I've been using a neti pot for many months now. Every day, or almost every day, I put a pinch of salt in my neti pot, add warm filtered water and then rinse my sinuses out by pouring the warm water into one nostril. With my head tipped to the side, the water washes out my upper respiratory system, drains out through the other nostril, and runs down into the sink. Then I'm ready for the day.
This practice is called jala neti. The results are fantastic.
Now that it's cold here, the heat is on and the air in my house is dry. It irritates my nasal passages. Thankfully, when I use my neti pot, irritants get washed out regularly and my sinuses are properly humidified. It feels great.
A big thing I'm noticing is that daily use of the neti pot keeps my upper respiratory system tuned up and ready to go so it can do its job efficiently and quickly.
Last week I was in Springfield, MO on business. Before I left for home on Friday, I stopped in at an office in which contractors were finishing off some drywall work. After I'd been in the office for about two hours, I started sneezing. I literally could not stop. So I left.
As soon as I got in the car the sneezing stopped and I started to feel better. But the two-and-a-half hour car ride home made it easy for me to see what was happening next. My sinuses started to develop mucus. By the time I got home, well, lets just say I was uncomfortable. I was clogged and gooey and needed relief.
I got out my neti pot and ran some warm water through a couple of times. Out with the bad.
I immediately felt better.
Jala neti is an old yoga practice. If you do it regularly, it keeps the upper respiratory system clean and ready to respond so that you stay healthy.
Think about what happened to me. My nose and sinuses did what they could do to keep the drywall dust out of my lungs. But when they were overwhelmed, the productive sneezes began to kick the dust out. Then throughout the duration of my car ride home, my lungs and sinuses produced mucus that trapped the dust so that the cilia lining my respiratory system could carry it out to my nose. I helped it along with a flush of warm saline water from my neti pot and the whole thing was over.
I recommend it. Daily use of your neti pot will help you avoid trouble during the cold and flu season. And if you have allergies, the nasal wash helps rinse away the allergens and irritants that cause those unbearable allergic reactions.
One really great benefit is you don't have to use drugs. I know a woman who goes into depression when she takes her sinus and allergy drugs. But she does it because, for her, suffering with the other symptoms is worse!
Try it this season, and then continue. It takes some persistence to get accustomed to it. But you'll notice the difference if you do it daily as a part of your routine. Some of you will notice a real sting, especially if your sinuses are dirty. But flushing them out and keeping them flushed out will keep the sting away.
Don't hesistate to contact me with questions you have about this great practice.
Don't just read about it. Get up. Experience it. Experience yoga!
Kevin Perry
www.ExperienceYoga.org
p.s., Neti is Sanskrit for "not that." I'm not sure how a pot got the name of "not that." But I'll write a little bit tomorrow about why the phrase "neti, neti" is so well known among yogis.
p.p.s., If you're curious, you can read a write-up I did describing our Experience Neti Flow workshop. It's here.
p.p.p.s., We have Experience Sanskrit workshop dates set now for Kansas City, MO; Fort Worth, TX; Downingtown, PA; Annapolis, MD; and St. Charles, MO. We'll be releasing information this week about a new April date for the Experience Sanskrit workshop in Kingston, New Jersey, near Princeton.
Watch the FREE Daily Yoga Tip for more news about these events. Until then, you can find out more about the Experience Sanskrit workshop, the workshop that makes the Sanskrit names of yoga poses fun and unforgettable, at: http://experienceyoga.org/.
Copyright 2005. All rights reserved, Mo Yoga LLC.
Kevin Perry
Mo Yoga LLC
1305 Elmerine Ave
Jefferson City, MO 65101
(573) 680-6737
