Pranam Mudra – Prayer Pose

Pranam Mudra, or Prayer Pose, is one of the most frequently used mudras in Kundalini Yoga. Each class begins with hands in Prayer Pose, chanting the Adi Mantra, and closes with the “Long Time Sun” song, hands in Pranam. 

Pranam Mudra balances and neutralizes the positive side of the body (right, sun, masculine) with the negative side (left, moon, feminine). It is a perfect way to bring the human system into harmony and prepare to receive the benefits of Kundalini Yoga. It is a graceful and humble mudra of supplication, acknowledging and opening the heart to the One.

Many students tend to hold the mudra a little low or let the fingers angle out away from the body. Take a moment in your next class to bring their attention to Pranam Mudra and help your students perfect the angles. Palms are together with the bracelet lines of the wrist (where the palm and wrist join) placed at the heart center. The fingers are at 90 degrees, pointing straight up under the bottom of the chin. Apply an even and constant pressure on all 10 fingers and the palms as well as against the sternum (the breastbone).

“Now, please fold your hands. Watch, some people do not know how fold their hands… [Hold it at] exactly 90 degrees, all fingers together, thumbs together. And this is a ‘V’ shape, victory shape, between your thumbs and your fingers. It has to be at the heart center. Base of the three rings, [the bracelet lines of the wrist] health, wealth and happiness, must be at the heart center, understood?”

Yogi Bhajan, April 22, 1997