Part 2 – Exercises & Training Plan

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Why? If your low back is tight, it can make Stomach Vacuum feel uncomfortable. I suggest you do 10 Dynamic forward folds to open it up.

• Exhale as you fold forward, inhale as you return to the starting position.
• Lead with your belly button, don’t hunch.
• With each passing rep, you’ll notice your range of motion likely increases.
• Hold the last rep for 10s, maintain nasal breathing, think about your low back melting and opening.

Next: Get connected to your core with the breathing warm-up drills: this will also help alleviate low back tightness.

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Why? To connect your breath to your TVA. Find your TVA.

1. Just Breathe

• Lie on your back and nasal breathe for 10 breath cycles. 1 breath cycle = 1 inhalation + 1 exhalation.
• Your TVA will cinch in as you exhale the air out of your lungs. Your waistline will visibly shrink. (In the video, you see my cat move down)
• As you inhale, your lungs will fill up with air and you’ll see your low belly expand. (In the video, you see my cat move up)

2. TVA Cinching: More Dramatic

Why? To get really connected to engaging your TVA.

• Do another 10 breathing cycles, but this time, be very dramatic about cinching in the TVA. Look how much lower my cat moves down. Look how tiny my waist becomes.

Drill 1: Do a glute bridge, put your arms overhead. Nasal Inhale as you bridge up (belly rises). Exhale and dramatically cinch in your TVA as you descend. Do 3 reps.

 

Drill 2: Do drill 1, but this time, maintain a breathless hold with your mouth closed. Do 3 solid attempts (but rest 30-60s between attempts)

Why: Take advantage of gravity and do your first stomach vacuum lying down! Practice implementing the pelvic floor and throat socks, and the fake inhale.

1. Inhale and then exhale all the air out and hold (it's a breathless hold). You can exhale the air out your mouth, it doesn't have to be a nasal exhale.
2. FULLY RELAX YOUR BELLY.
3. Engage your pelvic floor. This creates a lock.
4. Make a swallowing action with your throat and when you feel the throat muscles tighten, hold it. This creates the throat lock.
5. Take a fake inhalation with your mouth closed and your throat still locked. The pressure created by your diaphragm trying to draw air into the lungs causes your abdominal contents to be sucked in and upwards. This is what creates that hollow cave in the lower abdomen. It feels like the contents of your abdomen are being gently tugged upwards by suction. This gets the diaphragm to move upwards and out of the way.
6. Hold it as long as you feel comfortable (but no longer than 10 seconds at first), before releasing the suction and then slowly inhaling Take some slow, deep breaths before trying one more time.

1. Standing up straight take a deep nasal breath in.
2. Exhale all the air out (you can exhale the air out your mouth, it doesn't have to be a nasal exhale) as you fold forward and place your hands on your thighs. I really meant it when I said to exhale all the air out. Even when you think you’ve reached the end of the exhalation, Push more air out.
3. FULLY RELAX YOUR BELLY. Like make it flaccid.
4. Engage your pelvic floor. This creates a lock.
5. Make a swallowing action with your throat and when you feel the throat muscles tighten, hold it. This creates the throat lock.
6. Keeping your hands on your thighs, take a fake inhalation with your mouth closed and your throat still locked as you rise up to a slightly bent over position. The pressure created by your diaphragm trying to draw air into the lungs causes your abdominal contents to be sucked in and upwards. This is what creates that hollow cave in the lower abdomen. It feels like the contents of your abdomen are being gently tugged upwards by suction. This gets the diaphragm to move upwards and out of the way. Note: you don’t have to put your hands on your thighs for the stomach vacuum, but it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with this since you will be doing it for Middle Nauli and Nauli Kriya.
7. Hold it here as long as you feel comfortable (but no longer than 10 seconds at first), before releasing the suction and then slowly inhaling and standing back up. Take some slow, deep breaths. Rest a minute or two between attempts.

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• Do a sequence every morning on an empty stomach (unless you are menstruating or have another contraindication).
• Start with Sequence 1.
• Once you can do the stomach vacuum, it's time to move on to the Maintenance Sequence.
• Do the maintenance sequence every morning (indefinitely!) and I would suggest graduating to my Nauli Kriya course if you want to learn Nauli Kriya!

1. Low Back Opener: 10 dynamic forward folds, hold last rep 10s. If you don't have low back tightness, you can skip this.
2. Breathing Warm-Up Drills 1 & 2: On your back, just nasal breathe 10 cycles. Then repeat but dramatically cinch your TVA.
3. Bridge Drill 1: do 3 reps in a row
4. Bridge Drill 2: do 3 solid attempts of maintaining breathless hold (but rest 30-60s between attempts)
5. Vacuum Drill (supine): do 2 solid attempts. Rest a minute between attempts.
6. Stomach Vacuum (standing): do 3-5 solid attempts. No more than 5 attempts. Rest a minute between attempts.