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Struggling with gas, bloating, or poor digestion? Yoga mudras offer a simple, natural way to improve your digestive health. These ancient hand gestures help balance the body’s energy, stimulate digestive organs, and support smooth digestion.
Practising specific mudras like Pushan, Surya, and Pitta Kaarak can activate digestive fire (Jatharagni), reduce excess air (Vata), and ease symptoms like acidity, constipation, and gas without any side effects.
In this guide, you’ll find 5 easy yoga mudras that help with digestion and gas. You’ll learn how to do them, when to practise them, and how they can support your tummy in a natural way.
1. Pushan Mudra
In Sanskrit, Pushan means “one who nourishes.” Pushan Mudra is known as the mudra of nourishment because it supports digestion by boosting the Jatharagni (digestive fire).
This mudra is named after the Hindu sun god, Pushan, who is seen as the nourisher and life-giver of all beings.
Pushan Mudra is a mix of two hand gestures: Apana Mudra and Vyan Mudra. When you practise it, it helps balance the subtle energies in your body that control how you take in food, digest it, and eliminate waste. These three energies are:
These are part of the five main Prana Vayus (life energies) in the body.
How to do pushan mudra
- Sit in a comfortable position like Padmasana (Lotus Pose) or Vajrasana (Thunderbolt Pose).
- On your left hand: touch the tips of your middle and ring fingers to the tip of your thumb.
- On your right hand: touch the tips of your index and middle fingers to the tip of your thumb.
- Keep your hands relaxed and apply light pressure with your fingers.
- Close your eyes and take slow, deep breaths.
- Practise this mudra for 10 to 15 minutes.
Pushan Mudra directs the body’s energy towards the solar plexus chakra, which supports the organs involved in digestion such as the stomach, liver, gallbladder, and intestines.
By activating this energy centre, Pushan Mudra helps improve digestion and relieves common problems like gas, constipation, and acidity. It boosts the digestive fire and balances the body’s natural flow, making it especially useful for people with slow digestion or frequent bloating.
2. Shunya Mudra
Shunya means ‘void’ or ‘emptiness,’ which is linked to the space element, known as Akash Tattva. When the space element increases too much in the body, it causes imbalance among the other elements, which can negatively affect digestion.
The Shunya Mudra helps reduce the excess space element and supports the balance of other elements in the body.
When the space element is too high, it blocks the energy flow of other elements, causing energy chaos inside the body.
In Shunya Mudra, the middle finger (which represents the space element) is gently pressed under the thumb (which represents the fire element), reducing the space element. Because of this, the mudra is also called Akash Shamak where Akash means ‘space’ and Shamak means ‘to reduce’ or ‘calm.
How to do Shunya Mudra
- Begin by getting into any seated comfortable posture Sukhasana (Easy Pose), Vajrasana (Thunderbolt Pose).
- Now, place your hand on thighs or on knees. Gradually lift a hand and try to fold the middle finger under the thumb. Hold the posture.
- Close your eyes and focus on deep breathing. Practice this mudra for 30 to 40 minutes twice a day for the better result.
Shunya Mudra enhances the fire element while diminishing the space element. Reducing space element stimulates the digestive fire, which further aids in digestion. Along with this, it also balances or overcomes the Vata doshas as the Space element is concerned with Vata Body.
3. Surya Mudra
Surya Mudra increases the fire element (Agni) in the body, which is closely linked to digestion. This digestive fire, known as Jatharagni, is responsible for breaking down food through stomach acid, enzymes, and bile in the stomach and small intestine.
By practicing Surya Mudra, you stimulate this digestive fire, helping your body digest food more efficiently. This can reduce problems like gas, bloating, and sluggish digestion. Surya Mudra also boosts metabolism, which further supports healthy digestion and helps prevent the build-up of gas in the digestive system.
How to do surya mudra
- Begin with a seated comfortable posture Swastikasana (Cross-legged Pose), Padmasana (Lotus Pose).
- Now, fold your ring finger and touch it at the base of the thumb and press its above surface with the tip of the thumb.
- Close your eyes and remain in the posture while focusing on deep breathing. Practice this mudra twice or thrice a day for 20 to 30 minutes.
On doing Surya Mudra regularly practitioner overcomes various digestive disorders like indigestion, acid reflux, constipation, flatulence, gas, etc. Apart from this, enhanced metabolism in Surya Mudra also results in weight loss, which decreases the chances of diabetes and heart conditions.
4. Varun Mudra
Varun Mudra helps balance water content in the body. Water and other fluids break down food so that your body can absorb the nutrients. This mudra also helps prevent constipation. It softens the stool.
Every step of the digestion process (ingestion, digestion, assimilation, and excretion) is assisted by the water. So, the problem (constipation, indigestion, etc) concerning the digestion process is natural in the absence of water. Similarly, the improper supply of water further gives birth to chronic digestive issues. All these digestive problems due to lack of water content can be cured by varun mudra.
How to do Varuna Mudra
- Begin with the basic seating posture Sukhasana (Easy Pose), Sawastikasana (Cross-legged Pose).
- Now, try to touch the tip of the little finger with the tip of the thumb finger. Press gently and maintain the gesture.
- Close your eyes and focus on deep breathing. Remain in the posture and practice Varun Mudra daily twice or thrice a day for better results.
Varun Mudra is one of the effective hand gestures in overcoming the problems of digestion. Water is the fundamental element of Kapha and Vata therefore, balance the Kapha (deals with the strengthening of the immune system and muscle growth, etc) and Vata (deals with muscular spasm, fear, anxiety, gas, and insomnia) in the body.
5. Pitta kaarak Mudra
Pitta kaarak mudra, aka kidney mudra, promotes the pitta or bile formation in the body. When pitta is in balance it helps with digestion. Balanced pitta improves digestion by breaking down fats into fatty acids, which can be taken into the body by the digestive tract.
Water and fire are the constitutive elements of pitta dosha. Due to its governance over the warmth or temperature of the body, this mudra regulates the function of digestive fire. Therefore, improves digestion.
How to do Pitta karak Mudra
- Come into any seated comfortable posture Padmasana (lotus pose), Sukhasana (Easy Pose).
- Now, lift your hand before the chest and fold little and ring finger to touch the base of the thumb.
- Press the thumb over little and ring finger’s second phalanx.
- Maintain this hand gesture for 5 minutes initially.
- Close your eyes and focus on breathing.
This mudra restores the pitta humor and discourages the Kapha humor. Therefore, It is also known as the Kapha nashak mudra. Apart from this, it also helps in hypothyroidism, loss of appetite and drowsiness.
Conclusion
Mudras work as a prominent tool in tackling the problem of digestive issues. They seem silent in appearance or to perform but they are as dynamic as the electricity inside the subtle energy circuits of the body.
Every major to minor problem could be linked to any of the body organs. Similarly, digestive problems are of a wide range. They do not have a single source. Irregular eating or drinking habit, stress, anxiety, doshas imbalance, etc could cause it.
Hand mudras work on balancing subtle energies of the body thus improving digestion. Pushan Mudra, Surya Mudra, and Pitta kaarak Mudra are some of the best hand mudras which you can do for better digestion and overcome digestion problems.
Mudras for Digestion FAQs
Generally, mudras should be done after eating for better digestion. In the case of Surya mudra, it’s preferred before 2 hours or after 4 hours of the meal as it generates immense heat in the body. The duration of each mudra should be 5-to-15 minutes for its effective working.
Yes, however, in this case, a person should do mudras moderately as for digestion internal heat is required and holding mudras for a long duration may overheat the body internally (which isn’t a good condition for such people).
Vajrasana (Thunderbolt Pose) is the ideal pose that will add up an extra edge to the digestion process along with hand mudras. However, people with knee problems can simply sit on a chair or use a bolster to rest their knees in a cross-legged position.
