firebreathing pointers please

Submitted by squeak on October 18, 2010 - 3:07pm
Body: 

I am not getting firebreathing to work for me, and given that so many women are citing it as key, I want to check back with you about it before abandoning it.

My anatomy: I really battle to lean forward like a tabletop with a flat back from bum to neck, my pelvis doesn't easily tilt that far forward even if I bend my knees to compensate for tight hams. I end up bending only halfway at the hip joint and the rest at the waist. This might be the source of the problem. IF there is a problem:

When I lean forward and breath in for firebreath, that feels good. When I pull the tummy up on the outbreath, it feels like I am pushing my organs out of the vagina instead of pinning them in position in the right place. I am assuming that means it's not quite right, that's not meant to be the feeling?

What I have tried is just gently exhaling and then doing nauli, and then another deep inbreath. That feels ok.

Feedback, anyone?

granolamom

October 18, 2010 - 8:53pm

hi squeak
first, know that firebreathing did not come easily to me. took a long long time until I 'got it'. so its not just you : )
I'd recommend first getting the movement down without the breathing. your knees should be bent the whole time (I think, anyway. that is the way I do it). try to learn the movement of the pelvis, you want to rock it up and down (or forward and back depending on how you're looking at things). when you can do that, then try to incorporate the breathing.
the way I think of the breathing working is that when you breath in you are moving your pelvis to tip the pelvic organs forward and then when you breath out, the contraction of the abdominals pulls the organs up. you gotta get them forward first or it doesnt work.
disclaimer: this is how *I* do it, could be I'm off somewhere in the 'why's and how's'. It works for me, and if I am wrong I hope someone will chime in to correct any misinformation.

and as always, if something feels detrimental, don't do it.

squeak

October 29, 2010 - 2:10pm

Sorry to take so long to reply Granolamon. I actually thought I had replied, just to say that you helped me 'get' what's supposed to happen and I'm going off to experiment, but I don't see that here now, so maybe it got lost between baby burps. Anyway, I read and noted your response and started experimenting.

"you gotta get them forward first or it doesnt work." was really useful insight to me, and maybe my anatomy wasn't managing that standing, maybe just because of tension, I don't know...

It feels too scary the way it all pushes out when I try to do it standing, with or without breathing. Have tried it a few times and it always feels dodgy, and no tangible improvement.

BUT

after some experimenting, i have found that if I do it on knees and folded elbows, then it feels the way you describe: uterus can drop forward and then get tossed toward my ribcage, and I a l m o s t have the confidence to say that there is just a little less pushing against my underwear afterwards.

Anyone with any dire warnings about doing it with this variation, please speak now! Otherwise that's what I'm going to work with until further notice.

And thanks Granolamom. You are but all over the place, scattering so many gifts : )

granolamom

October 29, 2010 - 2:56pm

hi squeak
I think a few women have done firebreathing that way, I believe that's how alemama started with it? (I think it was alemama)
anyway, no dire warnings at all. keep at it and keep asking questions. you wouldn't believe how many questions I kept asking over and over and over when I first got here. I thought christine was going to ask me to please stop monopolizing the forums! slowly slowly the anatomy, the posture, the breathing, it all starts to make sense.
before you know it you'll be answering the questions.
and thanks for the thanks, it gives me the warm-fuzzies to know I can be helpful. this place was my lifeline when I first found my POP.

squeak

October 31, 2010 - 4:26am

well here's some more warm fuzzies :))))

I must say it is a very exciting feeling to feel even a hint of improvement.

I've also found today that doing leg lifts to the rear in this knees-elbows position in between clusters of fire-breath-nauli really seemed to open things up and let them shift around.
(though the vaginal fart on rising was a bit of a shocker!)

granolamom

October 31, 2010 - 5:36pm

so happy you're figuring it out
and don't worry about the vaginal fart thing, I think it is a sign that you are actually moving things up and around and sucking air in to the now open space. the air gets pushed out as you rise back up and things settle again, but that's not terrible either. my guess is that this will decrease as you continue to reposition your organs. its a process, two steps forward, one step back at times. but you are heading in the right direction.
:::::::::::happy dance:::::::::::

northerngranny13

November 4, 2017 - 11:56am

can someone explain doing the fire breathing if I am kneeling, is it possible to do it this way, is this a internal movement? Or are you moving the hips too?

Surviving60

November 4, 2017 - 12:01pm

Yes, you can do it on hands and knees. Follow the breathing sequence carefully. I don't even think about my hips when I'm firebreathing, so I don't have an accurate answer to that question. - Surviving

Aging gracefully

November 4, 2017 - 3:36pm

Hi northerngranny13,
If you follow Christine's instructions for the standing and hands and knees repeatedly, the motion and how you move during firebreathing will come more clearly and easily. Her instruction is very specific, so practice it with her; that's what I did.
When done properly, firebreathing is one of the best tools in the tool box to rely on.