Five Elements and relevance with human body

Whole Universe is made up of 5 elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space. These elements maintain balance. Nature struggles constantly to maintain balance. This is Law of Nature.

Human body is also made of 5 elements: Earth element (Bones and Muscles), Water element (Blood), Air element (Breath), Fire element (Heat), and Space element (Emptiness within). If any one element is taken out, body would collapse. There are various energies in the body like, Bio-energy, magnetic energy, electrical energy, mechanical energy, chemical energy. These energies run the body. These are called VITAL FORCE or PRAN SHAKTI. Any imbalance in the five elements brings imbalance in the Pran Shakti or vital force.

Imbalance of Elements and Disease

1. Imbalance of Water element: Cold, sinusitis, asthma, swellings, blood thinning or blood clotting, problem of urination, diseases of reproductive organs.

2. Imbalance of Earth element: Weakness, obesity, cholesterol, weight loss and weight gain, bones or muscular diseases etc.

3. Imbalance of Fire element: Coldness or fever, skin diseases, increased coldness or heat in body, loss of vital energy, acidity, diabetes, and mental disorders.

4. Imbalance of Air element: Nervous disorders, blood pressure problems, lung disorders, physical pains/deformities, depression, locomotors ataxia etc.

5. Imbalance of Space element: Thyroid disorders, throat problems, speech disorders, epilepsy, madness, foolishness, ear diseases, etc.

Importance of Five fingers:

Five Fingers are dispositions of the PRAN SHAKTI/ VITAL FORCE. Maximum energy flows in the tips of these fingers. But these fingers represent different components of PRAN SHAKTI.

Thumb: Fire (Agni)

Index finger: Air (Vayu)

Middle finger: Space (Akash)

Ring finger: Earth (Prithvi)

Little finger: Water (Jal)

The middle finger is the longest and represents space which is the largest element of the Universe as well as in our body. In our body, there are 75000 billion cells, and there is intra cellular space between each of these cells, making it the largest element in our body.

What is Mudra – A mudra is a symbolic shape similar to the ones in kung fu, yet more often they are energetic connections being made in the nadis or meridians. By connecting fingers or pointing certain directions we direct energy and link up specific channels to generate a particular set of internal resonances. The hands are vitally important to the brain. There is an equal amount of cortical tissue dedicated to the hand as there is to the rest of the body. By engaging our hands, our breath, our bodies, our focus we awaken our inner sense of awareness and unify ourselves.

Mudras are special hand gestures used to invoke a variety of energies and qualities, generally to influence different parts of the brain or body.

Magic of 5 fingers:

The science of Mudras provides safest and most convenient, easy-to-do hand Mudras, both for prevention as well as for the healing of diseases. With five fingers of our hands, we can magically affect the body’s metabolism and that too without spending a single penny or not even a single extra minute. You can do it while walking, sitting, talking or before sleeping. The fingers of our hands are DIVINE PHARMACY.

Importance of Mudras:

1. They regulate energy flows.
2. They are windows to spirituality.
3. They balance five elements: fire, air, space, earth and water.
4. They develop immunity and purify nerves.
5. They benefit mental, physical and spiritual levels, which no medicine can do.
6. They affect all glands of the body and regulate their hormonal activity.
7. They affect seven chakras, and through these chakras, they affect, body, mind and soul.
8. Mudras can help to open the mind and heart, as provide great health benefits.

Guidelines for Using Mudras:

1. Mudras can be done in any pose- sitting, walking, talking, watching game, travelling etc. But to have best result, you may sit and focus on only mudra.
2. Normal duration of Mudra is at least 45 minutes per day or 15 minutes three times a day.
3. Mudras should be preferably done by both hands. Right hand mudra affects left side of the body and vice versa.
4. For better result, do Mudras with deep breathing.
5. While in pain, do only Vayu Mudra, Shoonya Mudra, Linga or Apaan Vayu Mudra.
6. Mudras can be used along with other therapies.
7. When Mudras are practiced along with suitable exercise, yogasanas, and pranayams and due care is also taken of the food intake, they have wonderful effect.

However, out of a many mudras there are some important ones that can improve your health. Like Apaan Vaayu or Mritsanjeevani Mudra, Akash Mudra, Vaayu Mudra, Pran Mudra etc. I will write about them later some time.