Mudra synchro

I recently encountered a surprising, and unlikely, synchronicity  related to the chakras.

I was preparing for a meditation workshop that I lead at the yoga studio where I teach. I use a lot of guided meditations, and one of them focuses on the chakras—the invisible energy field that surrounds the body from the tailbone to the crown of the head. Chakras have been part of  yoga theory and Eastern philosophy for a couple of thousand years or more, and have become recognized and studied in the West in recent decades.

Each chakra is related to a bija, or seed sound, which we chant softly while focusing on the chakra in question. Here are a few examples of bijas: YAM, RAM, HAM, AUM. Each chakra is also related to a geometric shape. For example, a crescent shape is the focus of the throat chakra – or ajna chakra.

Finally, each chakra is also associated with a mudra or hand gesture…and that’s where my synchronicity manifested. I was focused on the mudra for the heart chakra because I had two versions of it in my notes. I was trying to remember which one I used in the previous course, and which one was the appropriate one. I finally realized both were correct, but one of them improved the description by providing more detail.

I’d been thoroughly focusing on the mudra for about five minutes when I was interrupted by a buzz from my phone. I’d been playing Words with Friends with David, our publisher at Crossroad Books. He’d just made a move and it was my turn. I clicked onto it and was startled to see that his word was ‘mudra.’

Wow! That really surprised me…and of course when I mentioned it to Trish, she said: “That’s a good one. Write it up for the blog.” And so I did.