worried am doing firebreathing all wrong.

Best way to be clear on firebreathing is a combination of 1) the pictures and description in the book, and 2) the demo in the Dictionary of Movements on the first DVD. WW Yoga 3 is also a good resource.

When you say your "spine is up in the back", do you mean that your lumbar curvature is at its most pronounced? If that's the case, then yes, you have the sequence correct. - Surviving

Love the explanation in both the book and the dictionary on the FAFP video...have yet to watch #3 of the yoga series. That being said...you are inhaling as you lift & widen your tailbone/bum to the sky and exhaling as you pull the abdominals in & up towards your spine/sky. Another way of visualizing is arching and curling...Hope that helps! :)

Are you familiar with the yoga cat pose? On your hands and knees on the floor. Arch your back and exhale. Then relax belly and dip your back to the floor as you inhale. It's the same breathing sequence as fire breathing. Arch - exhale. Dip belly (extreme lumbar curve) - inhale.

Kiko and Lindamore, think of an "arch" of the back as the shape of the spine in a backbend move, and the "curl" the opposite or shape of a turtle. Technically (sorry it's an occupational hazard as I am a movement specialist) the WW posture is asking us to retain our natural lumbar (lower back) curve which is NOT a "curl" or turtle back or tucked under ( like a doggie tucking his tail & bum under when in trouble). So in Firebreathing we are inhaling to expand or accentuate our lumbar curve, lengthening the front of our body and exhaling to pull our belly in and rounding or curling our backs into the shape of a turtle back ( but remember to do this from the abdominals and not by collapsing the shoulders and chest). I sure hope that helps and doesn't confuse! :)

Also...I just looked at the book again and on page 168 Christine demonstrates my above description. The first picture would be considered the "arch" and the second picture the "curl" ... Now I'm off to practice some Firebreath! :)

No one should ever doubt herself just because firebreathing seems unclear at first. I didn't even attempt it for months, and it was not intuitive at all. It was only after studying both the book and DVD that I actually felt confident I was doing it right. The longer you study and practice posture, the more sense it makes. In the course of being taught to suck-and-tuck, we were also being taught to breathe incorrectly. Eventually with time and effort, it comes back. - Surviving