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Hatha Yoga - Dhauti

A practical instruction on the yogic cleansing techniques of neti and dhauti.

"If you practice neti, you have a very good feeling the whole day and you sleep well in the evening."

"Jaladhauti is also known as kunjal kriyā. This jaladhauti is accepted from the elephant."

An instructor details the procedures and benefits of the neti (nasal cleansing) and dhauti (internal cleansing) practices. He describes jaladhauti (vomiting water) and sutradhauti (swallowing a cloth), offering specific techniques, safety warnings for those with certain health conditions, and recommended frequencies. The talk expands to connect these practices with prāṇāyāma for respiratory health and concludes with advocacy for a vegetarian diet based on the principle of ahiṃsā.

Recording location: Czech Republic, Strilky, Summer seminar

Time passes quickly, and we have much to learn. In any case, you have learned about neti. I practiced it again this morning, so I can speak about it. It is truly very nice. If you practice neti, you have a very good feeling the whole day and you sleep well in the evening. After practicing neti, you can apply a little olive oil or sesame oil after one hour. For someone with an allergy, lemon oil is best. The best protection against flower pollen allergy is oil. You apply a little oil in the nostrils. This keeps the dust out; it is a protection. A layer of film forms over your delicate skin. So neti is very, very helpful and good. Now we talk about dhauti. Dhauti also means cleaning. There are three kinds of dhauti: one is called jaladhauti, then sutradhauti, and dandadhauti. Dandadhauti is not so pleasant. One prepares a stick, of course softening and polishing it nicely, applying a little oil, and then it goes into the mouth ... But we are not so fanatical, okay? We can leave this out. Jaladhauti is also known as kunjal kriyā. This jaladhauti is accepted from the elephant. When an elephant has acidity in the stomach, it drinks water and then brings the water out again with its trunk. Just as we have heartburn, animals also have it. This is taken from the elephants; it is called kunjal. So you can call it kunjal kriyā or jaladhauti. On an empty stomach in the morning, after going to the toilet, you take warm water—the same as for neti, with salt—and drink one or two liters of water quickly. Afterwards, using two fingers to press the tongue a little, with one hand on the belly, you bend forward. All the water comes out. It also purifies the elementary channels. You can do this once a week or twice a week. Every day is not so good. Do not use too much force; sometimes blood comes. You injure your throat or vocal cords a little, but don't worry, it doesn't matter. Just don't use too much power. People who have high eye pressure should not do it. People with a very high level of diabetes where the eyes are already affected should not do it, because the pressure is not good for the eyes. Otherwise, you can do it. If you had an eye operation, then don't do it for three or four months. So before you learn or do it, you must speak with your yoga teacher, but you must tell them what difficulties you have. It is very, very good. Sometimes it is not good for those who have a hernia, because the pressure also disturbs the hernia. In that case, especially after a hernia operation, do not do this kriyā for one year. This also applies to navel hernia. Then there is sutradhauti. Sutradhauti is taken from cats and dogs. You know when cats or dogs don't feel good in the stomach, they eat grass and then vomit it out. Similarly, you swallow a cotton cloth, a very nice linen cloth about 15 cm wide and about 2-3 m long. Our intestines are 8.5 m long, but of course it should not go through the whole intestines. Two or three meters is good. You soak it in warm water of the same quality, with salt. Then you hold the end of the cloth, fold it a little, put it in the mouth, and chew it with the tongue and swallow. If it doesn't go, drink a little water; it will go. When about 20 centimeters remain, slowly take it out again. Sometimes it gets stuck and doesn't come out. Don't pull. At that time you feel ... how does a fish feel when caught by a hook? Exactly. The fish has the same panic. So don't worry, you still will not die. When it is a little stuck, drink that same warm salty water, hold the cloth, and then pull it out. It will go; it will come out quickly. You will see nearly 40 centimeters that is very bitter, yellow, and sour. It is good to do it once a week or twice a month. That is Haṭha Yoga. So now you are saying, "I am practicing Haṭha Yoga." Are you doing this every day? No. So next year you are lucky, not this year. Next year we will buy the sutradhauti cloths and you will be practicing. Okay? That is called sutradhauti. So, jaladhauti and sutradhauti are really very healthy. Also, for those who have a lot of mucus, cough, and for asthma, the dhautis are very good against asthma: neti and dhauti, and then prāṇāyāma, deep breathing, and Khatu Praṇām, especially where you are expanding your chest. The volume of your lungs becomes wider. When you stretch your hands like this, you are expanding the chest. In prāṇāyāma also you are expanding. First, breathe into the stomach, then expand the chest, exhale from the chest, then pull the diaphragm in. So prāṇāyāma is very, very good against asthma. An asthma attack can occur when there is a lack of oxygen, and you are getting an extra pipe for the oxygen. Those who have asthma have to carry this emergency help. So prāṇāyāma is very good. Through this Nāḍī Śodhana Prāṇāyāma, our body absorbs a lot of oxygen. Your blood has enough oxygen, which means the brain's supply of oxygen is very good. As we grow, things become smaller; it means they are getting their own. Prāṇāyāma is that which expands again and purifies. It is a long process. Do not think that you do it today and next week all nerves will be okay. No, it is not like that. Slowly, gradually, every day. Also, certain kinds of food are important. Fruits and vegetables contain a lot of oxygen and vitamins. Meat, fish, and eggs have a dead energy. So when you eat death, you have no energy. Fruit and vegetables are still living; they have fresh energy. It is a life energy, and this is very important for us. Therefore, to be a vegetarian is a noble idea of life, to lead a noble way of life, and at the same time, there is an ethical principle, ahiṃsā. So eat more fresh vegetables, eat more fresh fruits, and I think that is very good for our health. So, dhauti and neti, kapālabhāti I told you already. And trāṭaka we did already. Recording location: Czech Republic, Strilky, Summer seminar

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt, what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

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