Stage I: Uddiyana Bandha (practice at least for one week before proceeding).
Stand with legs one foot apart. Lower the chin.
Forcefully exhale through the mouth to completely empty the lungs. Allow the relaxed abdominal muscles to draw up and back towards the spine.
Hold for several seconds. Relax the sides of the chest, then relax the neck and the chin to inhale without gasping. Repeat several times, exercising and strengthening the muscles used in nauli kriya.
Stage II. Madhyama Nauli (practice for several days, before proceeding).
After doing Uddiyana Bandha (Stage I), allow the center of the abdomen to relax by contracting the left and right side of the abdomen. When performed correctly, all the muscles of the abdomen will be in the center of the abdomen in a vertical line. Hold for as long as you can comfortably.
Stage III: Vama Nauli and Dakshina Nauli (practice for one week before proceeding).
Bend slightly to the right side. While contracting the right side of the abdomen, leave the left side free (Vama Nauli). Hold the contraction for as long as you can with comfort. Then while bending slightly towards the left side, contract the left side of the abdomen, leaving the right side free (Dakshina Nauli). Hold for as long as you comfortably can.
Stage IV: Madhyama Nauli (Advanced) (Practice up to 8 times a day).
In Stage IV (Madhyama Nauli) slowly bring the centerline of the muscles to the right side of the abdomen and then back to the left side in a circular way. Practice this movement several times and then reverse the movement, going from the left side to the right side. Practice this movement several times focusing on slowly moving the muscles in a circular motion. In this final stage of Nauli, the muscles of the abdomen will appear to churn like a wave.
Massage
...frequently is massage used for the purpose of producing abortion. Among some of our own Indians, the Piutes among others, many of the natives of Australia, the inhabitants of the Sierra Leone, and of the interior of Africa, the Loango Negros, and others, produce abortion, either by firmly kneading and rubbing the abdomen with the hands, or pounding and working it with their fists. Many do it for criminal purposes, others because they dread the often fatal labor with half-breed children. This is a somewhat remarkable circumstance, but true among our own Indians upon the Pacific Coast and in the interior, in Australia, and in India, that labor following intercourse with whites is always tedious and dangerous, frequently ending in the death of both mother and child. Hence they produce abortion in preference to undergoing this ordeal. In India and in Africa, abortion is often produced when the mother is suckling one infant and finds herself pregnant with another.
-George Julius Engelmann in Labor Among Primitive Peoples, 1883
Massage, as a method of abortion, has a long history all over the world. Abdominal massage abortion is still practiced by traditional folk medicine practitioners in Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia.[495] The oldest sculpture believed to show an abortion is in Angkor Wat, Cambodia and has been dated to 1150 AD; it shows a pregnant woman receiving a massage with an implement on the lower abdomen. In Taiwan, prior to westernization, massage abortion was used to terminate all pregnancies until a woman was in her late thirties, when her husband ended his active participation in hunting and war activities.[496]
In modern Cambodia, massage abortion is practiced in the second trimester. The woman receiving the massage lies on her back on a mat and resting her feet on the mat brings her knees up to relax her stomach muscles as much as possible. The traditional birth attendant uses one hand to steady the uterus, while pressing as hard as possible with the fingers of the other hand, or possibly the bare heel of her foot, or sometimes the pestle from the mortar used to grind rice[497]
In North America, the Pima Native Americans were documented as using massage, pressure and a heated stone on the lower abdomen to cause abortion.[498] The White Mountain Apache were known to use a stick, a rock, or manual pressure applied to the fundus of the uterus to cause abortion.[499] The Zuni Native American female healers were known to grasp the uterus thorough the abdominal wall and use twisting and squeezing massage to detach the fetal connections.[500]
The Opata Native Americans had a method of combining herbs and massage that they believed to be infallible. First, the woman would be given rosemary and ocean artemisia (a plant related to mugwort). Then, on her back, her lower abdomen would be kneaded until cramping pains were brought on. Then, the woman would turn and take a position on her hands and knees. She would be shaken back and forth by her hips with all the healers’ strength. If this was unsuccessful the first time, it was repeated.[501]
Words to the Wise: It is estimated that 300,000 massage abortions are performed annually in Thailand alone.[502] The majority of massage abortions do not have serious complications. However, women can die from internal bleeding resulting from massage abortion. Women who have bleeding or clotting disorders should not use massage abortion. Women who seek care at medical facilities after massage abortion often present symptoms similar to appendicitis: abdominal rigidity, a low fever, and rebound tenderness.[503]
Massage abortion is usually used after the uterus is able to be felt above the pubic bone (second trimester), but can be used in early pregnancy, too. Just as in other abortion techniques, the later the procedure is attempted the more difficult.[504] Generally, massage abortion is considered “a very painful procedure,”[505] where the uterus is bruised by extreme pressure. It is easier to have assistance with massage; however women can utilize the self massage techniques of leaning on a stick, or laying on a rock to try to achieve the desired amount of pressure.
1. To help moderate pain, a pain medication may be used 30 minutes prior to procedure. Acetaminophen is preferred as it is less likely to thin the blood than aspirin.
2. The woman having the massage may choose to combine massage with herbs, acupuncture, yoga, or hydrotherapy. Smooth rocks for massage may be heated to 120 - 140˚F. Woman should empty bladder prior to massage.
3. The woman lies down on a hard surface with a rolled towel under her lower back, exposing the lower belly. Apply a lotion or oil to allow for less friction. In early pregnancy, the uterus is located through external or bimanual palpitation by an assistant. Then the uterus is pulled and pressed with the fingers to dislodge the fetal mass. Then the area above the fetal mass is massaged with a rotating motion using the palm or thumb.
4. In the second trimester, the fingers of one hand reach into the lower abdomen just above the pubic bone to attempt to steady and fix the uterus. The other hand is placed just above the pubic bone where it deeply massages the abdomen in a circular clockwise direction. In the case of self massage, you may use your fist or elbow to go deeper with pressure-or use a smooth rock as a massage tool. If the massage becomes too painful, stop and wait a few days before reattempting.
495
J.S. Sambhi, “Abortion by Massage,”
497
Macolm Potts and Martha Campbell, “History of Contraception,”
498
Ales Hrdlicka, “Physiological and Medical Observations among Indians of the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico,”
502
T. Narkavonkit, “Massage Abortion in Thailand,”
503
Malcolm Potts, Maura Graff, and Judy Taing, “Thousand Year Old Depiction of Massage Abortion,”
504
Andrea Whittaker,
505
M. Gallen,