The Peace Mudra

"Every day brings a choice:
to practice stress or to practice peace."
~Joan Borysenko

On this day of remembering, I found myself focusing on the need for  peace in our world. This led me to think about the peace sign we make with our hands.

from Wikipedia

"It has various meanings, depending on the cultural context and how it is presented. It is most commonly used to represent the letter "V" as in "victory"; as a symbol of peace (usually with palm outward); as an offensive gesture (palm inward); and to represent the number 2. It was adopted by the 1960s counterculture movement as a sign for peace."

 As a Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner, I am always interested in anything that we do with our hands. I am especially fascinated by the tradition of healing mudras (hand gestures) and after my ponderings today, I have come to think of this peace gesture as the "peace mudra".

Think about it....This gesture involves all of the fingers of the hand, either holding them or extending them with intention. 

• The index finger balances the limiting attitude of FEAR and brings LOVE. 
• The middle finger balances ANGER and brings PEACE. 
• Holding the thumb to the ring finger opens the lungs and trades sadness for happiness while clearing our tendency to get stuck in worry-mode, which in turn allows us to be present. 
• And the little finger enables us to let go of pretense and be true to ourselves. 

I can't think of a better way to bring peace to our inner being while projecting a positive force in our world. So now as I perform my daily practice of holding  fingers to clear limiting attitudes, I do it with a new way to think about peace and harmony.  

"Each of us by our daily acts of peace and our commitment to building a better world can inspire others and help create a groundswell for peace too powerful to be turned aside."
~David Krieger