Inhaling the Purified Breath of Life

"Breath is the bridge which 
connects life to consciousness,

which unites your body to your thoughts." 

~Thich Nhat Hanh

     I love exploring the 8 Mudras of the Jin Shin Jyutsu Tradition. They are an important and easily accessible tool for balance and well-BEing. Mudras are the birthplace of what we now call Jin Shin Jyutsu. One hundred years ago, when Master Jiro Murai was diagnosed with an incurable illness, he asked to brought to the family cabin in the mountains of Japan. His family was instructed to come back in 7 days to see the outcome. It is said that the intense use of mudras while sitting in meditation and fasting turned his life energy around. He passed through fevers and chills during those days before losing consciousness and subsequently coming back to himself, feeling that he was free of whatever had caused him to be so ill. Murai believed that the simple act of joining right hand with left hand brings about a unity between body and mind.
     Unlike animals who primarily use their noses and mouths to experience their environment, we explore our world with our hands. Touch is important to our human experience thanks to 17,000 tactile receptors on the hand. We have about 4000 nerve endings at the tips of our fingers, giving our fingertips one of the densest collections of nerve endings in the body. The nerve endings connect with the energetic pathways of our organs and can influence them, relax, stimulate or balance them. Our hands are therefore an energy map of our consciousness and health with areas of the hand corresponding to different systems of the body as well as our various attitudes. By curling, crossing, stretching, and touching the fingers and palms, we can effectively talk to the body and mind. All of this is what makes mudras effective tools for balance and well-being.
     Anywhere you are, while on a break, sitting at a red light while in your car, waiting at the checkout, at your office or home, stillness can be yours. Mudras are easily learned and with a little practice you can do them at any time and place. A knowledge of these mudras allows us to send energy to any part of our being.
     The mudra pictured above is one of the 8 mudras that are part of the Practice of Jin Shin Jyutsu. It is known in our tradition as "Inhaling the Purified Breath of Life." This finger pose relieves asthma, back tension/stress and brings general well-being to the whole body. It aids in easier breathing allowing us to receive the purified Breath of Life. This pose helps us to bring harmony to our total being.
     Cynthia Broshi, International Jin Shin Jyutsu teacher, says, "Through their relationships the Mudras excavate, untangle and dissolve tensions. Singly and as a group they work with the relationship of Exhale and Inhale, building and breaking down. Some poses emphasize one or the other aspect of Breath, and utilizing each pose with the left and the right hand amplifies and blends these actions of Generation and Regeneration."
     Our power to harmonize, balance, and heal is literally in our own hands. Learn more about this practice and awareness in MUDRAS and MINDFULNESS, an ongoing weekly class held at the Sunshine Institute.  Join me for this study of harmonizing our energy channels through fingers and toes and the 8 Mudras of Jin Shin Jyutsu.

"Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary

to which you can retreat at any time 
and be yourself."

~Hermann Hesse 

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

JSJ Centennial

JSJ Centennial

"There are two ways to live:
you can live as if nothing is a miracle,
or you can live as if everything
is a miracle."
~Albert Einstein

     100 years ago, on a mountain in Japan, Jiro Murai dropped to his knees and gave thanks for the calm, peace, and healing that infused his being. Master Murai pledged his life to the study of what he would later call Jin Shin Jyutsu.

     Jin Shin Jyutsu is a ancient art which restores an individual's balance-body, mind and spirit. Literally translated, it means "Art of the Creator through compassionate and knowing man." This simple, yet profound art was rediscovered in Japan in the beginning of the twentieth century by Jiro Murai, and brought to the west by Mary Iino Burmeister in the 1950's.

    Born into a long line of medical doctors, Jiro Murai chose to follow a different path and devoted himself to a search for the true meaning of life. He traveled far and wide until he became terminally ill with an ailment unknown to doctors of his time. When the treatment available to him failed to produce any result and death seemed inevitable, he asked to be taken to a solitary cabin in the mountains and be left alone for seven days. There, he meditated on all the teachings of the masters he had learned and began practicing the forgotten art of Jin Shin Jyutsu on himself.
    Each day, his body temperature dropped, as he moved in and out of consciousness. On the seventh day, he suddenly felt himself being lifted out of his semi-frozen state and exposed to an extreme amount of heat. When his fever subsided, he felt completely well and healed. He was so grateful that he fell to his knees and vowed he would spend the rest of his life researching this wonderful art.

    Master Murai found the earliest written records on the Art of Jin Shin Jyutsu in the Kojiki, an ancient Japanese text, which indicated that Jin Shin Jyutsu was widely known and practiced before the birth of Gautama Buddha and Moses, and was passed from Master to apprentice by oral tradition. This simple procedure of placing hands on the body, according to the knowledge of bodily energy flows, dates back to the very beginning of time. But through the development of our civilization, its basic knowledge was lost as we explored more complex ways of healing.

    Self-Help is the cornerstone of Jin Shin Jyutsu and is the pathway to healing and continued balance. Jiro Murai's story is indeed a story of self-help and can serve as inspiration to us all that we hold the power to heal within our hands. 

"The more light you allow within you, the brighter the world you live in will be."
~Shakti Gawain

Mudras: Yoga in Your Hands

Mudras:
Yoga in Your Hands

"Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself."
~Hermann Hesse 

     Mudras are the birthplace of what we now call Jin Shin Jyutsu. One hundred years ago, when Master Jiro Murai was diagnosed with an incurable illness, he asked to brought to the family cabin in the mountains of Japan. His family was instructed to come back in 7 days to see the outcome. It is said that the intense use of mudras while sitting in meditation and fasting turned his life energy around. He passed through fevers and chills during those days before losing consciousness and subsequently coming back to himself, feeling that he was free of whatever had caused him to be so ill. Murai believed that the simple act of joining right hand with left hand would bring about a unity between body and mind. 

     Unlike animals who primarily use their noses and mouths to experience their environment, we explore our world with our hands. Touch is important to our human experience thanks to 17,000 tactile receptors on the hand. We have about 4000 nerve endings at the tips of our fingers, giving our fingertips one of the densest collections of nerve endings in the body. The nerve endings connect with the energetic pathways of our organs and can influence them, relax, stimulate or balance them. Our hands are therefore an energy map of our consciousness and health with areas of the hand corresponding to different systems of the body as well as our various attitudes. Through the simple act of  curling, crossing, stretching, and touching the fingers and palms, we access the energetic pathways that connect body, mind and spirit. All of this is what makes mudras effective tools for balance and well-being.

     Anywhere you are, while on a break, sitting at a red light while in your car, waiting at the checkout, at your office or home, stillness can be yours. Mudras are easily learned and with a little practice you can do them at any time and place. A knowledge of these mudras allows us to send energy to any part of our being.

     The mudra pictured above is one of the 8 mudras that are part of the Practice of Jin Shin Jyutsu. It is known in our tradition as "Inhaling the Purified Breath of Life." This finger pose relieves asthma, back tension/stress and brings general well-being to the whole body. It aids in easier breathing allowing us to receive the purified Breath of Life. This pose helps us to bring harmony to our total being. 

     Cynthia Broshi, International Jin Shin Jyutsu teacher, says, "Through their relationships the Mudras excavate, untangle and dissolve tensions. Singly and as a group they work with the relationship of Exhale and Inhale, building and breaking down. Some poses emphasize one or the other aspect of Breath, and utilizing each pose with the left and the right hand amplifies and blends these actions of Generation and Regeneration." 

     Our power to harmonize, balance, and heal is literally in our own hands. Learn more about this practice and awareness in MUDRAS and MINDFULNESS , a six-week course beginning on February 22. This course is an indepth study of Mary Burmeister's Self-Help Text, FUN with FINGERS and TOES: Jin Shin Jyutsu Physio-Philosophy. Join me for this in-depth study of harmonizing our energy channels through fingers and toes and the 8 Mudras of Jin Shin Jyutsu.

“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths."
~Etty Hillesum