Apan Mudra — Meaning & How to Practice

What is Apan Mudra?

Apan mudra — the mudra of downward-moving energy — touches the tips of the middle and ring fingers to the tip of the thumb, index and little fingers extended. Apana is the yogic name for the descending current of the life force: the energy of elimination, release and letting go, governing everything the body must clear and everything the psyche must discharge. The gesture is the classical support for detoxification in the widest sense — traditionally used for digestion and elimination, and contemplatively for grief, resentment and all held waste of the heart.

How to Perform Apan Mudra

• Sit comfortably, spine tall, shoulders soft
• Rest the hands palms-up on the thighs
• Touch the tips of the middle and ring fingers together to the tip of the thumb on each hand
• Extend the index and little fingers gently outward
• Lengthen each exhale, imagining what is finished draining downward and out of the body into the earth

Benefits

• Traditionally supports the body's elimination and detoxification
• Aids digestion and the downward flow that constipation and stagnation resist
• Contemplatively releases held emotion — resentment, grief, the un-exhaled
• Grounds and settles by directing energy downward
• A natural companion to waning-moon rituals and practices of letting go

Best Time to Practice

Apan mudra suits the exhale of the day — afternoon and evening — held 15–20 minutes as needed. Use it during cleanses and decluttering seasons, in grief work, and under the waning moon, when the whole lunar tide runs in its releasing direction.