Get Rid of Fear of Jal Neti Once and For All

Today morning as I was preparing water to practice Jal Neti the thought suddenly came to my mind about asking my dad to try it out. My dad who is around 74 years old, practices Pranayama regularly every morning for around half and hour to 45 minutes. He has been practicing this for last 4 to 5 years now and attributes his alertness to the practice. He earlier had double heart attack around 24 years back and then around 10 years back had a stroke which temporarily paralyzed his left side. After the initial treatment, he started practicing Pranayama every morning after watching Swami Ramdev's programme on TV. After practicing Pranayama for last 4 to 5 years he has regained most of the strength and control on his limbs. He does not practice any asanas apart from some loosening exercises.

When I asked him if he would like to try Jal Neti it took him by surprise. He was initially apprehensive. I assured him that it is a very easy. Once I instructed him properly he was able to easily do it easily. This process also made me realize few doubts or questions which I think may arise in the mind of anyone who has not tried Jal Neti before.

I have written on Jal Neti before this and reason behind writing again on this topic is I find it extremely effective. I started it few months back and results for me are excellent. Earlier I used to get running nose very easily whenever I had throat infection, but I have seen that now a days even in case of throat infections also it is very mild and I don't get running noses.

Common Queries and Questions on Jal Neti.

1. I need to pull the water into the nose, and that is difficult
   When you see any one performing Jal Neti either directly or watch a video it might appear as if water is pulled through one nose and thrown out of the other nose. But the fact is only thing one needs to concentrate on is breathing through the mouth during the duration of Jal Neti. Just start with breathing through the mouth and then attach the nozzle of the Neti pot on one of the nostrils and tilt the head. The water will follow its natural course and flow out of the other nose automatically. Follow this with the other nose.


2. How warm should the water be?
   You might come across this question after you have made your mind to try out Jal Neti. It is best to keep it lukewarm or may be very slightly warm initially. You nose may be very sensitive initially and you will feel tingling sensation on the tip of the nose. If you are comfortable with the warmth of the water you can try to increase it a little bit more next time.


3. What to do if one of my nostril was blocked and the water does not flow properly?
   In such cases I found that we can try two approaches. Firstly you can heat up the water a little bit more. This usually opens up the nostrils. Other approach can be to try from the other nostril first. Rarely is the case when both the nostrils are blocked. Trying both these methods will surely open up both the nostrils. Regularly practicing Jal Neti also reduces the incidence of blocked nose.


4. I still think Jal Neti is Gross
   In reply to this I would like to ask a question. Do you feel passing of stool or urine is gross? Even if you feel so you still need to do that to keep the body clean. Similarly to keep the respiratory system clean and to cure many diseases it is necessary to practice Jal Neti from time to time. More frequently you do it better it is for you.

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Hot Cold Jal Neti Technique For Mental Fatigue

Few months back I had written about Jal Neti (Nasal Cleansing). In this article I would like to take upon some other benefits of Jal Neti apart from the ones I mentioned in the earlier article.

Jal Neti is best done in the morning. Some people also do it in the evening before meals. Usually Jal Neti done with lukewarm water and once in a day. I thought of tying out a experiment and observe the effects. I thought of doing the practice twice in succession and with warm water followed by cold water. I call this technique Hot Cold Jal Neti. For this experiment I started to do Jal Neti twice a day and with both warm and cold water.

How this experiment was conducted?
I decided to do two rounds of Neti. First round was done with the usual lukewarm water with salt. It performed for both the nose with the warm water. Similarly I did a second round for both noses with cold water without salt. For the second round water taken from an earthen pitcher which is used in almost all Indian homes in the summer for cold drinking water. Pitcher makes it little colder than the room temperature due to evaporation and is any day better than chilled water as there are very less chances of catching cold.

I am personally more susceptible to cold therefore do not usually perform Jal Neti with cold water. But since this is summer time in India with the temperatures here soaring to more than 42 degrees centigrade, it is relatively safer to try out with cold water. If this was winter time I would have tried water at room temperature.

The reason that cold water is used after the warm is water is because of the fact that warm water opens up the passage more easily. It is easier to flush with warmer water. Cold water will lead to nasal passage contracting, whereas warm water opens the passage and makes the second round easier. Taking cold water second also cools the brain after cleaning is over.

After completing the two rounds I flushed out the excess water by gently pushing out air from one nostril by blocking the other nostril and breathing from mouth. For doing this I gently exhale for 10 times through one nostril while closing one nostril with fingers, and then repeat for the next nostril. I repeat this for 4 times for each nostril.

How it felt?
This was a new thing to try for me as this is not documented in any text. As I tried with lukewarm water it was usual nasal cleansing with the dirty mucous being flushed out. When I took cold water, there was a slight sting I felt in the nose, especially near the nostrils. I concentrated on the how it felt inside the nose, and I could feel that cold water was flowing through the one nostril and follow the passage till it came out from the other nostril. I also felt slight irritation on the upper portion of the mouth which we sometime feel when we have cold. This irritation went away shortly afterward.

Precaution : This technique should be tried only by people who have been practicing Jal Neti for at least 3 months and should not be done in winters.

These are my observation from Hot Cold Jal Neti.

1. Increased mental clarity and alertness
   I work as a senior Software professional and my work is mainly mental and in front of the computer. In this kind of job there is more of mental fatigue instead of physical fatigue. Also since I practice yoga, I the question of physical tiredness due to routine office work does not arise. Another issue is there are lot of radiations from a monitor to which one is exposed all the time. This increases the mental tiredness. After I do Jal Neti in the evenings, the tiredness vanishes, I have a more alert and active mind and therefore more easily able to participate in family affairs.


2. Massage of the Nerves
   When cold water is used immediately after the warm water the nerves of the nasal passage which are also connected to the brain are massaged. Warm water cleans and opens up the pores and the nerves below the skin are better exposed and receptive. When the cold water is used brain cools down and nerves get relaxed. Also warm and cold pair send opposite signals to the brain which makes it active.


3. Increased Awareness
   I could feel that the breathing was more even which is there with Neti. But another aspect which I discovered is the area of awareness increases a lot. Usually after Jal Neti the awareness or sensitivity increases in the nasal passage area, though in my case it was more near the nostrils, but with Hot Cold experiment, the awareness area increased significantly.


4. Better Sleep
   It is well known fact that Jal Neti is good for people suffering from insomnia. I usually sleep well, and there is no problem of insomnia what so ever. In fact it is quite the reverse, that I fell too sleepy once the clock goes past 10 O'clock. But what I observed is that the quality of sleep increases quite significantly and with lesser hours of sleep you feel as much fresh as you would with normal hours. May be it could have to do with stillness mind which increases with Jal Neti.

Buying a Neti Pot

You can buy neti pot from several online stores. I prefer to use Stainless steel neti pot since it is light in weight and easier to handle. You can also know the water temperature by touching the surface of the pot. Here is a link to buy neti pot.




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Get rid of Common Cold and Sinusitis problem through Jal Neti

Jal Neti is one of the Shat Karma (Six cleansing practices) of Yoga, which cleans the respiratory tract. The meaning of the word Neti is nasal passage and word Jal means water. In other words cleaning the nasal passage with water is known as Jal

Neti. Primarily, Jal Neti cleans and drains the nasal passage, but there are many beneficial effects related to diseases of eyes, nose and throat and brain apart from protection from common cold and being helpful in Sinusitis problems.

Although it may sound "Gross", but nasal cleansing has many benefits and the fact is people who practice Neti have cleaner noses than those who do not practice. Moreover Jal Neti is very easy to practice and hardly take 10 minutes of your time.

What does it require?

You will need a pot designed for Neti and Saline water sufficient to fill two pots. The water should be lukewarm, as cold water may cause cold in some people. For salinity use Rock salt. Saline water, made with one teaspoonful added to half-litre water, should be used. If the concentration of salt is similar to the salt level in the blood, there are less chances of the water being absorbed in the body.

Jal Neti Pot.

How important is Neti?

If we observe our breathing pattern we will observer that we do not breath evenly with both the nostrils. One of our nostrils remains bit more congested as compared to another. When we clean the nasal passage using Neti, the breathing becomes more evenly balanced and the two hemispheres of our brain become more balanced. Since I have started Neti I have personally seen that the breathing has become more even throughout the entire day.

For practicing pranayama, it is important to have clear nasal passage, especially in Nadi Shodhan pranayama. It improves ones sense of smell and sensitivity of nose to pollution. Therefore for a yoga practitioner, it is an extremely important cleansing ritual.

How it helps in Sinusitis problem?

Sinus means cavity or space, but in terms of understanding the nasal this case refers to a number of air-filled spaces in the skull. These cavities clean the inhaled air before it reaches the lungs. When the mucus becomes polluted chances of infection increase causing sinusitis. Practicing Jal Neti draws out the infection and cleans the nasal passage which help people with problems of sinusitis. The nostrils are doused and cleansed with saline water so that deeper recesses of the sinus cavities in the skull are thoroughly cleansed. Saline water effectiveness can be judged by the fact the nasal drops give to kids in case of blocked nose is nothing but distilled saline water.

How to do Jal Neti?


Performing Neti is very simple. Take two pot of filtered water and mix one teaspoon of rock salt. Heat the water slightly so that it is similar to body temperature.

You can either do it sitting on your haunches or standing near the basin.
Now fill water in the neti pot and put the nozzle in one of your nose. Make sure
that the breathing is done through your mouth. Just concentrate on breathing through mouth and tilt your held so that water start flowing and coming out of the other nostril. Just be patient and let the water finish in the pot. Now let the
water drain off naturally. Again fill the pot with remaining water and repeat the same process from the opposite nostril. Once the water finishes, exhale gently around 30-40 times from each nostril by blocking the other nostril. This is very important as it will draw out excess water.

After this perform around 200-300 rounds of Kapalbhati Pranayama. Now lie down in Corpse pose (Shavasana) for some time.


When to do Neti?

Neti is most beneficial if it is done in early morning and evening before meals.


Benefits of Jal Neti

The benefits of jal neti are several: relief from chronic fatigue, respiratory problems, sleeplessness. It strengthens eye sight and nerves. For lot of people it has been found to beneficial for Migraine pain and allergy.

Most of the people I know are afraid to even try Jal Neti once and see if it works out for them. They think that it would be awful feeling to let the water flow in the nose and it will be extremely uncomfortable feeling. But once they try this technique they are hooked. In case you are still doubtful why not give it a try and experience for yourself the benefits and the ease with which you can do this?

I prefer to use Stainless steel neti pot since it is light in weight and easier to handle. You can also know the water temperature by touching the surface of the pot. Here is a link to buy neti pot.

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