IIT Madras Researchers Scientifically Validated Ancient Siddha Yogic Secret Mudra Techniques That Could Be Useful for Fighting COVID-19
Research on Siddha Mudras, the finger posture combinations, an ancient siddha yogic tradition of India, may hint at unknown but surprising human physiological mechanisms that might be useful for fighting COVID-19.
In-vitro studies in modern medicine are being carried out across the globe to study the effect of heat, light and humidity in speeding up the killing of the corona virus as well as aiding the human body’s immune mechanism in antiviral defense / prevention of viral replication. Indian Researchers explore for similar clues in our traditional medical system – Siddha.
IIT Madras researchers validated an ingenious method for ‘heating the human body by itself’. Working with the experts of the Siddha traditional medical system of India, which is known as the mother of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), IIT Madras researchers collaborated with Siddha Dr Saalai Kalpana devi who is an expert in Siddha Mudras to increase the heat in the human body. The clinic, Sukalpana Siddha & Mudra Clinic that Dr. Saalai Kalpana devi runs is using Siddha Mudras for diagnosis as well as for treatment for many years. She claims that she has used this mudra for successfully treating previous viral diseases/conditions such as Swine flu (H1N1), Chikungunya, Dengue fever, Viral pneumonia and other respiratory illness.
Touchlab at IIT Madras is a unique lab in India that is dedicated for the science of touch.
The team discovered in a recent scientific study that a few specific finger postures known from ancient times such as Linga Mudra practiced for about 20 minutes to have increased the human body heat without significant increase in temperature measured by thermal camera, core temperature measuring instrument, and ECG. They found that the human body temperature peaked in about 7-12 minutes after starting of the mudra and then decreased due to the well-known thermo-regulation mechanisms such as sweating.
The study hints at surprising human physiological mechanisms that are unknown in modern medicine that may be harnessed for protection against COVID-19. Clinical study will be conducted soon with the help of state government. If successful, this will be no-cost solution for COVID19 patients around the globe. This new technique they named as Autopyrotic Siddha Mudra technique, meaning self-heating. They postulate that both the heat and the moisture due to the sweating could be detrimental to the Coronavirus, a double blow to the pathogen.
This ingenious self-heating mechanism augments the study results from the US Department of Homeland Security, released recently at the daily White House briefing by William Bryan, the Under Secretary for Science and Technology that heat, light, and humidity may speed up the killing of the coronavirus in an in-vitro study.
While the Autopyrotic Siddha Mudra technique may be useful as a preventive technique against Corona, it may also be useful for patients already infected with Corona in multiple fronts, as researchers observe. First, the elevated body heat is already known in several other studies to boost our immune response, and helps certain types of immune cells to work better. Second, it may reduce the fluid accumulating in the lungs known as ARDS. Third, activating the sweat glands helps the skin filter toxins, which in turn boosts the immune system. Fourth, sweating also cools our body and maintains proper body temperature, and not allowing the body temperature beyond a limit. In addition, while validating the Autopyrotic Siddha Mudra technique, it was found that cardiac outputs including the heart rate, pulse velocity get regulated to function normally.
They also observed that cold climate countries may be benefited much more from the Autopyrotic Siddha Mudra technique in fighting Coronavirus than countries such as India. This technique is still being used in yogic practices in India, to heat the body without any air conditioning technologies in freezing weather.
The researchers are setting up an integrated research lab for studying the physiological effects of many other mudras and several other ancient techniques in terms of modern rigorous scientific methods that may solve many common problems we face today. IIT Madras researchers look at the traditional medical system for engineering and technological applications, much beyond healthcare applications.