Bhumi = “earth”
Sparsha = “touch”
Bhumi Sparsha Mudra = “to lightly touch the earth,” also “to bear witness”
How to do it: In a comfortable seat, bring your left hand to your heart and lightly touch the earth with the fingers of your right hand. You may also place your left hand, palm up, in your lap as you gently touch the earth with your right hand.
Benefits of Bhumi Sparsha Mudra: Bhumi Sparsha Mudra is a gesture that reminds us of and honors our connection to all things, that “we all belong to each other.” To other human beings, all the creatures of the earth, of the air, and of the waters. To plants. To the earth, the air, and the waters, as well.
There is a story that as the Buddha was sitting under the Bodhi Tree, just moments before he became enlightened, the demon Mara and a whole host of demons approached him to challenge his awakening. Mara asked him who would be witness to his awakening. The Buddha opened his left palm in his lap while gently touching the earth with his right hand and said, “The earth bares witness to me.”
My teacher, Sianna Sherman, also taught the use of this gesture when crossing thresholds into revered or sacred spaces.