Nauli, the abdominal churning

The name

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika calls it nauli or naulika; the Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā calls the same action laulikī, a word close to lola, "rolling, moving to and fro". The Monier-Williams dictionary only knows naulī as "a kind of self-penance"; the origin of the word is uncertain, and explanations such as "from nala, a tube" are interpretations. In English it is usually called "abdominal churning", which is a fair description.

What the texts say

Nauli is the fifth of the six cleansing actions. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika describes it in one verse:

अमन्दावर्तवेगेन तुन्दं सव्यापसव्यतः । नतांसो भ्रामयेदेषा नौलिः सिद्धैः प्रशस्यते ॥

amandāvarta-vegena tundaṃ savyāpasavyataḥ | natāṃso bhrāmayed eṣā nauliḥ siddhaiḥ praśasyate ||

Shoulders bent forward, one should turn the belly to the right and to the left with the force of a swift whirlpool: this is nauli, praised by the adepts.

Pancham Sinh's 1914 translation adds the posture: "Sitting on the toes with heels raised above the ground, and the palms resting on the ground, and in this bent posture the belly is moved forcibly from left to right just as in vomiting" (2.33). The next verse praises it as "an excellent exercise in Hatha Yoga" that kindles a weak digestive fire and dries up all disorders (2.34). Notice what the text does not say: it never speaks of isolating the abdominal muscles. The isolation and rolling of the rectus abdominis, which everyone means by nauli today, is a modern way of teaching what the verse calls whirling the belly.

The same chapter sets a limit on all six actions: they are for those with an excess of fat or phlegm, and "another should not perform them" (2.21).

How nauli is learned

Nauli grows out of uddiyana bandha. A teacher usually takes students through these stages, one at a time, over weeks or months:

1. Uḍḍīyāna bandha standing: on empty lungs, the false inhalation draws the abdomen in and up. Learn it first, from its own page, until a ten-second hold is easy.
2. Agnisāra: in the same position, during one exhaled hold, the abdomen is drawn in and released several times in a row.
3. Madhyama nauli: from uḍḍīyāna, pressing the hands on the thighs and pushing the lower abdomen slightly down and forward, the two central muscles (the recti) stand out as a vertical column while the sides stay hollow.
4. Vāma and dakṣiṇa nauli: by shifting the weight onto one hand, the column moves to the left or to the right.
5. Rolling: moving the column from one side to the other in a continuous wave, the "churning" itself, in both directions.

Each round ends the same way: release the belly, lift the head, then breathe in slowly. Three rounds are plenty at first.

Rhythm and progression

What research shows

• Almost nothing on nauli itself. A narrative review of the scientific literature on the six cleansing actions, covering 723 references up to 2020, found studies on four of the six techniques; nauli and basti were not among them (Swathi and colleagues, 2021).
• A small study of agnisāra. In twelve healthy volunteers, ultrasound measured more blood flow in the main artery to the intestines (the superior mesenteric artery) just after agnisāra done a hundred times (Minvaleev and colleagues, 2022). The authors suggest it may help digestion; the study did not measure digestion, and twelve people are a beginning.

So we make no health claim for nauli. What we can say is that it involves strong pressure changes in the abdomen and chest, which is why the list of contraindications is long.

Common mistakes

• Learning it from a video, alone, in a hurry. The texts themselves present the cleansing actions as taught by a teacher.
• Skipping uḍḍīyāna and agnisāra. Without them, nauli is forced with the muscles instead of the suction.
• Breathing in before releasing the belly.
• Practising after eating, or on a full bladder.
• Treating it as a "detox". No study supports that idea.

In context

Nauli belongs to the cleansing practices that prepare the body for breath work: see the six cleansing actions and the bandhas. If you are looking for a safe daily practice for the belly and the breath, the pranayama page and mula bandha are better places to start.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, translated by Pancham Sinh, Sacred Books of the Hindus vol. XV part 3 (1914), Internet Archive checked October 17, 2026
2. Svātmārāma, Haṭhayogapradīpikā, Sanskrit text, 2.21-2.34 (GRETIL, University of Göttingen) checked October 17, 2026
3. Srisa Chandra Vasu (tr.), The Gheranda Samhita, Sacred Books of the Hindus vol. XV (1914-1915), lesson 1, verse 52, Internet Archive checked October 17, 2026
4. Swathi PS, Raghavendra BR, Saoji AA. Health and therapeutic benefits of Shatkarma: A narrative review of scientific studies. Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, 2021 DOI 10.1016/j.jaim.2020.11.008 PMID 33454186 checked October 17, 2026
5. Minvaleev RS et al. Yogic agnisara increases blood flow in the superior mesenteric artery. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 2022 DOI 10.1016/j.jbmt.2022.04.004 PMID 35710229 checked October 17, 2026

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