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Originally posted by Victor

Personally I like lotus posture if it is comfortable. When I began pranayama practice many years ago I learned to sit in lotus pose for 20 minutes at a time and did this for about 2 decades before finding AYP. Since Yogani suggested Siddhasana I switched to it but found in my own practice that after a couple of years I really missed the lotus pose and when I explored practicing AYP in Padmasana I found that although I had gotten slightly stiffer in the pose from lack of practice that I actually preferred it as far as stability and penetration of breath. I am not sure if Yogani agrees with me here but it is my opinion that either pose is suitable and good and that the vast majority of people find full lotus uncomfortable and even painful so that is likely why it was not suggested. Also, in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika when pranayama with kechari is presented it is taught in Siddhasana so Yogani is going with tradition on this one as well.
I do my AYP practice in lotus now for the past couple of years and for me it works quite well. Pressing the perineum with the heel may provide an energetic base from which the energy can flow but in my case my legs are shaped so that my heel does not easily sit in that spot so siddhasana doesn't really do that for me anyway. Not sure if it is really significant anyway as any sexual stimulation from the heel will likely go away after a short time of practice and just feel like your regular sitting position. Also, correctly performed padmasana naturally gives a lift in the perineum without needing the heel for encouragement.
As for Gyan mudra, I prefer to keep my arms and hands relaxed and that means that sometimes they fall on my lap and sometimes they are palm up and others palm down depending on the flow of prana. Occasionally the fingers and thumb naturally touch but it feels to me best to just let them relax rather than holding a specific mudra.

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Originally posted by Victor

I thought that I would add a note on hand position during pranayama. Recently while experimanting a bit with it I have found that for pranayama with static Jalandhara Bandha I like having the plams facing up with wrists pressed into the groin area thumbs slightly tucked, fingers slightly curled with a gentle pressure to straighten the arms and thus lift the chest and shoulders.
For practice with the Dynamic Jalandhara (Chin Pump) the position is reversed with the palms facing down with thumbs tucked and gentle pressure on the same side that the head is on to gently open that sides ribs and raise that shoulder. In both cases the hands are pressed into the root of the thighs near the pelvis/groin and not the knees.
Both of these hand/arm positions are done while performing Kechari Mudra so may not be as effective or relevent if you are not doing Kechari.
Meditation I find to be best with arms relaxed and let the natural inclination guide hand position.

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