MUDRADYNAMIC THERAPY: A FINGER-MEDIATED
MUDRA THERAPY
S.W. Hofman,
MD, A.C.F.M. Korthout,
MD
*Reprint
request: Dr. S.W. Hofman, Goejanverwelledijk
20d, 2806NZ Gouda,
The Netherlands e-mail: hofman82@zonnet.nl phone: +31 (0) 182 517 803
Dr. A.C.F.M. Korthout
SUMMARY
A new treatment modality, only remotely reminiscent of
the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing technique (1),
is described, with links to yoga science and based on the learnable, though not
easy Nogier pulse. A relation between the fingers and the specific pranas of the
five elements in yoga is hypothesized as well as an unbalance between those
pranas as an etiological disease factor. Diagnostics with the Nogier pulse is
practicable, but other diagnostics (yoga) and trial-and-error are also possible.
The space around the physical body, also called the human morphogenetic field,
can thus be explored. Specific finger exercises, mostly done by the patients
themselves, can be monitored by the therapist. As yet the method has not given
enough feedback to determine the limitations, but the use of breath position,
which more or less differentiates the three yoga bodies, might extend the
limitations. Some useful references in literature are given.
Key words:
mudradynamic therapy, auricular
medicine, yoga, vascular autonomous signal (VAS), morphogenetic field,
auriculo-filters, non-lesional medicine.
Mudradynamic
therapy is a new treatment within the field of auricular
medicine. Like many other techniques within this field, this therapy is
based, on one side upon old knowledge and on the other side it is influenced and
supplemented by new insights. The mudradynamic therapy originates in yoga
positions. The literal meaning of “mudra” is “seal”. Mudradynamic, in
this connection, refers to movements of the hand. Essential in the mudradynamic
therapy is that by performing certain finger-exercises - mostly done by the
patient himself - complaints can be alleviated.
DISEASE AS A
CONDENSATION OF RARITY UNBALANCE
In the yoga tradition any perceptible appearance is an expression of the
condensation of a more rarefied substance (2).
Cosmic - or if one prefers, creative - energy condensates through
I-awareness, emotions and feelings, to a body of flesh and blood, with its
regulatory systems and its species-related anatomy. From the point of view of
yoga tradition man consists of three structures. First there is the
causal body, whose possible extension is unlimited. Within this body the mental
body is found as a condensation of the former; it includes ego, daily
consciousness, emotion, desires, fears, sense perception, etcetera. Finally,
most condensed, there is the physical body,
consisting of the interaction of anatomy, physiology and biochemistry.
In classical consideration this condensation from a more rarefied shape
towards a more compact one is the result of attachment
to the material world. Undisturbed awareness and a harmonious sense of
attachment result in a healthy body with a well-balanced mind. The situation we
call disease is nothing more or less
than a state of condensation complicated by disharmonious influences. These may
be causal, mental or physical in nature. A logical result of this train of
thought is that disease, ailment or
suffering should preferably be treated from the concept of rareness, because
creation, also of disharmony, takes place from a more rarefied towards a more
physical state. Moreover, disharmony is maintained by the more rarefied
structures.
Yoga has its own description of disease,
consistent with the five elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether) of which
the physical body is constituted.
The five elements are related to the first five chakras,
and each of them has its own energy (prana)
(3). The fingers represent the pranas.
Several static positions, among others of hand(s) and fingers, named mudras,
can promote desired effects.
The leading representation of the five pranas, the mental and causal
representation of the hand, may vary from school to school. We have been
successfully using the leading representation of the Ilpendam Raja
Yoga school, which derives its knowledge from Swami Yoga Anand from Nepal. The
fingers (dig. I-V) respectively
represent ether, fire, earth, air and water (Fig.
1). Empirically, we describe the representation of the mental sphere at the
base of the fifth finger, and that of the causal sphere (and eventually the bindus
or gates of the yoga energies shiva and shakti which are comparable to yin and
yang (4) at the palm and the back of the hand. The palm of the hand
represents the gate of the moon and
the future; the back of the hand represents the gate of the sun and the past. In any given case the right finger
exercise that is needed can, among other methods, be determined through
auricular-medicine techniques.
In the field of auricular medicine a rarefied structure named bulle is
described (5),
which is localised around the body and in which local ailments may have a
projection; these can be detected with instruments such as a Nylon
Filter or Nogier’s wire; however,
they can also be detected by hand, pointing with all fingertips pressed together,
using the vascular autonomous signal
(VAS or RAC). Korthout described such
a structure as the morphogenetic field
(6): a rarefied structure related to
a person’s physiology and anatomy. Regardless of whether a change in the morphogenetic field
is primary or secondary to physiological, pathophysiological and/or anatomical
changes, it can at least be used for specific diagnosis and treatment.
THE USE OF FINGERS AS
A FILTER IN AURICULAR MEDICINE
Auricular medicine has a wide range of examination techniques, leading to
a correct diagnosis appropriate to this area of medicine. Very often filters
are applied as bearers of information under simultaneous control of the VAS
(7). Fingers can be used as
such filters. When the positioning of a Nylon filter above a diseased part of
the body elicits a VAS, this is also elicited if instead of this filter
appropriate fingers are used. The examiner subsequently puts each of his five
fingers, the basis of the fifth finger, the palm and finally the back of his
examining hand, to the place where the Nylon filter elicited the VAS, while he
simultaneously examines the arterial pulse of the examined person with his other
hand. One will find that some of the mentioned parts of the examining hand will
also elicit the VAS. Those fingers or other parts of the hand, which produced
such a reaction, will appear to do so as well if they are moved either clockwise
or counter clockwise in the same place. The information collected by using the
hand and fingers as filters, is consistent with the qualities ascribed to the
elements and spheres related to the appropriate fingers and actions within the
field of yoga. If a clockwise turning of an appropriate finger or part of the
hand elicits a VAS, this can be considered a sign of abundance of the qualities
concerned (more correctly: rajas); if
a counter clockwise turning elicits the reaction, there is a lack of these
qualities (more correctly: tamas). The
ailment in the area where the nylon filter elicited a reaction, can be ascribed
to the unbalance between the abundance of one element or sphere and the lack of
the other one.
THE
PRACTICE OF MUDRADYNAMIC THERAPY
An example: above the
painful shoulder of a patient one finds a reaction by turning the ring finger
clockwise and with turning the thumb counter clockwise (Fig.2). The underlying disease should be ascribed to the unbalance
between the abundance of air and the lack of ether. In this situation the
appropriate exercise for the patient is: turning the thumb of the left hand
round the ring finger of the right hand, ten times clockwise (Fig.3a)
and ten times counter clockwise (Fig.3b);
next he performs the same exercise with the right thumb and the left ring finger.
This exercise can be given to the patient as homework. The sequence is of minor
importance.
If one makes the
patient do the appropriate exercise, this eliminates - at least for some period
- the unbalance found before. This elimination can be found immediately by
putting the appropriate fingers in the same area again under simultaneous
investigation of the arterial pulse. The fingers primarily found to elicit the
VAS will now fail to do so, at any rate no longer in the same combination.
However, a different combination of fingers or actions may now elicit the VAS.
This should be interpreted as the revelation of a more profound unbalance. This
unbalance also vanishes if the appropriate finger-exercise is performed. In the
end it is no longer possible to elicit any reaction from this area with any
examining finger or part of the hand. Then it may still be possible to obtain a
reaction by the touch of the ear of the examined person with fingers or parts of
the hand. Then, if the appropriate finger-exercise is performed, this reaction
will also disappear. The last exercise found through this method could be
considered as most essential for that moment.
However, we do not recommend performing the subsequent exercises within
one session (a similar unbalance can be found in different, less obvious, parts
and points of the bodies); it seems preferable to give the patient’s system
the opportunity of responding for some period to each exercise found. In a
majority of cases the local ailment will prove to have vanished after one or
several finger-exercises.
In case of a local
ailment one will principally examine the local area in order to find appropriate
fingers for the performance of the mudrodynamic therapy. In case of more general
complaints or in case of complaints with a distinct psychopathological component
the technique of finding the appropriate fingers will be slightly different. The
examiner takes the arterial pulse when he approaches first the left and then the
right ear of the examined person. At some distance of the ear a VAS will arise.
If there is a clear difference between the distances to the left and to the
right ear (Fig. 4), we state that a
psychopathological component plays a serious role in the complaint. Then, if the
nylon filter is moved along the face or the skull at the side where the VAS was
found at the shorter distance between the examining hand and the ear, some area
of that side of the face or skull will be found to elicit the VAS if the Nylon
filter is put there. Hofman described the relations between such areas of the face and
clinical psychopathology (8). In
comparison to other parts of the face, the area found appears to be either
hyperaesthetic or hypaesthesic. In this area one can search once more for
appropriate fingers and actions as described before. Again an appropriate
finger-exercise, which makes the local reaction disappear, can be found and
given to the patient as homework. And again new unbalances may be found after
performance of the exercise, leading to new appropriate exercises.
If hyperaesthesia or
hypaesthesia is found, the examiner can - as an experiment - perform the
appropriate exercise himself or instruct the patient to do so. Afterwards it is
often found that sensitivity is normalised. This is to be considered as a
positive prognosis; furthermore it motivates the patient to perform the exercise.
In many cases the
appropriate exercise found will be one in which one finger will have to be
turned around the palm or back of the other hand; sometimes the fifth finger
basis is involved. Often it can be found that local pressure with the
appropriate finger elicits a strong VAS, while other fingers only produce a VAS
as they leave or approach the area that is afflicted by the ailment or suffering
from hypaesthesia or hyperaesthesia. It has turned out to be useful if,
immediately following such a finger-exercise, this finger is pushed against the
concerning area at the face or the body for some ten seconds.
If an appropriate
exercise is found, the patient is instructed to do it as homework; he must be
instructed to perform the exercise as often as he thinks of it, during a period
of at least a week or until the next consultation. If, after this week, the
patient still notices any effect of the exercise, he can perform it until there
is no longer any noticeable reaction. At that moment the mudradynamic exercise
will have lost its effectiveness. In the best case the disturbance on which the
ailment was based will be eliminated. Otherwise it will usually be found that
the initial complaint has changed somewhat while a different disturbance will
manifest itself, which can be found and treated in the way described above.
Apart from turning
appropriate fingers and/or parts of the hand around each other, other exercises
with appropriate parts of the hand are possible: e.g. making contact between the
appropriate fingers or hooking them firmly together during a short period of
apnoea (respectively in maximal inspiration and maximal expiration), and even
static postures (9). Hofman
described the relation between the respiratory positions and Nogier’s three tissue layers (10). (Inspirational apnoea evokes the causal sphere;
whereas expirational apnoea evokes the physical sphere.) Each exercise can also
be determined and performed while the eyes are kept open and closed respectively.
Another option is that the physician himself performs the exercise on behalf of
the patient or that other persons around him are instructed to do so.
FINAL
REMARKS
Around the body layers can be found, which form the borders of rarefied structures
that relate to the physical body and superficial
tissue, the mental body and middle
tissue, and the causal body and deep tissue
(11). Each of these layers can be
examined with the fingers as filters, in search of reactivity. Reactions that
are found will lead to finger exercises that will be especially active in the
level of the related sphere or tissue layer.
The mudradynamic therapy can safely be applied in combination with other
kinds of treatment, and essentially promotes harmony (sattva).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It took some time to
realize that the mudratherapy with the fingers is able to act on much more than
emotional fixations that so wondrously vanished with this technique. The method
was presented on Saturday the 28th of September 2002 in the Goudse Academie. The
authors thank the yoga master Ajita from the Raja-yoga Institute at Ilpendam
(NL) rajayoga@xs4all.nl, who was present, for his advice and remarks.
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27-53.
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4 Figures: [in jpg-files] :
Fig. 1:
Representation
of spheres and elements at the hand
mental sphere, water, air, earth,
fire, ether, causal sphere, gate of the moon, gate of the
sun.
Fig. 2:
Reaction
at turning ring finger clockwise an thumb counter clockwise.
Fig. 3:
First the
appropriate fingers are turned around each other clockwise ten times (A), next
ten times counter clockwise (B).
Fig. 4: