This is some text inside of a div block.
Text Link
“Yoga must be in service of humanity,” Sianna says. “Otherwise, it becomes spiritual bypassing. It’s not just about transcending—it's about transforming.”
Sianna’s teenage years, like for many, were marked by profound questions and inner turmoil. She struggled with body dysmorphia, questioned her worth, and often asked herself where she truly belonged in the world. These early inquiries seeded her journey into self-inquiry, embodiment and healing.
Today, she recognizes that the practices she once turned to for solace have become the tools she now teaches for collective healing. Among them: mudrā.
A central theme of our conversation was the power of mudrā—the symbolic hand gestures used in yoga, meditation and energy work. Far from being mere aesthetic elements of practice, mudrās are portals into the subtle body.
“Mudrās are energetic codes,” Sianna explains. “They help us tune in, direct energy and unlock patterns stored in the physical and emotional body.”
Each mudrā channels prāṇa—life force—through the nāḍīs (energy channels) and chakras, influencing not only the physical body but also the mind and spirit. Whether used in meditation, integrated into āsana (yoga postures), or practiced in stillness, mudrās offer a potent and accessible healing modality.
Sianna often incorporates mudrās into her classes and rituals, blending them with mantra, breathwork and mythic storytelling to create an experience that is both ancient and alive.
As she reflects on her solstice journey, Sianna sees it all as part of one unfolding tapestry. The questions of her youth, the call to yoga, the books that awakened her, the protests that stirred her soul, and the mudrās that continue to heal—it is all part of a sacred return.
“The journey,” she says, “is not about becoming someone else.
It’s about remembering who we truly are—whole, radiant and utterly free.”
A Journey Toward Inner Freedom
In the world of yoga, Sianna Sherman is known for her radiant presence, mythic storytelling and unwavering commitment to justice and spiritual embodiment. But long before she became a global teacher and sacred activist, she was a young university student, fighting for freedom on a global scale—and unknowingly, for her own.
As a student activist working with Amnesty International, Sianna was part of the international campaign advocating for the dismantling of apartheid and the release of Nelson Mandela.
“We were really dedicated,” she recalls. “We worked tirelessly on campus to create these candlelight vigils of thousands of people praying for Mandela’s freedom.”
But something unexpected happened during one of those vigils, when a news reported took a photograph of Sianna. Her eyes were closed as she held her candle, but she heard the sound of the shutter.
“There was this moment where the camera clicked… and something cracked open,” she says, her voice soft but firm. “I realized—I needed to pray for my own freedom, too. I was imprisoned inside my own heart and mind.”
This inner reckoning came amidst the backdrop of real-world resistance. Mandela was still in prison. The fight for racial justice in South Africa was a fire burning across the globe. Sianna watched it unfold from her university campus, cheering in solidarity, deeply moved—but also aching inside.
“I was so lit up by the fight for liberation,” she remembers, “but I didn’t yet know how to liberate myself.”
Unable to reconcile her inner struggle, Sianna did what many do in the face of existential pain—she danced.
“I danced a lot in clubs—Chicago, New York—anywhere,” she says. “It was my way of trying to feel alive. Trying to belong. Trying to find myself through motion.”
But the sense of displacement lingered. One night, in a twist that feels more like initiation than accident, Sianna was locked out of a friend’s apartment in Manhattan. Alone, wandering the city, she looked for shelter—somewhere to be, to breathe, to exist.
“I was just walking the streets, trying to figure out where I could go for the night,” she recalls. “I stumbled across a little bookstore that was open late one night.”
She stepped inside. That night, in the quiet of that bookstore—surrounded by pages, possibility and the stillness she couldn’t find in herself—she found THE book, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind. It literally fell on her head. Something shifted again.
“I didn’t know it then,” she reflects, “but I was being led. Spirit was guiding me, even in my most lost moments.”
Looking back, Sianna sees these threads—activism, longing, solitude, and spiritual seeking—not as separate stories, but as parts of a single awakening. The work she did for others planted the seeds of her own inner transformation. The streets of New York, the rhythm of the dance floor, the silent shelves of that bookstore—each one was a portal to the path she walks today.
“I learned that fighting for freedom ‘out there’ means nothing if I don’t honor the battle inside myself,” she says. “We all deserve to be free—not just politically, but emotionally, spiritually, energetically.”
Today, Sianna blends her activism with deep spiritual practice. She teaches yoga not just as physical movement, but as a path of liberation—from internalized oppression, from false narratives, from self-doubt, and from the illusion of separation. Her story reminds us that the call to justice often begins in a whisper. Sometimes it sounds like a protest. Sometimes like silence in a bookstore. Sometimes like the click of a camera that suddenly turns inward.
There are moments in life when something stirs so deeply within us, our body responds before our mind can catch up. We place our hands over our hearts when touched by emotion. We tap our fingertips when we’re thinking hard. We reach out in joy, in grief, in prayer—our hands instinctively expressing what words cannot.
For Sianna Sherman, these spontaneous gestures are not random. They are sacred. They are the mudras—the language of the soul through the hands.
“We’re incredibly expressive with our hands,” Sianna says. “They’re deeply tied to how we think, feel, and communicate. I was drawn to mudras early on, even before I knew what they were called.”
As a lifelong traveler, Sianna found herself paying attention not only to places and people, but to gestures. In traditional Indian dance, for instance, she witnessed how a single hand position could convey whole worlds—sorrow, ecstasy, divinity or devotion.
“Mudrā,” she explains, “can mean a seal, a gesture, a mood or even an attitude. It’s a signature of intention and presence.”
In the yoga tradition, mudrās are deeply woven into the subtle energy practices and are directly connected to the five great elements:
Each element lives within us and within our hands. And with extraordinary dexterity, sensation, and nerve endings, our hands can amplify, balance and harmonize these elemental energies through intentional placement and gesture.
Mudrās are not just add-ons to a yoga practice for Sianna—they are part of what she calls the Alchemy of Yoga.
“I bring mudras into meditation, pranayama, mantra, philosophy, and embodied ritual,” she shares. “They can support healing, clarify spiritual intention, and even regulate the nervous system.”
For Sianna, mudrās aren't just symbolic. They’re deeply functional:
“It’s the biggest magic,” she smiles. “And it’s so beautiful. Mudrās are healing, energizing, clarifying. They help us open superconscious states and connect us to the Earth, to spirit, and to ourselves.”
One of the most moving qualities of mudrā practice is its accessibility.
“You don’t need a yoga mat. You don’t need expensive gear. You don’t even need much space,” Sianna emphasizes. “You need your breath, your hands, your heart. That’s it.”
This is part of what makes mudrās such powerful tools for mental health, spiritual clarity and emotional restoration. Whether in a challenging conversation, walking in the woods or sitting quietly at a desk—your hands can help you come home to yourself.
Sianna also teaches how mudrās support connection to the five elements:
“When we learn how to work with our hands consciously, we learn how to support our entire being,” she says. “It’s both intimate and infinite.“
For Sianna, mudrās are more than a technique—they’re a living relationship, a love affair with subtle energy and sacred embodiment.
“There’s an endless beauty,” she says, “an endless wonder that continues to unfold. The more you work with mudrās, the more they reveal. It’s like falling in love—again and again—with the wisdom of your own body.”
Jñāna Mudrā is one of the most foundational and widely used hand gestures in meditation and yoga. Rooted in the Sanskrit word jñāna, meaning wisdom or knowledge, this mudrā connects you with inner stillness, clarity and the deep truth that lives within.
You can hold Jñāna Mudrā during meditation, prāṇāyāma (breathwork) or any contemplative practice.
“Jñāna Mudrā is the gateway to inner knowing.
It’s the gesture of remembering that all the wisdom we seek is already within us.”
Añjali Mudrā is one of the most familiar and beloved mudrās in the yoga tradition. Also known as the “Prayer Position,” a gesture of greeting, gratitude, and deep connection.
You can hold Añjali Mudrā in silence, use it during meditation or pair it with an intention, mantra or prayer.
“When we bring our hands to the heart in Añjali Mudrā, we seal an offering.
We say: I am here. I am whole. I bow to the mystery within and all around me.”
(she/her) is an internationally renowned yoga teacher, storyteller, ritualist, community catalyst and visionary guide devoted to the path of transformation and soul alchemy. With over three decades of experience, she has trained tens of thousands of students and teachers worldwide through retreats, teacher trainings, festivals, and online platforms.
As the founder of Rasa Yoga, Mythic Yoga Flow®, and RITUAL: 13 Moon Mystery School, Sianna weaves together the arts of asana, mantra, mudra, mythology, meditation, Tantra, shadow work, and ritual into a deeply integrative and soulful practice. Her teachings are a convergence of science, mysticism, art, and yoga, designed to ignite magic and serve the benefit of all beings. Sianna's extensive training includes studies in Tantric yoga philosophy, Celtic studies, functional anatomy, hypnotherapy NLP, herbalism, and social justice advocacy.
Her presence is both fiery and tender—rooted in ancient tradition, yet pulsing with contemporary relevance. Through her global offerings—retreats, trainings, and online courses—Sianna continues to inspire a generation of seekers to embrace the path of radical embodiment and true remembrance. Her life is a living prayer, a bridge between worlds and a radiant invitation to come home to the magic within.
