The Brain, Bio-effect Mechanism and Mudras

An important function of the mind is to instruct the brain to co-ordinate its various neurons to perceive the sensation and then process this perception to affect a proper motor response.

The brain controls the functions of our body via a bi-directional traffic of neurons between itself and the organs. Impulses from organs of sensations are carried by one set of neurons - the sensory neurons, to the cerebral cortex and the sensory cortex while another set of - the motor neurons, carry messages from the brain to appropriate organs for actions. The two sets of neurons have separate functions. A specific part of the brain, the Thalamus, acts as a relay station in the traffic of neurons. For example - a fly sitting on leg sensation is driven away immediately by swapping of hand, withdrwal of leg, body movement and cognition of incidence. There is immense co-ordination of muscles which brain alone does without loss of time. Besides these two types of neurons scientists know of other factile reflex receptors that transmit signals to the brain.

Free nerve ending found throughout the skin and in many other tissues can detect touch and pressure. A touch receptor of special sensitivity is the meissners corpuscle - an elongated, encapsulated nerve ending that excites a large unmyelinated sensory nerve fibre. Inside the capsulation are many whorls of terminal nerve filaments. These receptors are present throughout the skin, but concentrated in areas especially sensitive to light non-hairy parts of the skin where one's ability to discern spatial charecters of touch sensation is highly developed.

meissners corpuscles react in a fraction of second after they are stimulated which means that they are particularly sensitive to movement of light objects over the surface of the skin and also to low frequency vibration.

The fingertips and other areas that contain large number of meissners corpuscles also contain large number of expanded tip tactile receptors.

The hairy parts of the skin also contain moderate number of expanded tip receptors even though they have almost no meissners corpuscles. These receptors differ from meissners corpuscles in that they transmit an initially atrong but partially adapting signals and then a continuing weaker signals that adapt slowly. Therefore they are responsible for giving steady state signals that allow one to determine continuous touch of objects against the skin.

Human thumb is connected with brain by radial and median sensory nerves, index, middle and half of the ring fingers by ulner nerve and combining the thumb repeatedly with middle, index, small and ring together results into successively decreasing potentials.

In chanting hymns by combining by different fingers for different purposes like mudras with thumb as such they relay signals of different amplitude and frequencies by the concerned sensory nerves to specific sensory reception centers of the brain. In turn such signals produce different bio effects depending on the signals strength and frequencies.(Smith and Best 1989, Rai 1992, Rudraksha)

In yoga shastra it is held that human fingers from thumb tosmall represent fire, air, sky, earth and water (Agni, Vayu, Akasha, Prithvi and Jal respectively in sanskrit) and they are referred to as the Panch maha bootas - the five great elements.

Either of the fingers on coupling with thumb is held to the form specific mudras, viz Jnana Mudra, Prithvi Mudra, Vayu Mudra etc. Each of these Mudra gestures is suggested to cause specific bio effects and their advantages are taken for curing many diseases due to interaction of the representative elements. A combination of the index finger tip with that of the tip of the thumb forms the Jnana Mudra. The signals of their cumulative potentials and the elements are suggested to improve memory, concentration and so on.

According to Tantra Yoga Mudras act as a remote control to maintain balance of the five elements with in the human body. As we breathe while performing Mudras - fresh air reaches specific parts of our lungs. The hand is full of nerve clusters like the median, the Ulner and radial that convey sensory messages of touch - to the brain. They execute instructions received from the brain to perform a number of tasks in coordination with the limbs and other sensory system. Mudras enable the brain to activate certain nerve centres and channels in the breathing system to direct the flow of fresh air to specific parts of the lungs. This in turn directs the flow of freshly oxygenated blood to the desired limbs. This is known as the flow of prana - the Vital air.

It is quite incredible that merely by manipulating the fingers we are able to direct the flow of prana to just where we want. Proper breathing pattern while performing mudras is very impoetant as performing them in combination with this specific breathing pattern ensures maximum benefits to the practitioner. The breathing pattern is as fallows:-

• Breath in deep and slow and uniformly for a count of five seconds.
• Hold the breath for two seconds.
• Exhale slowly and uniformly.
• Hold out for a second.

When we perform a mudra the energy that is being emitted out of our fingertips is arrested and redirected to certain part of the brain centres from where the proper breathing directs it to parts of the body as per the mudra.This is the scientific basis of mudra.

References

The above mentioned information is added from the book called "MUDRAS & HEALTH PERSPECTIVES" by "SUMAN.K.CHIPLUNKAR".