Yogic Seals (Mudrā)

In haṭha-yoga a mudrā is a 'seal' — an advanced technique combining posture, breath, and the locks to conserve the vital energy and rouse the coiled power. The Haṭhayogapradīpikā treats the mudrās as its most potent and secret practices, capable, it claims, of conquering even death. (In worship and iconography the same word means a symbolic hand-gesture, a related but distinct sense.) They are the haṭha tradition's crown techniques, taught only under a teacher's guidance.