excuse me if this is already covered in the books.
when you become comfortable with sambhavi-mulabhanda is it efficacious to hold it for the entire duration of meditation?
Thus far, i have been primarily using it during pranayam. I seem to recall various yogins speaking of using it during the entire duration of normal sitting meditation. anyone have any insight on this? does it distract from meditation at all? does the boosted ecstatic conductivty make up for the muscular effort involved?
I am thinking of building up to using kechari-sambhavi-mulabhanda for the entire duration of sitting meditation.
If you've practiced the mudras for some time already, they may become a second habit and occur spontaneously during meditation which is perfect.
If it requires effort rather than just happening spontaneously, it is not advised to use them in meditation.
The recommended approach in AYP is to use the mudras, in the right time, during the pranayam practice first. They become part of the meditation session once it is so much of a habit during spinal breathing that the mudras continue to happen during the meditation session. This is discussed in Lesson 190: http://www.aypsite.com/plus/190.html.