In a surprising U-turn from my previous post. I've started to experiment more with manual contractions.
I still think it's important to learn the skill of being able to let go and experience the involuntaries when the time is right. But after a disappointing dry spell, trying to chase the "do nothing" magic of before, I remembered another post I'd found on the forum that described a contraction technique that sounded to me like the "quick and dirty path", but explained in another way.
The thread is here:
https://www.aneros.com/forum/discussion/comment/2315
This changed the way I do contractions. Focusing more on feeling the aneros move in to a deeper position, and then letting it move back to where it was. The difference is listening to the right feedback. When the aneros has reached its target destination, then I know when to release and when to contract. I let the position of the aneros dictate my timing and build my rhythm around it, rather than trying to build a rhythm out of thin air. It seems so obvious now, but I think what I was doing before was listening to what my muscles were ready to do, or what sensation I wanted to produce in the moment, rather than what the aneros was actually doing.
I had experimented with this rhythm before but only with anal contractions. I've found the "penis muscle contraction" is an important one too. It seems to pull the aneros forward. Combining this contraction with how ever much "anal pull-in" it takes to hit the spot.
I've had two really exciting sessions with this.
Source: https://www.aneros.com/blogs/manual-contractions-to-the-rescue/