Yogic References in Madonna's "Frozen" Video

So why did I post Madonna's "Frozen" video? Well, any yogi can see the more obvious yogic references. And anyone listening can hear the message, which is very yogic as well. I, frankly, am obsessed with this video, and here's why: it has all my favorite things...Madonna and her enviable musculature, mehndi, mudras, music, plus the Doberman, the black, the hair, the art. I recently told a friend that if I had to choose one video to represent me, this would be it.

But let's delve a little deeper into the symbolism of this video from a yogic perspective. There are a lot of things going on here:

• Gyan mudra throughout (first instance at 4:14). And it appears she does variations on other mudras in which the fingertips are held in Gyan mudra as part of another mudra.
  
  
• Madonna in Marichyasana (3:48). Not easy to see with the long skirt, but she very gracefully moves right into it. If you click Marichyasana above, you can read more, but here's an excerpt of the history behind this asana:
  
  "Marichi is the son of Brahma and chief of the Maruts, the warlike storm gods. He's one of the seven seers (rishis) or lords of creation (prajapatis), who intuitively "see" and declare the divine law of the universe (dharma)." An interesting choice, of all the asanas out there.
  
  
• Madonna in Child/Balasana (at 1:49) before revealing a hennaed OM in the palm of right hand (1:36), in a semi-Varada mudra. What's interesting about this? Varada mudra is a gesture of giving, of bestowing blessings. OM symbol in the palm of the right hand...a gift to us? Say what you want about her, but she really brought yoga to the forefront, enlightened the masses about it at a time when it wasn't on every street corner.

There's probably a lot more going on than even this, but it's getting late and I'm getting sleepy. But before I go, here's a cool tidbit I learned in doing this research...you can find this info at http://hinduism.about.com/od/omaum/a/meaningofom.htm:

To type an OM symbol on your computer, open MS Word and key in backslash ( \ ) in Wingdings font. It works!

For more information on mudras, see these posts:

• http://theyogaphile.blogspot.com/2007/02/mudra-power.html
• http://theyogaphile.blogspot.com/2007/02/im-in-mudra.html
• http://theyogaphile.blogspot.com/2007/03/mudras-in-christian-imagery.html