Introduction

Traditionally people in India use to save their money in the pouch which was tied as a belt on their waistline was also called as nauli. Thus nauli kriya can be said as the real wealth of a person. Nauli is the real opulence of yoga and ayurveda because nauli is not just simply a word it is the kriya which internally cleans our body called as nauli kriya.

Nauli kriya is defined as the cleansing technique, circular whisking of abdominal muscles or an exercise to remove impurities from our soma particularly from our digestive system. Nauli is the part of shatkarmas as we all know that shatkarmas are the unrivalled karmas of yoga. These are the yogic techniques which naturally remove toxins from our body and in this way they don’t allow the impurities to deposit into our systems.

When person is able to do nauli kriya then the need to perform other exercises to purify his body such as kunjar kriya or dhauti kriya to purify our mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and finally rectum is reduced. Think if there is less or no deposition of impurities in these organs then we don’t have to perform these activities or exercises. Nauli kriya is one such exercise which purifies your gastrointestinal tract so that there is no deposition of impurities causing obstruction in your digestive system.

Pre-requisites of nauli

A practitioner won’t be able to perform nauli kriya directly. Following measures have to be taken care of before nauli practice.

Waistline

In order to perform nauli kriya one should have fleshless waistline i.e there should be no extra fats or adipositas on loin and stomach. If you want to enjoy this kriya then you have to remove your central obesity and transmit yourself into bonny shape. In this way you will get relief from your heavy weight and volume of subcutaneous fats and more you become organised,the more you will enjoy nauli kriya.

Uddiyan bandh

There are 3 bandhas in yoga named as follows:

1. Moola bandh
2. Uddiyan bandh
3. Jalandhara bandh

Uddiyan bandh is second amongst bandhs and to accomplish nauli kriya one should have a good hand over this. The word uddiyan means “flying up” and bandhas means ”bind or to lock”. Our daily lifestyle is such that whatever exercise we execute, it moves our ojas into downward direction. However uddiyan bandh is an imitable exercise of yoga which glides our ojas/energy into upward direction and ties it into our body hence it is designated as uddiyan bandh.

Agnisaar kriya

Agni means “fire”, saar means “to wash out”, kriya means “process” and hence the process in which the digestive fire is activated is baptized as aganisaar kriya. To execute agnisaar kriya one should attain uddiyan bandh and then start palpating his/her stomach inwards and outwards direction approximately 10-12 times.The more you will exhale the more you will gain the ability to perform agnisaar kriya. With regular practice there will be increase in the repetitions of palpitations of stomach.

After the practitioner has mastered the uddiyan bandha and aganisaar kriya, now he can move towards the first step of nauli kriya which is to observe and identify nauli dand.

Procedure of nauli

As a very first step we need to observe nauli dand and thereafter we become suitable to conduct nauli kriya. When we exhale forcefully and implement uddiyan bandh whole of the intestines took shape of a rod that is located in the center of abdominal region known as nauli dand. The yoga seeker in the beginning should perform nauli in front of the mirror so that he or she can easily identify the nauli and is able to control it. After that you will able to perform vaam and dakshin nauli.

Nauli kriya can be executed in sitting positions such as siddhasana, padmasana and sukhasana but you must do this kriya while standing because in standing posture our stomach gets relaxed thus very helpful in executing nauli.

Steps for nauli kriya

1. To start nauli kriya keep your body and mind free from anxiety and tension i.e at ease.
2. Flex your knees and now slightly bend your upper torso at an angle of 35 degrees.
3. Transmit your upper body weight through your hands on your knee joint.
4. Relax your stomach because under relaxed situation you can easily perform nauli.
5. Now exhale the air and try to through your pelvic region outside.
6. Nauli dand is visible just like a strut in the mid of abdominal area hence it is termed as madhya nauli.
7. If we release the pressure of the right side of our hand and give more pressure on the left side of our knee then the nauli is shifted to the right side (dakshin nauli) and vice versa (vam nauli)
8. To accomplish end stage of nauli kriya i.e nauli chakra or chakra nauli, pelvis is moved in clockwise direction then nauli chakra also gets movement in that direction and vice versa i.e in anticlockwise direction.
9. When you are unable to hold this stage then release the nauli dand and start inhaling to come under relaxed condition.
10. Repeat this exercise.

Bahir kumbhaka: In this process when you are in exhalation phase and continue in this position so this is known as bahir kumbhaka and by performing antar kumbhak we can do naulini.

Benefits of nauli kriya

1. One who performs nauli does not suffers from digestive disorders.
2. All the digestive organs like liver, intestines, spleen, gallbladder, pancreas perform their work very finely.
3. Risk of hernia whether hiatal hernia or inguinal hernia is reduced.
4. In order to perform nauli kriya first uddiyan bandh has to be executed which makes your liver strong.
5. Agnisaar kriya also helps to have control over intestines thus have positive effects on excretory system and makes it healthy.
6. There is no deposition of fats on stomach and waistline so directly helps to reduce obesity.
7. Nauli kriya cleans our digestive system so time consumed by the kriyas like kunjar kriya, shankh prakshalan or dhauti kriya, basti kriya is reduced.
8. Uddiyan bandh, agnisaar kriya and nauli kriya they all are bahir kumbhaka i.e. by doing these we gain positive effects and our ability to do kumbhaka is increased as a result we increase our pranic power that means we are able to transmit our power in one particular direction and able to do our work for longer time.

When to do nauli kriya

• Uddiyan bandh, agnisaar kriya/vahini saar kriya, nauli kriya should be performed empty stomach i.e it should be executed early in the morning. Many people suffer through constipation and their stomach is not clear in the first attempt so they should perform nauli kriya when their stomach is cleared in the another attempt. The one who feels that their stomach gets clear become light in the evening and there is no obstruction in their intestines they should perform this kriya in evening.
• Nauli shouldn’t be performed after pranayama practices. Always execute shatkarmas first i.e the activities for body purification so this kriyas should be performed independently before or after the asanas. Sequence of performing yogic activities is as such shatkarmas, asanas , bandhas, mudras and then pranayama.

Note: Nauli kriya shouldn’t be performed in inhalation phase because when we breath in i.e take oxygen in our body, the chest area expands and pressure is built on diaphragm as well as on intestines so it is impossible to execute nauli under such pressurized conditions.

Summary

It can be said that nauli kriya is the pathway to the ideal health which is defined as

A good health or physique of a person is defined as kambu greeva (neck should look like a shell), balivarad sakand (shoulders should be like bull), peen vaksha (chest should have muscularity), kseen kati (thin waist), guru nitamb (buttocks should be heavy).

Today everyone wants to look perfect and beautiful. Especially teenagers are very cautious about their appearance. According to them an allure personality has more importance in comparison to a prepossessing face. Nauli kriya helps to make your identity outstanding by maintaining your weight and gives a dazzling looks to your physique.