Hello Typicalme

Hi Belly! I'm so glad I've been of help before - I hope I can help you again...
I'll start with Nauli because for some reason, that seemed to come more easily to me than firebreathing (in fact, I don't feel much at all when firebreathing but I still do it).

For Nauli - I don't squeeze my abdominals at all. I exhale all the air forcefully, and then exhale even more to ensure ALL the air is out of my lungs and then I lock my nose and mouth (from the inside - just block it all closed) and my stomach gets sucked in by itself. the whole time, I've got hands on upper thighs and I'm bent forward, back straight and long.

try to feel the suction happening from your lungs, not from squeezing your abdominals at all. as you get more used to the feelings you can add in different positions, more suction, etc but start with gentle moves. also - in the videos, christine expands on this and does the belly rolls and the belly drops - those are the more advanced moves. I'm still not able to do the rolls very well - and i wouldn't recommend them until you feel good with just the suction.

Firebreathing - I actively suck up my belly button and picture it trying to touch my spine. I can't go as fast as Christine on the videos - so I do it all very slowly still.
I'm having a hard time with the breathing - it takes me a long time to fill my lungs and a long time to empty them - and yet in the videos, Christine is able to do it pretty quickly.

doing nauli - i feel suction and lifting iin my vagina. some days more than others. doing firebreathing, I don't feel too much down there but I feel like it's moving my internal organs around. maybe that's why i've always preferred nauli... except nauli i only do in the mornings on an empty stomach. I never do nauli once i've eaten. firebreathing - along with jiggling - i do after bowel movements, and anytime i'm doing any WW stretching.
again, if you're feeling worse after doing any of this, you are probably not doing something right. usually these moves provide relief, even temporarily....
you might want to consider a skype consult with Christine. It would be worth it to have her really assess you and give you some pointers and tips since no one can tell you if you're doing it right without seeing you. other than that, keep going over the videos as much as possible. I watched them a bunch of times, thought I had it all, and then watched them again. And I can't tell you if i'm doing everything right, but I go based on how i feel. do more of the things that make me feel better and less of the things that don't.

and sitting - yes, I'm sitting on my pubic bone and hip bones, I used to sit more hip bones and tailbone. I always sit forward these days and hardly ever lean back. (although I had a sick kid at the beach with me yesterday and she wanted to sleep on my lap so i had to sit back for a while with her on me... and then carry her to the car! and she's 40 lbs! sitting - i was out of posture for a good half hour there, carrying her - i lifted chest high and carried her on my hip. the good news is I'm not feeling all that different today - was feeling very slightly draggy late last night but i think i'm ok...I know)

can you tell me which video Christine demo's Nauli? I would like to try it but need to see a visual.
Thank you for your very informative post..
Victory

Victory Ahead,
You will find a good description of nauli in your 3rd wheel yoga video during the firebreathing section. She talks about circling the abdominal muscles, but doesn't come right out and call it nauli. That is the best description of nauli right now though.
Christine does explain it best and her demonstrations should be watched repeatedly and practiced to really get it down.
Nauli is done during the exhale of the firebreathing sequence, so to best learn it, you should also have a good handle on the firebreathing as well. If you are not comfortable with nauli done on the exhale and holding your breath, you can always just do simple belly rolls to start. Those feel good too.

Typicalme,
You have made some good points, but I think you have also over complicated some of this. If you are not feeling the effects of firebreathing, then you either haven't done it long enough or you don't have the sequencing down properly. Nauli is done on the exhale of the firebreathing sequence; excluding it into a separate entity is really unnecessary.

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Correction
Nauli is also covered in Module 5 of the First Aid for Prolapse video. You will see how she does it during the firebreathing sequence, easily and fluidly. This is where we should all be focusing our attention for the best results.

Thank you for explaining Nauli to me. I have Third Wheel and First Aid.. I attempt to do Nauli with Christine on Third Wheel but find it very difficult. I don't know if I'm circling my stomach of moving my hips in circle. The stomach pump is also difficult but I am going to keep trying.
Victory.

Yes, you are right, it can be hard; I know it was for me when I first started, but I just kept at it. The nauli really is about rotating the stomach muscles, where you will find more of the hip action with a belly roll.
And, I would always run out of breath before I could get very many rotations in, and it felt sloppy, sometimes more like an in and out rather than an actual rotation, but perseverance does pay off in the long run.

hi aging and everyone - I guess I am overthinking it (i have a bad habit of doing that)... I think it's because I consider all the suction type moves nauli - not just the rotation ones.
I started out just trying to get a vacuum and lift first. Standing still, hands on thighs, vacuum and lift and hold. Once I was able to do that, then I added in the drop and lift part using my stomach muscles. I can only do about 3-4 before I run out of breath and/or need to cough? which is weird... i get a tickle in my throat when doing these. but I've got the lift and drop down pat for the most part.
And now I'm trying to do the rolling. I tend to roll my hips too much still or i'm rolling my ribcage and shouldn't be and I run out of breath too - like you said aging - it feels sloppy! I tend to give up... need to persevere....

To me - all of these are nauli but 3 different, i don't know, stages maybe? I guess I call all of this nauli and that's probably the wrong terminology. It's just the rolling one that's nauli.

firebreathing - i've read the description in the book, i've watched it in the dictionary of movements, i don't see any reference to any sort of suction though so all I do is exhale forcefully through pursed lips and squeeze my abs up and lift. then inhale ad relax everything... I'm not feeling anything in my vagina with the firebreathing like i do with my suction portion as described above.... but I see what you mean, nauli starts where firebreathing ends - instead of taking the next firebreathing breath you'd lock and do nauli...

I get what you are saying about not feeling that suction. When I first started I didn't feel anything either, so I did an experiment while doing firebreathing on hands and knees. I stuck two fingers inside my vagina during the exhale, and I could feel a real pulling or sucking, for a better word, on my fingers. This told me that I was in fact doing it correctly. It took much more time for me to feel it inside my vagina while firebreathing.

And, the best indicator was when I stood up in strong ww posture and everything stayed perched inside instead of slouching back to the opening of my vagina.

We are always working on symptom relief with all this, and if you are getting that, then you are well on your way.

this is very interesting - i hadn't thought to check down below while firebreathing... maybe there's lifting going on but I can't feel it per se. I will have to give it a shot and see if I feel anything. I actually am quite 'exploration-averse' lol but I'm very curious now (although i'm also at work so it'll have to wait).
I've always felt that firebreathing kinda rearranged my organs nicely so I still do it regularly - especially post bowel movment. I've been having large round bowels lately (need to get diet back on track actually - too many family parties and summer bbq's) so after a bm I like to jiggle and firebreathe and I feel like it gives all my organs a good shake up and repositioning.
I recently revisited the dictionary of movements and rewatched the firebreathing portion a few times and made some tweaks and it feels more powerful now.
and as you say, the best indicator is how we're feeling! which is why i don't check down below often if at all... what i feel down there is sometimes discouraging, sometimes a mystery - but as long as my symptoms are not bothering me, that's all i care about :)

hi belly - great news! so just keep holding the nauli suction as long as you can. Practice trying to get as much suction as possible - sometimes I wriggle and stretch my spine, raise chest high, all while keeping hands on knees/thighs. keep experimenting.
the drop and lift, you just drop and lift your stomach while doing it. it's in the yoga videos and I believe in the dictionary of movements in fist aid for prolapse (except I have the old version - not sure it's still called the dictionary of movements in the new version).

belly to spine - I just pretend I'm trying to touch my spine with my belly button (from the inside). It's just a visual way for me to make sure i'm not sucking in the top or bottom of my stomach but lifting from the belly button. it's how christine describes it and it resonated.

and aging gracefully - I did a test in the shower lol firebreathing IS lifting everything inside! you were absolutely right... no wonder i still felt really good doing it even though I wasn't really feeling all that much. I've also been practicing it more and more and i'm getting better at it. this all takes time and really makes me slow down and focus. it really connects one with their body. I walk around now and wonder how people can live not knowing this stuff...

That is great Typicalme! Sometimes it's just the simplest cues that we pick up on that help us the most.

And, I too use the visualization of belly button to spine as Christine explains it best which really had helped me through when things were confusing at first. Very good point and glad you brought it up as a reminder for others reading this also.

yes - the combo of breath and squeezing at the right time (on exhale) causes our organs to move to the right place.
I round my upper back while firebreathing - a la Christine in the videos - so the only movement is abs and back. feet, hips, head all stay in the same position.
and really, all I feel is my abs squeezing... it wasn't until a few days ago i felt inside and felt lifting there.
also, be sure to exhale and relax before standing up...