Mudras ─ Ancient Gestures to Ease Modern Stress

One way that all of us can better care for ourselves is by developing techniques for coping with the irritations and anxiety that are part of life. That’s why we’re introducing this book on mudras. Think of these gestures as self-talk for your hands. These simple movements, the gestures that we often make unconsciously, can help us focus on our work, calm ourselves, release anger and energize us. Used for centuries by many different cultures, mudras are seen in Eastern dance and meditation, in ancient Egyptian friezes, even in Byzantine icons of Christ. Most of us use them today, too: we wave goodbye, we press a hand to our chest in distress, we wriggle our fingers to release energy, or press fingertips together to calm ourselves.Easy to learn, mudras can be done anywhere, at any time: at traffic lights, in meetings, in airplanes, when we’re arguing, when we’re grieving, when we need to prepare for sleep. The word “mudra” can be translated from the Sanskrit as “that which brings inner peace,” and that’s what mudras are: a physical means of quieting our bodies.

Emily Fuller Williams, who started out to be a classroom teacher but found a different “helping” career as a massage therapist, is a member of a Cleveland OH-area practice that includes psychologists and mental health counselors and the author of Mudras: Ancient Gestures to Ease Modern Stress. A warm, gentle woman, Williams introduces mudras wherever she is: to clients, colleagues, even strangers on airplanes. “Anyone, of any age, who is willing to listen and provide feedback!” she chuckles.For the past several years, Williams has incorporated mudras in her practice and in her frequent presentations at conferences and retreats. She's taught the gestures to hospice workers, therapists, teachers, parent educators, and to members of church, civic and business groups at such programs as “Managing Holiday Stress,” “Stress Management for Parents,” and “Teaching Mudras to Children.” A native of River Falls WI, Williams graduated from the University of Wisconsin Madison and the Ohio College of Massage Therapy. She lives in Fairview Park OH with her husband. They are the parents of two young adults.