muladhara Chakra, 68–69
Jala Mudra, 125f
mudra for, 63–64, 104f
Prana Vayu, 125f
Murti Mudra, 97, 97f
Musculoskeletal anatomy, 8–9
Mushtikam Mudra, 150, 150f
R
Kilaka Mudra, 64 Muslims, 15
Kubera Mudra, 59–60 Myers, Thomas, 9 Rectum, 39
Kurma Mudra, 63–64 Respiratory diaphragm, 46

L N mudra for, 60
wringing, 82
Retroperitoneal space, 37–38
The Rider-Waite Tarot Deck, 80
Neurovisceral diaphragm, 78–79, 80–81, 84 Rolf, Ida, 8–9, 10, 67–68
Large Intestine Meridian, 116f, 137, mudra for, 59 Rolfing Structural Integration (RSI), 67
138f, 164f Round muscles, 31
Life-force, 6, 10
Linga Mudra (Le Page), 82, 89
Liver, 37
O S
Meridian, 107f, 134f, 159f
mudra for, 62 Objectification of body, 3
Liver meridian Optimal health, 15 Shakata Mudra, 99f, 152f
Prana Mudra, 133f Small Intestine Meridian, 113f, 162f
Vayu Mudra, 133f
Living processes, 94
Lung, 21
P Spleen and liver meridians, 157
Spleen Meridian, 109f, 141, 142f, 158f
Stomach Meridian, 110f, 139f, 140f
Meridian, 115f, 161f, 135, 136f Surya Mudra, 96, 96f, 111, 120f, 121, 121f,
mudra for, 61–62 Padma Mudra (Le Page), 71 127f, 129f, 166f
Panchamukha Mudra, 61 Saharasrara Chakra, 72–73

M Pancreas, 36–37, 38, 41

mudra for, 62
Paradigm shift, 93
Sakti Mudra (Arora), 73
Samana mudra, 88–89
Samana Mudra (Arora), 88
Pelvic diaphragm, 39, 46 Scientific inquiry, 2–3, 15
Mahashirsha Mudra, 61–62 mudra for, 60 Scrotum, 29
Manipura Chakra, 69–70 wringing, 83–84 Self, relationship between body and, 7–8, 10
Manipura Chakra Mudra, 62–63 Pelvic floor, 28–30 Self-nourishing breath, 40–41
Matangi Mudra, 60–61 Pelvis, organs of, 39 Self-perception, 16
Vajra Mudra, 149, 150f Perceptions, 7 Seven Experiments that Could Change the World
Matangi Mudra (Le Page), 88 Pericardium, 35–37 (Sheldrake), 6
Mechanical process, 93 Pericardium meridian, 112f, 127, 128f, 161f Shakata Mudra (Le Page), 73–74

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 INDEX continued

Shakti Mudra, 60–61 Trishula Mudra (Le Page), 72 Vyana Mudra (Arora), 90
Sigmoid colon, 40 Tibetan meditation tradition, 171 Vajra Mushti Mudra, 178f
Sills, Franklyn, 14 Tibetan system of health, 94 Vajrapradama Mudra, 98f
Skin-breathing, 43–48 Triple Heater Meridian, 114f, 130f, 163f Vayu Mudra, 106
around bladder, 49 Vedic system, 96
into cervico-thoracic diaphragm, 46–47
into diaphragms of head, 47–48
into horizontal diaphragms, 45–46
U Vyana Mudra, 115
Vyana Vayu
Anushasana Mudra, 111
into kidneys, 49 Vyana Mudra, 111
into liver, 49 Udana mudra, 82, 88–89
into organs, 49
into pelvic diaphragm, 46
into pericardium, 49
Udana Mudra (Arora), 89
Ujjayi breathing, 84
in abdomen, 52, 53
W
into respiratory diaphragm, 46 in chest, 52–53
reverse, 49 in head, 51–52 Wholistic perspective of body, 3–4
Spiritual experiences, 14 in pelvis, 52 Water element, 168
Spiritual practices, 7–8 in retroperitoneal space, 53 Water, Jala Mudra, 95, 95f
Spleen, 38 in throat, 51–52 Western scientific orthodoxy, 94
Stomach, 38 Urogenital apparatus, 29 Wood, 96
mudra for, 62 Uterus, 39–40 element, 106, 168
Stretching, 24 Vayu Mudra, 96, 96f
Strolling Under the Skin (Guimberteau), 9
Superpower of, 57–59
Sutherland, William, 15
V Y
Svandhisthana Chakra, 69–70
Svandhisthana Mudra (Le Page), 69–70 Vaginal canal, 29
Vajra Mudra (Le Page), 70 Yoni Mudra (Arora, Carroll), 69

T Vesalius, 1
Viparita Mudra, 62–63
Vishuddha Chakra, 71–72
Vishuddha Chakra Mudra, 60
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), 10, Vishuddha Mudra (Carroll), 72
43, 77 Vitality, 5–6, 10, 15
Transcendent experiences, 8 Vyana, 89–90

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