8 Mudra and Reiki Hand Positions for Instant Calm

The mudras and the Reiki hand positions can be used in tandem with the Yees’ asana sequence or separately to help you find calm.

Updated Nov 11, 2021 Colleen Saidman Yee, Rodney Yee

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These mudra and Reiki hand positions can be used in tandem with theYees’ asana sequence or separately to help you find calm. Start with San Mukhi Mudra to turn your senses inward and quiet your mind. (Place the tips of your index and middle fingers at the bridge of your nose, and your ring fingers at the top of the bulbous part of your nose. Your pinky fingers are at the corners of your mouth, and your thumbs are slightly pressing your inner-ear flaps.) Then practice the eight Reiki positions. Reiki is a Japanese energy-balancing technique. It has been a powerful Urban Zen Integrative Therapy modality in hospital settings, explains Rodney Yee. “We forget that simple human contact changes the chemistry of everything,” he says. Best of all, you can self-administer Reiki. Traditionally, a practitioner would hold each hand position for 3 minutes.

colleen and rodney yee palms to your temples mudra

Find a comfortable seat or cozy up in bed and close your eyes. Bring your fingertips to the top of your head, and your palms to your temples.

colleen and rodney yee palms over your eyes mudra

Next, move your palms over your eyes, with your fingers lightly resting on your forehead.

colleen and rodney yee hands slide to the back of your head mudra

Let your hands slide to the back of your head.

colleen and rodney yee move your palms to hover over the sides of your neck

Then move your palms to hover over the sides of your neck.

colleen and rodney yee upper chest, thumbs lightly touching your collarbones mudra

Bring them to rest on the upper chest, thumbs lightly touching your collarbones.

colleen and rodney yee hands to your lower chest mudra

Move your hands to your lower chest, with your fingertips on the lower ribs.

colleen and rodney yee hands to your upper belly

Slide your hands to your upper belly, just above your navel.

colleen and rodney yee hands on naval mudra

Lastly, bring them to just below your navel.

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About Our Pros

colleen and rodney yee Colleen Saidmain Yee and Rodney Yee

Model Colleen Saidman Yee came to yoga in 1987 and later graduated from Jivamukti’s teacher-training program in 1998. She’s worked with Mother Theresa at the Home for the Dying, opened two Yoga Shanti studios in New York, and taught alongside her husband Rodney Yee. She helped create Urban Zen’s Integrative Yoga Therapist program and several DVDs.

“All spiritual practice comes down to applying teachings to your own self, going inside, and listening to your body and heart,” says Rodney Yee, who has been practicing and teaching yoga for more than 25 years. With more than 30 DVDs and several books to his name, Yee co-chairs the Urban Zen Health and Wellness Foundation, founded by Donna Karan, with his wife Colleen Saidman Yee. He is a former gymnast and ballet dancer, now based in New York, where he teaches regular classes at Colleen’s studio, Yoga Shanti, in the Flatiron District.