Mudras of India: A Comprehensive Guide to the Hand Gestures of Yoga and Indian Dance

by Cain Carroll and Revital Carroll
Foreword by Dr. David Frawley

* This Expanded Edition contains a new chapter about the Healing benefits of Mudras.

For thousands of years hand mudras have been used in India for healing, storytelling, emotional expression, and to evoke and convey elevated spiritual states. For the first time, the elaborate system of mudras - as applied in yoga and Indian dance - has been organized into a comprehensive, fully-indexed and cross-referenced format that allows readers access to this still esoteric body of knowledge.

Mudras of India presents over 200 photographed hand mudras each with detailed instructions on technique, application, health and spiritual benefits and historical background. The authors have extensively researched the usage of mudras and their significance in the larger context of Indian spiritual systems, and taken painstaking efforts to ensure each mudra is rendered with correct Sanskrit name, transliteration and translation to English. A new chapter that comprehensively lists the benefits of hand mudras, covering major health concerns as well spiritual and psycho-energetic categories, has been added for the paperback edition.

The book will appeal to spiritual seekers, students and teachers of yoga and Indian Dance, scholars and lay people, and anyone interested in the rich cultural heritage of Indian mudras, and the transformative effects of these powerful hand gestures.

Endorsements for Mudras of India
 

"A refreshingly interesting book"

“The authors deserve commendation for grappling with this subject and making it accessible to teachers and students of yoga and those interested in India. It is a refreshingly interesting book and each mudra is photographed and detailed instructions provided on technique, applications health and spiritual benefits and historical backgrounds.”

— Yoga Magazine

 

"Touch-screen technology is depriving us of the evolutionary use of our hands" 

“Neuroscience has shown that our touch-screen technology is depriving us of the evolutionary use of our hands as tools of the mind, putting us at risk for depression. This astonishingly beautiful and well-researched book offers the sacred art of hand gesture that, in connecting hand to mind and heart, can sustain our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. Whether you come to Mudras of India with an interest in dance, yoga, meditation or your own self-care, you will be well-served.”

— Amy Weintraub, founder of the LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute and author of Yoga for Depression and Yoga Skills for Therapists

 

"Add this book to your yoga library"

"Yoga teachers are always looking for new ways to help our students deepen their meditation practice. This beautiful book offers many powerful hand mudras that yoga practitioners can learn and incorporate into their sitting meditation. Add this book to your yoga library. It is remarkable how a simple mudra keeps our mind more present during the practice of meditation.”

— Desirée Rumbaugh, yoga teacher and creator of the DVD series Yoga to the Rescue

 

"This book is the perfect gateway"

“Mudras give access to the subtle body in remarkable ways, given the extensive neurological connections between the hands and the hemispheres of the brain. This collection is an invaluable resource for students of yoga and meditation as it offers clear and concise detail on the hand articulations. I feel that this book is the perfect gateway for students to work with the mudras in order to yoke their awareness in more refined and nuanced ways.” 

 — Tias Little, M.A., founder of Prajna Yoga, Santa Fe, New Mexico

 

"Every dancer, yogi, or yogini will want to keep a copy on hand!”

“Mudras of India is a much-needed compendium that beautifully illustrates the incredible variety and versatility of the hand gestures that play a key role in India’s sacred traditions. Every dancer, yogi, or yogini will want to keep a copy on hand!”

— Roxanne Kamayani Gupta, PhD, author of A Yoga of Indian Classical Dance

 

"A comprehensive, exhaustive study"

“Mudras of India by Cain and Revital Carroll is a comprehensive, exhaustive study of 'Mudras', both in Yoga and Classical Indian dance. The text delves into mudras in various cultures and explicates their possible therapeutic uses. The book is a must-read for students of classical Indian dance and yoga, as also for those seeking curative and preventative healing.”

— Ratna Roy, PhD, Senior Professor, Dance, The Evergreen State College, Senior Guru, Odissi Classical Dance, and Artistic Director, Urvasi Dance Ensemble

 

" A seminal compilation"

“The art and science of hasta-mudras in Indian classical dances and yoga, is a complete language in itself. It has been handed down through the ages from seers and sages to those interested. Documenting these mudras at length, this book becomes a seminal compilation, with illustrations and text, and brings aesthetic and artistic sensibilities to an otherwise academic subject. Congrats!”

— Professor Ashish Mohan Khokar, scholar on arts and culture of India and Chair of the Dance History Society of India

 

"Accessible to a broad readership"

"This well-designed presentation of mudras brings together a significant feature of both yoga and Indian classical dance, instrumental toward revealing the metaphysical understanding of non-duality. Mudras of India is a welcome addition to traditional codifications with explanations, techniques, applications, and usage structured to make this knowledge accessible to a broad readership."

— Sharon Lowen, renowned classical Indian dancer of Odissi, Manipuri and Chhau, New Delhi, India