Exercises to strengthen abdominal muscles safely

Body: 

I am now afraid to do crunches to strengthen my abs, haven't done any since I discovered my bulge, but I still think I need strong abdominal muscles. What exercises can I safely do?

i was curious about this too and was hoping someone might respond...somethings that i have been doing is the "plank" where you hold yourself up on your elbows keeping your whole body straight and holding it for 30sec or more at a time....firebreathing and nauli are some good choices. thats all i can think of right now

I put everything I know into the dvd and believe it was Granolamom who just mentioned that her abs have never been in such good shape since doing the workout program in the dvd. :)