5 Mudras for Manifestation

Hello January. Hello the usual stuff - resolutions, intentions and creation. Whatever works for you is great. The question is, is it working, or are you doing the same thing over an over again without much of a change? With manifestation, what is important is to recognize that you are doing it right now. Your whole life, everything that you have going on right now, you created it. Your present circumstances are a result of your past thinking. So what you are thinking now is essentially creating what is to come. If you aren't already, it is supportive to be aware of what you are thinking; to be monitoring your thoughts 24/7. To be clear and consistent is a huge part of creating and mudras can help.

Gyan Mudra

I once heard that prayer is asking for what you want and meditation is leaving space to receive those answers. In manifestation, there are several steps to attaining and creating all that you desire. The first is setting your goal, or asking for what you want. The second is taking action, and in taking action, the importance can be placed on taking the right action. It is here that we can use Gyan Mudra to determine the right actions to take.

There are many variations of this mudra, the most common is back of the hand on the knees with the index finger and thumb touching and other three fingers opening outwards. This mudra translates to "mudra of wisdom" and when used in meditation is known to connect you to your own inner guidance. It is that guidance that will support you in choosing which actions to take that will get you to your goal.

The Practice: Bring yourself to a nice comfortable seat and rest the back of your hands on your knees. Bring your index fingers and thumbs to touch and extend the last three fingers out. Start to focus on your breath. Nice long, slow, deep breaths in and out. Now bring your goal to mind and allow the thoughts to melt away. Keep focusing on your goal and notice what comes up.

Padma Mudra

Padma translates to lotus, therefore this mudra is the mudra of the lotus flower. The lotus is a powerful symbol in Indian culture and represents a few different key concepts important to self-realization. Firstly, the concept of this beautiful flower that can only grow in mud. The more mud, the deeper and stronger the roots, and the bigger the flower. It is the mud and the muck that is the foundation and cause for the growth of the flower. The second concept is related to the fact that even though the flower grows through the water, it never gets wet. Therefore, the flower is part of the environment, yet not completely affected by it.

This mudra supports us in realizing our potential and represents rebirth, spirituality and purity. Like the lotus, we can grow out of ugly conditions and emerge a beautiful spirit. This mudra calms the mind and manifests strength and resilience.

The Practice: This mudra can be completed sitting, standing and in a majority of yoga postures. Start by focusing on the breath, nice long, slow, deep breaths and bring your goal to mind. Bring the base of your palms to touch and spread your fingers wide. Touch your thumbs and pinkies leaving space between your palms and the other fingers of your hands. Tune into your strength and focus on the actions you are going to take to create your goal.

Dhyana Mudra

Formed by the words Dhi which translates to thinking and perceiving and yana which is the practice of moving, and thereby can be thought of as the action of properly thinking. Dhyana is also one of the eight limbs of yoga and is known as meditation. Dhyana mudra's effects have a calm and concentrated effect on the brain and nervous system, which improves the quality of the mind to analyze and heal.

This mudra is a symbolic gesture of the state of mind in meditation that is depicted by the shape of a triangle made using hands and fingers and it represents the three jewels of Buddhism. Buddha, dharma (good law) and sangha (community). The right hand signifies wisdom, knowledge and awareness, while the left hand represents the illusion and fantasy of this world. When the right hand is placed over the left hand, it represents the dominance of knowledge and awareness over the illusions created by the world.

The Practice: This mudra can be practiced both seated and standing. Start by focusing on breathing and bring your goal to mind. Bring your hands to rest in your lap with your right hand resting inside the left hand. Touch the tips of the thumbs together and hold for 10 minutes.

Anjali Mudra

In the West, most people experience this mudra as a posture of prayer, which carries a personal connection to each person, whether positive or negative. Anjali translates to offering and is used as a posture of composure, of returning to one's heart and initiating or completing an action. Bringing the hands together at your centre connects the left and right hemispheres of your brain.

This mudra honours our practice and allows our full selves to our journey. When we find equilibrium and decide which actions to initiate and complete, this mudra practiced repeatedly supports with our discipline and clarity in moving forward towards our goals.

The Practice: This mudra can be practiced in most postures. Breathe and bring both of your palms together at the centre of your chest as if to gather all of your resources into your heart. Repeat this action a few times connecting to the balancing action of uniting your left and right side, masculine and feminine, logic and intuition and strength and tenderness into wholeness. Settle into stillness, bring your goal to mind and focus on your breath. Notice what comes to mind.

Kali Mudra

The Abhaya mudra (a mudra that represents a diety)connects to the fierce goddess Kali that represents death, destruction, transformation and purity. If you are looking to make changes, release unnecessary baggage, overcome difficulties or even find some fierce energy in the day.

The hand positioning is very direct, with the fingers tightly linked and index fingers point directly with the left thumb crossed over the right thumb to represent feminine energy dominating over the masculine energy.

The Practice: Sit or stand and bring your arms out in front of you. Interlock all of the fingers together leaving the index fingers pointing forward and your left thumb crossed over your right. Bring the focus to your breath and bring to mind your goal. The mudra represents this one-pointed focus to strengthen your discipline.

Set aside some time for you and be clear about what it is you want to create. Consistency is key.

Landing in Peru

After 22 hours of travel,I landed in Iquitos, I left the airport in a tuk tuk, and as I sat in the 35• weather headed to town and checked out the scenery, it finally it hit me. Here I am doing this alone. I travel alone quite regularly, but often to meet people. Go on a retreat with friends or to Tony Robbins where I know people, and, I am going on a retreat and meeting with people in Costa Ricabut at this moment the reality of everything that has been building for the last 6 months came to light.

I talked with so many single travellers, all male. Everyone surprised by my journey mainly because of my vagina. Well fuck it (but not really because the ayahausca diet forbids it for 2 weeks prior, during and 2 weeks after lol). I am detoxing here with no coffee, or sugar, or dairy, or as mentioned sex OR alcohol. And other than the dull headache, I feel... I don't want to fill in anymore because I think that sentence says more than any label could. I feel.

A newer feeling for me. Feeling in general. And those of you that knew me even a year ago knew I didn't even feel comfortable with physical touch. I would rather not hug or cuddle or hold hands and now here I am. The hugger with emotions lol... Wtf?

As I talk to more people and hear about their experiences with the medicine, the anticipation right now is at an all time high. I literally can not wait to get to the jungle. I have to remind myself to stay present. To enjoy the cooking. * cooking is what happens basically from the time that you make the decision to partake in the medicine, it's literally all of your shit starting to boil to the surface * And that has been happening to me and I am well aware of it. The closer to the time of actual ingestion, the more intense.

When I was in Chilliwack last weekend there was a lot for me to stew about. One thing that stands out is my issues around rejection and how I let that effect me. In fact, in sharing, I recognized how it effects most people (I want to say everyone but God knows there will be that one person in denial). The fear of rejection seems to stop us from reaching out to others and saying the things that we really want to say. What I've recognized is that it's a pitiful excuse. To not tell someone you like them or love them because you are afraid they won't say the same back is also bottling your emotions. And it causes stress, emotional pain and, eventually, physical ailments. Add up all the things you haven't said in your life (both positive and negative) and tell me your healthy, lol.

I know I said fuck it last weekend. I reached out to my mom a while ago, I cyber-stalked a cute boy and called him, I told almost every person in my life I loved them and I have shared a bit of my upset with those I needed to (carefully as that can be a slippery slope of blame as opposed to personal responsibility). Let me tell you, not one of those things worked out the way I wanted them to. Lol. Not one. All of them went in the way of rejection. My Mom has not responded when I thought she would jump all over it, the boy didn't meet me and no one said sorry or owned their shit with explanation. Fuck.

But I did it anyway and I didn't make it mean anything about me. Because really I think that is what we are worried about,right? If I say I love you and you don't say it back, that means I am unloveable. If I chase after that boy or girl and they don't like me back that means I am ugly or fat or insert your flaws here. And it's not the truth. What is the truth you ask? The truth is objective and without emotion. The truth is you said I love you to someone and they didn't say it back. That's it. It doesn't mean you are unloveable or even that they don't love you back, you never know what is going on with someone else, it just means at that moment, they didn't say it back.

So fuck rejection. Seriously. You know I speak on living out of your comfort zone.... Well that doesn't mean sell everything you own and move to the jungle, it just means say something that scares you, everyday. Or start with once a week. Say I love you or no or yes or hi, my name is. Feel the fear and do it anyway.