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Contents of this page
General FAQ's
FAQ's on Neti Cleansing
FAQ's on Kunjal Cleansing
FAQ's on Shankaprakshalana CleansingQ. To me it seems so unnatural to put water up your nose, or drink water and vomit intentionally, or to wash out your stomach and bowels.
A. Well, you know, from the Yogi's point of view, smoking cigarettes, eating junk food, late nights of mind numbingly bad television, modern cities and their pollution, getting stuck in traffic jams, eating whilst driving or walking along, living or working 100 metres from the ground in a tower apartment or office block, sitting in chairs at computers all day next to a window which doesn't open, that's all pretty unnatural. It depends on where you are at. Yoga says, that like medicine, which may seem at first to be a bit distasteful or unnatural, when you are sick, certain unusual things may be necessary to heal oneself. And, well, to be quite honest, a lot of modern life is quite sick and it is really the modern norm which is most unnatural - it is that unnaturalness in life which makes many people quite sick. So, all these yoga cleansing methods are just non-medicinal ways of preventing illness, overcoming illness and purifying the body towards a more natural life where good health is the norm. If you think about it, the ancient yogic methods are really the most natural ways to help the bodily systems to heal them self. These cleansing techniques are just very simple and common sense ways of keeping every orifice and instrument of the body working in its best possible shape. If it does not seem that way to you, then it is possible that your common sense and natural guidance mechanism needs realigning! Or maybe you're just a bit squeamish underneath! In that case, all the more reason to toughen up your guts with a bit of inner cleansing! We do service our motor cars - we get them flushed out, scraped out, when dirty or clogged up. We do it to the kitchen cupboards, when they get a build up of dirt inside. What's the difference with our bodies? Even more important than our cars, are the vehicles we spend our whole day in - that is our human bodies. And as well, those vehicles of thought and feeling - that is the mind. Cleaning out the bodily orifices and canals is just like getting a bottle of solvent and brush and scrubbing out the insides the air filter, the pistons and the exhaust pipe of a car. The caked up dust and carbon and soot deposits are removed, so that the engine works more efficiently. It helps the fuel come in better, burn better and the wastes to be eliminated quicker. The same is necessary for our bodies and minds. It seems perfectly natural to me to do such things regularly for personal maintenance. It may seem weird and funny to many people, but I think this is only because in certain cultures we think that anything inside the body is odd and distasteful. These days, when it comes to medical repairs after years of personal neglect, we prefer to have an anesthetic and have someone else do the 'dirty work'. In the old days, the yogis thought nothing of using some pretty bizarre sorts of practices to fix up their body. They had a great understanding of the internal physical functions well before the scalpel and the x-ray machine were invented. They knew it by doing these and other certain practices. They learnt through experimentation. And now they pass on to us these sure fire ways of looking after ourselves and preventing physical and mental breakdown.
FAQ's on Neti CleansingQ. Can you use other things in the Neti pot besides salt?
A. In certain situations Neti with milk, ghee or urine is recommended but beyond this, we don't recommend you experiment with anything else. Yoga practices in general, and the cleansing techniques specifically, are designed to be simple. Just some water and some salt is the traditional recipe for being able to cleanse any part of the body externally and internally. Beyond salt, you are into the realms of medicine. Whether one utilises the traditional herbs or the modern allopathic drugs, such things are far from the simplicity of self maintenance and self healing which these cleansing techniques represent. We have heard of people using particular essential oils in their Neti pot, or using juices in combination with Laghoo Shankaprakshalana. Such methods (if indeed they are necessary) would need to be assessed and prescribed individually by suitably qualified healers/doctors.
Q. Can you over-do Jala Neti usage?A. Yes, it's possible. For most people under normal conditions once or twice a day is sufficient for general health benefits. Three times daily may be prescribed by a yoga therapist in certain situations but only for a limited time. The symptoms of over-use are: nose bleeds, excessively dry nasal linings, constantly runny nose (from not drying it properly). This is why one should learn from an experienced teacher and keep in touch with your teacher should any problems arise. Please always keep in mind that one can over-do anything in life, even presumably safe things. What is enough for one person may be too much for another. And with yoga the same applies. This is the danger of self-prescribing things, be it substances or techniques, about which one has only limited knowledge. Just as some pharmaceuticals are freely available over the counter and others must be gained by doctor's prescription, so too are some yoga practices easily self taught and others kept a little more restricted due to their potency and specifically reactive attributes.
Q. I enjoy doing the simple Neti, but what's the point, really, of doing all those weird advanced methods like Urine Neti, or Sutra Neti ?A. The more advanced forms of Neti are both specific therapeutic practices in a physical sense, but also they've been preserved by the great Gurus and passed onto their disciples as specifically advanced spiritual techniques, methods of awakening the higher mental faculties. Remember too, that they were kept a secret for many centuries, and were considered as occult sciences. It is only in the last 100 years or so that these things have become common knowledge around the western world. These rarer techniques super-sensitise the sinus passages, and stimulate higher sensory functions in the brain and the mind. That's really why all yoga practices exist. For higher productivity in the art and disciplines of meditation. It's not really for sinusitis or hayfever or allergies or asthma. The Yogis didn't have those things thousands of years ago. They used these methods to purify themselves to the ultimate, so their body and mind was a more highly developed instrument for investigation and perception of spiritual knowledge. That's how they gained their wisdom. That's also what all the scriptures say, that yoga is to purify the body, purify the mind to enter into deeper meditation and to evolve the nervous system, evolve the consciousness. But along the way there are all sorts of amazing health benefits. But if you're not drawn to them at this stage, don't worry - don't do them. Maybe one day your spirit will wish to soar beyond your present human limits into the super-human realms.
Q. How would you teach Jala Neti to small children?A. A detailed answer to this question is on the page - Teaching Jala Neti to Children.
Q. What happens if, when doing Kunjal, you just can't get the water out. Where does it go then?
A. If there is a complete blockage at the abdomen, the exercises for Laghoo Shankaprakshalana should be done, which will push the water down and out the anus. In that case they will get a bottom-end flush out instead of a stomach wash! It often happens that not all of the water drunk for Kunjal can be pushed up and out. Stopping half way for a break can loose the momentum and cause the contractions to stop. In this case it is good to repeat the practice a second time to induce stronger contractions. If, in either event, not all the water comes out, it doesn't matter. It will just go through and create a loose bowel movement once or twice later on that day.
Q. How can someone having an asthma attack drink the water for Kunjal when they are gasping and having difficulty even breathing?A. Of course it is better if Kunjal is done before the worst situation is allowed to develop, and if done early enough, it will allay that attack. Even if done later, if some amount of water can be drunk, and the reflex of vomiting induced, it will still end the spasm within the lungs and give instant relief. If, for example, a situation arose when one's puffer or medication were not on hand, but a little water and salt were available, then the technique of Kunjal could be a life saver. It is therefore handy to know these things which yoga has discovered.
Q. My head tells me that I would like to try it and gain the benefits of the stomach wash but emotionally I just can't stand the thought of doing it the first time. What can you suggest to overcome this revulsion to it?A. A lot of people have this conflict. You are honest to admit it. It is no different to overcoming any dilemma of mind versus feelings. You can't rationalise with the feelings. They don't listen to logic, they are irrational. So, one can only read and talk about the benefits of the action to be done until you are keen enough mentally to do it and then, with guidance at hand, you just have to step up to the line and DO IT. There is only one way to overcome hesitant feelings and that is to confront them, to educate them, to re-programme them to the reality that things may not really be that way after all. And this is what you will always find once a sensible thing has been experienced. The truth of the experience will win over the silly reticent feelings but not until after the deed has been done. 99.9% of people say afterwards that it was not as bad as they feared. Their fears are based on ignorance and past brainwashing. The importance of having guidance can not be understated. Guidance is to make sure you perform things the easiest and quickest way. The teacher knows your nervousness well. They have seen lots of people like you, they may even have once been as frightened as you - so listen to their words of encouragement. They are there to help you with difficulties, physical or emotional, should they arise. But the short answer is to just do it, and the conflict will be gone!
Q. I just can't believe people seriously think that eating 3 metres of cotton cloth could be good for them!A. They aren't eating it for food, they are just using it for a snack! I reckon a bit of cotton cloth is far more tasty than some sandwiches I have had in my life! But seriously, intellectually Vastra Dhauti may make no sense to you because you are perceiving it from a specific cultural point of view. Your 'belief' is based on whatever system of medicine you have been brought up to 'believe in'. I am quite sure that should you appear in the Amazon jungle with a little brown bag of your doctor's tools and medicines of trade, the good natives there would be aghast at some of the methods he/she would employ for healing purposes. To be honest, some of those medicines or procedures would be of great advantage to those so called "primitive people" but no doubt in comparison with their own local jungle herbs, some of the western potions would be useless. What I believe we should be doing these days, is exploring all ways to build bridges between traditional and contemporary sciences of healing. Yoga does not claim it has the only or the best methods for health management, but it does have a large tool box of possibilities, some of which may be more efficacious than the presently prescribed modern ones. Many of these ancient yoga practices are even more relevant today since mankind is confronted with epidemic proportions of really quite simple illnesses. Who is to say that the simple methods are not valid??? And the beauty of yoga methods apart from simplicity is their cheapness.
Perhaps you are worried about the dangers of cleansing the stomach by way of a cloth. Well it is of no danger at all. So long as you get it out before peristalsis (the waves of stomach movement) sends it down into the duodenum, no problems. But the yogis knew all about that. They knew it had to be taken out in less than 20 minutes. But this technique is only prescribed for particular illnesses, it is not for beginners, it is not to be attempted unassisted and it is not really necessary for general health if one does the simpler methods of salt water stomach cleansing on a regular basis.
FAQ's on Shankaprakshalana CleansingQ. I think that long salt water cleansing technique sounds completely dangerous and irresponsible. Has medical science heard about this and shown it to be safe?
A. This is a very common and perfectly normal response about something which most modern people would consider as quite radical. There are a number of issues which need to be explained about such a technique. Firstly, your rational concerns about its safety need to be separated from your own irrational fears and medical ignorance.
Firstly, it does sound dangerous on first impression since the only reference point most people would have is to drinking sea water, which we have all been told will make us very sick even in small quantities or will kill us in excess. But, the first thing which makes Shankaprakshalana different and safer is that the water drank is "normal saline" - that is the same saltiness as the human blood stream which is only one quarter as salty as the sea. Drinking and drinking and drinking lots of fresh water would either bloat the body or cause excessive urination. However Shankaprakshalana does not cause this to happen either, because when the "normal saline" water is drunk, it does not get absorbed from the stomach or go into the kidneys and bladder. It just passes through the stomach into the small intestines, travels through the large intestines and out the rectum just as it went in - along with the addition of any bowel wastes collected along the way. If the mixture is made correctly and the exercises performed correctly, you don't get thirsty or feel bloated. You can drink normal saline without any detriment or any advantage since the body does not respond to that passing through which is the same as itself. Doing the exercises simply opens the alimentary valves to pass the water through in the minimum time. The exercises massage the digestive tract and all the internal organs so as to loosen them up and give up their toxic build up. I hope that takes away some of the misunderstanding and fear.
Secondly, medical science may not know of this particular method for achieving bowel cleanliness but they do in fact use a similar process prior to certain operations where bowel cleanliness is imperative. In a hospital situation, the patient is given a saline drip into the mouth and special drugs to relax all the alimentary valves. This is continued until the excreted liquid is clean. Sounds similar doesn't it? But our method is done willfully and in much less time with no drugs. The principal is the same, the physiology is the same but pre-operative cancer patients are in no fitness to do 2 hours of exercises! Were the medicos to investigate the yoga method I am sure they would find absolutely no physiological reason to conclude it is dangerous. They may have the same surprise and some shock at the yogic methodology but their training would lead them to understand the bodily chemistry of Shankaprakshalana is perfectly safe.
But it is not just the water, the salt and the bowels in question here. It is the mind, the feelings and the social attitudes which shock people much more. Your distrust and disgust is perfectly understandable considering the average person's ignorance of their bodily functions and their innate fear of stirring up the passions and repressed emotional matter of the psyche. A little bit of medical knowledge can easily take away ones medical doubts about the technique, but only by personally confronting and gradually working through the psychological fears can they eventually be resolved and that question be answered to your own satisfaction.
Q. When stripping all the material from inside the bowels during Shankaprakshalana, what about the good types of bacteria, the bowel flora that we need in there?A. It comes back soon enough, only it comes back from the body's own remanufacturing system. The body can remake that which is necessary for it's internal environment from scratch. And that's what is really magic about Shankaprakshalana. It is going back to square one. It takes the body right back to a baby's state, complete purity and neutrality. Pure homeostasis. Homeostasis means stabilisation and a state of initial balance. The foods which are eaten directly after Shankaprakshalana, are the most important type of building blocks to start the body regenerating what was stripped out, and it also helps to reset the correct mechanisms of digestive function. Also, the sorts of food that one is allowed to eat and not allowed to eat in the first week are restricted so that the body has the best possible chance to rebuild its primary functions in the right way, even better than they were before the practice. The first meal in your new diet starts with simple proteins and carbohydrates to rebuild those cells which the body will need to replenish first. You ask about the bacteria. Where have they come from in the first place? They were made in the bowel. They didn't come in from the food. True, some digestive substances we do need to import with our food, but after the big cleanse out of Shankaprakshalana it's not necessary to start with the external or complex things. One begins with the most basic foods and the basic internally made substances. The adult body has the capacity to regenerate what it needs to start afresh. Even the sick body can be stimulated to a better state than before the cleansing practice. So don't worry, in time, and as you gradually reintroduce the more exotic foods back into your diet all the necessary digestive components will be present as and when they are needed.
Q. Why do some people react emotionally during fasting and Shankaprakshalana?A. A combination of three things - altered perception, greater self awareness, and repressed feelings which surface. All yoga practices change ones awareness and have this effect to differing degrees. Whether it's an elementary technique like 'Shavasana' (the Corpse Pose) or something more difficult like Sirshasana (the Headstand Pose) or something quite challenging, as Shankaprakshalana can be. For example, a student may think it is ridiculously simple to lay flat on the floor in Corpse Pose. They may think they are a pretty calm and relaxed person until 3 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes of total physical stillness passes and then they start to get itchy, edgy, distracted, bored, angry, drowsy, etc. etc. Only by narrowing their field of self awareness to that simple yoga posture of stillness can that person realise just how nervy and distracted and easily bored they really are, and if they are of an unstable temperament, then their mind and feelings will go off on all kinds of tangents, just because of the simple posture of Shavasana. Yoga practice is a mirror. A mirror for whatever you have, whatever you are. It all comes to the surface due to the increased self awareness. That same effect is intensified many fold during Shankaprakshalana, as a person drinks maybe 20 - 50 cups of warm salty water!
It's quite funny really, watching your own mind and feelings whilst you perform the big salt water tea party - as we call it. People begin to get angry with themselves for having eaten so badly all their lives. They get angry with themselves for coming on the cleansing retreat instead of going to the beach that weekend and putting themselves through this great salt water marathon. Then they may get angry at the instructor for being, what they perceive to be, a mean, sadistic bastard! They get sad at the lack of self discipline they have exerted throughout their lives, sad at how old they feel after just 2 hours of hard work. They start to bargain with themselves and the instructors and even with God! They swear they'll never eat another Mars Bar again, just to stop, just to go and have a bite on an apple, just to lie down for a few minutes. They say "I don't really care if I get clean, any more". They promise never, ever, ever to sin again! It's not delirium, it's the mind just cleansing.
Why does the mind do it? It's just the nature of the animal. Inside us, is all our stuff. Our emotional stuff, all our mental impressions, beliefs, prejudices, our self love and our self hate, our love and hate for others - everything of an emotional nature is stored in both the mind and the body structure. All our experiences, good and bad are stored in the memory banks of experience. And if there's self resentment, or resentment for others, it'll come out when drinking the water. But some people don't see that resentment for what it is, that is their own inner conflicts, so they begin to resent the teacher or those around them. But the teacher is transcendent of all the emotional stuff going on around. It is his or her job to just keep people going with the practice so that their toxins, both physical and mental, come up and are literally passed out. Throughout Shankaprakshalana there are moments of intense self doubt, one has lows and highs. In four hours or whatever time it takes, one's whole digestive life passes before them! But it needn't be a big deal and a big catharsis for all to see and feel. Just keep it to yourself and keep going with a cool head. And that's the same lesson for life.
Q. With full Shankaprakshalana, once the water starts to run through, do you still need to keep doing the exercises all the time?A. Yes. You usually need to keep reminding the bowel sphincters to stay open. Some people, usually the more skinny people, find they don't need to do much exercise to keep the bowels open. They just drink and start some asanas, and then they need to run......! Others, who may be more tense or blocked, may need to go through the set of asanas continually to relax internally. They may get a temporary blockage and feel a bit bloated for a while and then it will clear. They must just keep exercising until this happens. It all depends a lot on personal make up and also experience with the technique. It depends on how much muscular tension there is in the body, how much constipation, how much build up of waste. If and when the mind and body are nicely receptive and relaxed, the sphincters may stay open with the minimum of exercising. Then you know you are just like a empty channel.
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