It's nice to see the medical community recognizing and recommending the neti pot more and more. When I first started using the neti pot, most doctors didn't even know what it was. And now their embracing it. Yeah!

Here 's the recent article Dr. Holly Phillips wrote on the benefits of using a neti pot for allergy sufferers.
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/allergies.hay.fever.2.979218.html

She also recommends some other nice natural remedies.

It's official, Harvard Medical School put out a newsletter this month suggesting that nasal irrigation is the "first line of defense" for sinus problem. So all my friends that thought I was weird and disgusting were wro... okay, maybe they were right but at least they can't say I wasn't practical.

Anyways, here's a link to the article that Harvard Medical school put out about "What to do about sinusitis". It's also got a really nice diagram of the head showing and explaining the different sinuses.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Womens_Health_Watch/2009/March/What_to_do_about_sinusitis

Happy nasal irrigating!

So you watched Dr. Oz and an audience participant demonstrate using a neti pot or "nose bidet" on the Oprah Winfrey show, you got your own neti pot, tried to reproduce the results, and eeeeeeoooooowwwww! Boy they made it look easy!

Well don't throw away your neti pot just yet.  Successful nose irrigation is still within your reach.  You may have overlooked some simple points that would have made it work better for you.

Okay, using the neti pot has done wonders for my sinuses over the years but sometimes I forget how fun it can be, especially in the process of sharing it with others. This video I found is different from all those serious instructional jala neti pot videos where the person seems unnaturally calm and serious.

Click on the "read more" link to see this funny instructional jala neti pot video.

If you're looking for a serious instructional video, I highly recommend the jala neti video cdrom from health and yoga. It's where I got started and also gives the best demonstration of Stage 2 Jala Neti that I have found.

This book puts together a lot of good research on the topic of not only nasal irrigation but also the general function and anatomy of the nasal region of the head. As a regular practitioner of Jala Neti, I take for granted how easy it is for me so I can't say whether it would be a good guide for learning how to do neti on ones own but for yoga teachers it is extremely useful. This book was able to put together some very useful information for teaching Jala Neti.

Well if you know me then you know how much I believe in the benefits of the Jala Neti Pot. So I'm excited to share that I have obtained and republished one of the best collections of articles and instructions for this ancient form of nasal irrigation from a website that no longer exists. It is by far one of the most extensive sources I know of regarding this subject and it includes not only research but detailed instructions and explanations. Thank you Swami Saraswati and Dr. Steve Rabone for your wonderful contributions!

You can now find this wonderful resource here.

Jala Neti Pot Research Library

Though it's not as scholarly, don't miss my own comparison of the Ceramic vs. Stainless Steel Neti Pot.

If you already know what a neti pot is you may want to just skip to the actual Jala neti pot review and comparison at the end of this article. For those of you who don't know or if you do and just want to read about my own story of how neti came into my life then keep reading.

So what is a "Jala Neti pot", you ask. Well, it's become one of my new best friends. I was given one in 2002 and told it would help with my post nasal drip or sinusitis problem. It is a method of nasal irrigation or nasal lavage that has been around for centuries and helps clear the sinuses, nasal passages, and even improve vision(I'll explain this one later).

It's a pretty simple concept. The neti pot looks like a little teapot. You prepare a salt water aka saline solution and heat to body temperature. Then, by placing the spout in one nostril and tilting the head with the spout staying in the upper nostril, begin pouring the saline solution. Gravity then takes the water inside and down to the lower nostril and out.

Well the first time I tried it, I heated the water too hot and the second time I put too much salt in the water so both times it was very uncomfortable. So my neti pot sat on the shelf for 3 years until this past January. With the encouragement of one of my yoga teachers, Kaoverii, I decided to give it another try.

This time I got better instructions from my teacher and the web on how to prepare the salt water solution for neti and I finally had success. WOW! What a difference. I was able to breathe through both nostrils with ease. Inhaling felt like I was tasting an exquisite dinner except I wasn't eating food, I was inhaling the vibrant air around me. I actually went around smelling things just for the shear pleasure of it. And to my surprise, no one had mentioned to me that it also cleaned the tear ducts. Using the neti pot seemed to also wash a milky grey layer off my eyes so that colors seemed more vibrant and vivid. And to top it all off, I found myself naturally wanting to breathe deeper and in turn I felt more relaxed and energized throughout the day.

After one month of daily use just once in the morning my post nasal drip became almost non-existent. I no longer have to check to make sure I have tissue with me before I go out the door and I don't feel the need to drink water with lemon all the time(which was my way of clearing out the back of my throat of mucous). It also put an end to my sometimes excessive nose picking (I confess :).

And when a wave of flu/cold hit, all my friends were sick for 10 days or more. I was free and clear by the third day and I never got congested. I just dealt with the fever and lightheadedness.