–   By Garima Jaglan

Purification of the body (shatkarma) is the initial requirement before the practice of any asana, mudra-bandh, pranayama, pratyahara, dharna, dhyana(meditation) or samadhi of the Yoga. There are various techniques of shatkarma. These include dhauti, vasti, neti, nauli, trataka and kapalbhati. Among them, Jala Neti has great significance. Although Jala Neti has no literature evidence in important yoga texts. But sutra neti is found in Hatha Pradipika(2/29), Gherand Samhita (1/50)and Hatha Ratnavali(1/38). Jala Neti is a modern technique of traditional sutra neti which is easy to perform for all.

For those who may not have much idea of internal working of nasal cavities, it seems a dangerous thing to pour warm salty water through one’s nose. But when examined with an open mind and a simple picture of physiological structure involved, fear and misunderstanding go off.

For this, firstly, we have to know about sinuses. Sinuses are the air-filled cavities. There are 4 pairs of sinuses:

  1. Maxillary – behind cheekbones,
  2. Frontal – behind the forehead,
  3. Ethmoid – between the upper parts of the nasal cavities and the orbits
  4. Sphenoid – either side of the nasal bridge.

Nose and sinuses are lined by a layer of ciliary pseudostratified columnar epithelium with goblet cells and mucus lining – submucosa. Sinuses open up into nasal cavities & help to control temperature & water content of air reaching the lungs. Mucus produced naturally by sinuses usually drains into the nose through small channels. If smaller foreign particles & bacteria enters the nasal passage, dirty mucus blown out & coughed out or swallowed. Sinus passages are the finer mechanism of filtering which if infected secrete a runny mucus to evict germs.

Water simply flows up one nostril to just above the bridge of nose where usual air flows meet backward into the middle cavity and then water flows down and out the other side of the nose.

There should be no flow of water back towards throat or into the mouth. When done correctly there is a very little sensation as the water is of same temperature and salinity as the blood. As a result, nose hardly notices the water flow. If practitioner breathes incorrectly water remains inside the cavity and cause discomfort & infection.

 

Why lukewarm and saline water?

Lukewarm and saline water is used because the temperature and salinity of water ( temperature as our body temperature & salinity according to taste) will be the same as the temperature and salinity of our blood. As a result, the nose hardly notices the flow through. The method is very simple.

Due to gravity, venturi effect and osmotic pressure created water cannot be absorbed by nasal lining and sinuses & easily flows out of nose without creating any problem. Whereas it would normally be impossible to drain a “dead end” passage like the sinuses, Jala neti achieves this ingeniously and simply.

 

Effects of Jala Neti:

  • Neti helps to drain the sinus cavities which in turn help against infection like sinusitis and common cold.
  • Enhance the visual clarity.
  • Enhance the olfactory function.
  • Clean the path of the Eustachian tube and equalize the pressure on both sides of the eardrum.
  • It Cures a migraine headache.
  • Relieves sleep apnea.
  • Better balance of SNS (control stimulation) and PNS (control sedation).
  • Awakening of Ajna chakra.

 

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