Tag: Yoga for Insomnia

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Trataka

Names

Trataka, Tratak, Fixed Gazing, Fixed Gazing meditation, Blinkless Gazing, Yogic Gazing

Tratak is a well-known Kriya or karma of the six karmas of yoga, the ‘Shatkarma’ and it also is a practice of meditation.

There are many different practices explained in different texts but they are all very similar. You can find the practice of Tratak with a betel leaf, a paper, a candle, a needle, darkness, open sky, a photograph, a deity, a crystal, a stone, a flower, the moon, a star, a painting, shadow, nature, a tree, ocean waves, a flag, a bird etc.

How to perform Trataka

The main practice of Trataka is to gaze. It doesn’t matter which object you use for this but you should focus on it and gaze at it without blinking. You can even close your eyes and focus within with closed eyes.


Choose any object that is currently available to you. If you are in nature, choose a tree, a stone, a flower or anything similar. If you are out in the night, do Trataka with the moon or the stars. If you are inside your home, just use anything that you see and can focus on.
The most common and suggested one is the practice with a lit candle.


Light a candle in a dark room and place it about 75 to 90 centimeters away from you at the level of your eyes. Focus on the flame and continuously stare at it without blinking until tears start running down your cheeks. Then close your eyes but keep gazing at the same point from behind your eyelids for 15 to 20 seconds. After that relax your eye muscles.
Place your palms over your eyes without any pressure on the eyeballs. Gently move your palms in circles. Take a towel or tissue to wipe your eyes.


After that you can continue the practice. You can do this exercise for 12 to 15 minutes.

For inner Trataka practice, close your eyes and start with gazing on your third eye between your eyebrows. Further you focus on your breath and then you focus on your mind and thoughts and just pick one thought or picture and focus on that. For example think of your loved one. Gaze on it inside of you and then narrow your circle of vision and point your focus more specifically at one point in the picture. Continue the practice until you can forget your surroundings completely. That is the stage of deep meditation. This is called Trataka meditation, also known as Dharana or concentration.

Benefits of Trataka

Trataka is very obviously a very great exercise for the eyes. It moves the eye muscles which are in the usual way of looking often only staring without moving. It can help people who suffer from glaucoma, conjunctivitis, eye herpes, keratoconus, macular degeneration, ocular hypertension and sometimes even for retinitis pigmentosa and Stargardt disease. Usual and common problems like hypermetropia (longsightedness) or myopia (nearsightedness) and astigmatism can be relieved. Peripheral vision problems, presbyopia and diplopia can all get help through the practice of Trataka.


If you suffer from frequent headaches, you can also get relief by regular practice of Trataka.
Apart from physical benefits for your eyes, there are many benefits of Trataka on your mind. You increase your concentration in every day’s life by concentrating regularly for a little while in Trataka. You will be able to focus and concentrate longer and better without getting distracted.


Through this time of concentration in between, you also reduce your stress in daily life. This is good for your mental health, helps you get better sleep and brings your nervous system to peace.

Focus Points

Do not let your thoughts distract your eyes from their focus. Keep concentrated.

Tips and Help

Keep breathing normally and stay relaxed, that helps you concentrate. If you are used to perform Dirgha Pranayama, deep yogic breathing, you can also use this breathing practice.
Keep a tissue or towel next to you for wiping your eyes and blowing your nose.

If you have an eye problem and you want to practice Trataka for that, please consult your doctor and yoga teacher before starting the exercise.

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Surya Namaskar – Sun Salutation

Names

Surya Namaskar, Sun Salutation

How to perform Surya Namaskar

Stand straight in Samastithi. Check which of your nostrils is more active by holding your hand in front of your nose. Now bring your arms in front of your chest in Namaste position.
With inhalation bring your arms up over your head. Bend backwards and bring your hips to the front with your body weight on your toes. Keep your knees straight. Look backwards and keep deep breathing.


With exhalation bend forwards while keeping your back and elbows straight. Place your hands next to your feet. Now bring back the leg of your active side back. If your right nostril is more active bring back your right leg. Your left knee should now be directly above the left foot. Bring your pelvis down as much as you can and keep the right leg straight and don’t place it on the ground.


With inhalation bring the left foot back next to the right foot into Chaturanga Asana. Hold the position and keep your body in the air. During that keep arms, back and knees straight.
If your shoulders allow it lean your body weight forward with exhalation. Hold your breath and with an inhalation go into Bhujangasana. For that put down your legs and hips on the floor. Your hands should be beside your chest now. Bring your pelvis down but your upper body up so that your navel doesn´t touch the floor anymore. Look straight up to the ceiling. Open your chest wide and breathe deeply. Make sure that you are not hanging your body weight on your shoulders.


With exhalation you bring your head back into the normal position and look straight. With inhalation twist your head to the right side and look at your left heel. With exhalation bring your head back and repeat the same on the left side.


Now push your body back and go into Adho Mukha Svanasana with inhalation. For that you keep your arms straight and with the strength of your shoulders you bring your hips up into the air. You lower the upper body and push your hands into the floor. Your buttock should be the highest part of your body and point to the ceiling.

With exhalation go back into Chaturanga Asana.


Now bring your right foot into the front between your arms. Your right knee should be directly above the right foot. Bring your pelvis down as much as you can and keep the left leg straight without touching the ground.


With inhalation bring the left foot next to the right foot between your arms and straighten your knees. Bring your upper body close to your legs so that your nose is touching the knees.

Bring your palms together in Namaste position. Straighten your elbows and slowly come up with inhalation and your back straight. Bend backwards as before and come back to Samastithi.


Now you have completed the first round of sun salutation!

Benefits of Surya Namaskar

This is a very beneficial position for your whole body. You may do it to warm up at the beginning of your yoga practice. It is also a great exercise for children as this position strengthen the muscles and gives the body more room to develop the organs and to grow.
Sun salutation also helps to prevent many digestive issues and stomach problems. If you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome, sun salutation may help you as it regulates the movement of the bowels.


A regular practice of this sequence of yoga postures will strengthen your arms, shoulders, chest and abdominal muscles and help you to reduce fat especially on your belly.
It will also keep your whole body flexible.


If you practice this pose regularly it will help you to calm your mind, to improve your focus and concentration. Those effects work against depression, bipolar disorder, insomnia, headache, migraines and stress. It is also good for your memory and nervous system.


This exercise also has a lot of benefits for women. Regular practice of sun salutation helps against irregular menstruation and prevents pain during pregnancy. Sun salutation can also help to make the birth of the child easier.


Also your cardio system will be influenced in a positive way. Your blood will get more oxygen and so helps the body to get rid of toxics.


It is also very good for the coordination between mind and body and therefore recommended for seniors.


When you suffer from diabetes make this pose to reduce the sugar in your blood and to regulate your insulin level.


Your skin will become better, it will shape your muscles and will make you look and feel younger. It’s a wonderful exercise for beauty!


This exercise is a complete workout! Even when you don´t have much time for yoga or a workout, just practice sun salutation in the morning and it will give you a complete workout for your body.


In total a regular practice of Surya Namaskar keeps you happy and healthy!

Focus Points

Keep your feet together and knees straight while standing. Always keep your body weight on your toes. Focus on your body and the muscles you are working on while performing the posture.


Performing sun salutation slowly makes you understand the position and how it works and for sure it is more beneficial than doing it fast.


Make sure that you breathe very regular and perform the position in a steady rhythmus.

Tips and Help

For an easy version you can place the knee of the stretched leg on the floor when you finished the forward bending and you bring one leg back.


You can also lie on the floor after Chaturanga Asana. Lift your buttocks up and come into cobra after that.

If you are suffering from shoulder pain, place your arms next to your chest. Lift your chest, head and your arms and hands from the floor. The rest of the body lies on the floor as a substitute of the full cobra.


Coordinating with the breathing makes it easier to perform the posture.


Advanced yoga practitioners can try to keep the body up in the air during the whole sequence of poses. Only your hands and feet should touch the floor.


And if you want it to be more difficult, just do it more slowly and hold the single yoga poses a longer time.

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Shirshasana – Head Stand

Names

Shirshasana, Sirsana, Sirshasana, Head Stand

How to perform Shirshasana

Fold a blanket and place it in front of you. Sit on your toes and place your knees on the floor. Grab your elbows with your hands so that your lower arms touch each other. Place your arms in front of your knees. Now open your arms and interlace your fingers in front of your knees on the blanket so that your hands look like a triangle.


Place the top of your head on the blanket and support the back of your head with your interlaced hands by placing them on the back of your head. Straighten your knees so that you are only on your feet, arms and head. Make sure your back is also straight.


Now slowly shift your body weight to the front, over your head, and walk closer to your body with your toes. When you feel your back is in an angle of 90 degrees to the floor, start lifting your feet with exhalation from the ground and bring them up and straight, in vertical alignment with your body.


When you feel strain or, at the maximum, after three to five minutes, you slowly bring your feet down to the floor and come out of the pose.

Benefits of Shirshasana

The head stand is considered as one of the best yoga poses because of its vast amount of benefits and is, for that reason, sometimes called the ‘King of Yoga Poses’


Through the upside-down position, your blood flows more easily down where now is your head and your brain. This inversion is good for the blood circulation and your heart. The blood is purified and cleansed through its strengthened flow.


Through the easy flow of blood into your head, the whole area is supplied with fresh oxygen which helps your brain to work properly and better. You will realize that you can concentrate better and your memory improved.


A better blood circulation can prevent headaches and migraines. People suffering from insomnia can also get relief by practicing this yoga pose. Even epilepsy is said to be relieved for yoga practitioners who do the head stand.


Your ears, eyes and nose benefit from the circulation as well and many issues can be prevented through inverted yoga postures like Shirshasana.


The scalp is supplied with blood which stimulates the growth of hair and can even prevent hair loss if it was caused by poor circulation.


This yoga exercise stimulates the thyroid gland, the pituitary and the pineal glands and thus improves their functions.


Of course it is an exercise that strengthens your muscles and with all these effects it also makes your immune system stronger and more resistant.


The head stand is also said to help with many sexual problems.

Focus Points

Keep normal breathing while you are in this pose. Try to straighten your legs up so that your body is a straight vertical line.

Tips and Help

Before performing Shirshasana you should already be warm and have done some exercise. Exhaling while lifting your legs will make it easier for you to come up.


If you are new to this exercise, you can first practice performing Ardha Shirshasana and when you have gained balance in this pose move on to the full head stand.

When to avoid Shirshasana

Do not hold this pose for a longer time, even though you feel you are capable of doing so. The pressure on your head and the blood circulating there can have negative effects if you hold the pose too long. Whenever you feel strain, come out of the yoga pose.


If you suffer from headache or a serious eye disease such as glaucoma, you should avoid this pose. High blood pressure patients and people with cardiac problems should also not practice the head stand. If you had neck injuries or hernia or if you currently suffer from back pain, you should always consult your doctor before performing this yoga pose.
Women should avoid Shirshasana during menstruation time and pregnancy.

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Shavasana – Corpse Pose

Names

Shavasana , Savasana , Corpse Pose

Unfortunately for this yoga pose a wrong pronunciation of its name has become popular in many parts of the world. Even many known yoga teachers, studios and websites call it ‘Savasana’ instead of ‘Shavasana’.


The correct Sanskrit name is ‘Shavasana’. It consists of two terms “Shav” + “Asana”. In Sanskrit “Shav” means dead body and “Asana” means posture or pose. Literally translated it thus means posture of dead body, acting and lying like a dead body.

How to perform Shavasana

As its name already says, you only need to lie as if you were a dead body to perform Shavasana. Lie on your mat, your body flat on the floor. Let your body completely lose. All your body muscles should be relaxed.


Your hands are lying next to your body with the palms facing the ceiling. Your feet are shoulder-wide apart from each other and relaxed.


Your body should lay like a dead body without any movement. Close your eyes, go inside, focus on your breath and simply relax. Relax your toes, relax your calf muscles, your thighs, your hips, your waist, your abdomen, your back, your shoulders, your arms, your hands, your neck, your face muscles, your eye balls and your tongue. Just relax your entire body and breathe normally. Visualize how you completely relax with each of your body parts.

Benefits of Shavasana

Shavasana is obviously a very good position for relaxation. It is also known as the yoga pose for final relaxation at the end of your yoga praxis. It is beneficial for all kinds of problems, physical and mental.


It is recommended to do Shavasana after yoga practice, as this is position relaxes your body and mind, distributes and spreads energy to your entire body and prepares your body for what you do after your exercise.


Apart from this Shavasana is also very good for reducing stress. It helps overcome depression, is good against, fatigue, nervousness and insomnia. It even helps you to regulate your blood pressure. Shavasana calms down your brain and improves concentration.


Shavasana is suggested against headaches, asthma, constipation and indigestion.
Overall it is a very beneficial pose to relax your body and mind which helps you in many ways in your daily life. You feel more at ease with making critical decisions and more relaxed in stressful situations. You have clearer thoughts and can think more quickly.
Practitioners of meditation like this pose if they want to do a relaxing meditation.

Focus Points

You should not sleep while performing Shavasana. Apart from the fact that you might start snoring in the middle of your yoga group, this pose is for relaxation of the body. It is a way of meditation, aware and awake.

Tips and Help

Make sure that you are not lying on the cold floor. You can also cover your body with a sheet or blanket.


If you feel tension in your back when you lie down in Shavasana, you can bend your knees and pull them tight to your chest before placing them back to the floor. You will feel that your back muscles are now more relaxed and at ease.


If you still have difficulty placing your legs just flat on the floor, you can use small pillows under your knees for support.


If you are suffering from back pain, back injuries or had back surgery, you should bend your knees and place your feet a foot away from your hips. This will support and relax your back.
This is also recommended for pregnant women. During pregnancy women can also use a pillow to raise their head and upper body if they feel like it.

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Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana

Names

Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana, Revolved Head-to-Knee Pose

How to perform Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana

Sit in Dandasana with a straight spine. Spread your legs apart as far as possible. Now check which of your nostrils is active. If you are breathing from the right nostril, place your right hand on your left thigh, so that your arm comes in front of you. Bend down to your right leg and place your right shoulder on your thigh.


Now stretch your left arm over your head and reach in the direction of your right foot so that your left side is stretched nicely. If you can, grab your right toes with your left hand.
Repeat the same on your left side.


A variation of this posture is performed by bending your left knee and putting your left foot on your perineum.

Benefits of Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana

Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana stimulates your sexual organs and thus enhances your sexual energy.


You can perform this yoga posture if you are suffering from slight lower back pain but avoid it when you have strong back pain.


The stretch and the moves of this exercise strengthen the blood circulation and the flow of blood in your system. In this way, your blood transports more oxygen into your brain and prevents as well as cured headaches, insomnia, anxiety and fatigue.


It is good for your hamstrings, kidneys, liver and groins as they all get a nice stretch.
With its movement and slight twist of the trunk, Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana improves digestion and clears the urinary tract.


With this yoga posture you can also strengthen and stretch your shoulders, spine, hips, thighs, knees, armpits, ribcage and the muscles on your sides.

Focus Points

Of course the aim in this yoga pose is to get as close as possible with your trunk to your leg and to reach your toe. Focus on your breath. Bend down with exhalation, come up with inhalation and while you are in the posture visualize coming further down with each breath.
Keep on breathing and smiling as it makes you look more beautiful.

Tips and Help

If you feel that the stretch of your hamstrings restrains you of bending forward bring your legs closer together as the bending is more important that the stretch of your hamstrings.

When to Avoid Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana

Avoid this posture when you are suffering from diarrhea or nausea.

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Padangusthasana – Big Toe Pose

Names

Padangusthasana, Big Toe Pose

How to perform Padangusthasana

Stand straight in Samasthiti. With exhalation bend forward while keeping your spine and knees straight. Now grab your toes and try to bring your upper body closer to your legs while keeping your spine straight.

Lean your body weight on your toes and stay in the position for 20 to 30 seconds. Keep normal breathing, then slowly come up and repeat the posture 2 to 3 times.

Variation

As a variation you can also bend forward, grab your toes and try to lift up your upper body instead of bringing it close to your legs and give your body an opposite stretch.

Advanced Variation

To make it more advanced you can also bring your arm to the back of your legs and grab your ankles or fold your arms behind your legs and thus hug your legs. Keep your body weight on the toes in this position as well.

Benefits of Padangusthasana

Practicing Padangusthasana is very beneficial for your hamstrings, for toning the calve muscles, strengthening the thighs and also improving your digestion.


With the inversion in this yoga pose you give some pressure to your abdominal region which stimulates liver, kidneys and spleen.

For women it is a good exercise to relieve the symptoms of menopause, such as pain and cramps in the lower abdomen. But also sleeping disorders can be relieved due to the higher oxygen flow in the body.

Padangusthasana increases the blood circulation in your body especially in lungs and brain as it is a half inverted pose where your upper body is hanging down.

Coming up and down by repeating this posture a few times is changing the circulation in your whole body and because of that helps you if you are suffering from mild headaches or insomnia. It is good for calming the brain and relieving stress as well. It boosts your energy.


In this way this nice balancing pose can also help you if you are suffering from depression and anxiety.

Pashchimottanasana or Sirshasana are also bending and inverting poses however this one puts no pressure on the spinal column.

On the contrary, it even increases the blood circulation in the spinal column and in your hands and feet.

Focus Points

Your body weight should always be on your toes in this position. Furthermore try to keep your knees as stretched as possible and try to press your knees further inside.
Of course, you then focus on bringing your upper body as close to your legs as possible.

Tips and Help

Before practicing this posture, you can do Pashchimottanasana because bending forward in sitting is easier and releases and relaxes the hamstrings and your leg muscles. When you muscles are warmed up a bit this posture will be easier for you.

When to Avoid Padangusthasana

Avoid practicing this yoga posture if you have diarrhea, a heavy cold, back pain or back injuries or a displacement of sacrum.

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Netra Dhauti – Eye Cleaning

Names

Netra Dhauti, Eye Cleaning

How to perform Netra Dhauti

Sit in Utkatasana and take clean and fresh water into a little bowl. Open your eyes and rinse your eyes with the clean water by taking some water into your hands and spilling it into your eyes.


Then fill your mouth with as much water as you can and rinse your eyes again with the clean water. Spit out the water after that.


Repeat this procedure three times.


Another way to do this exercise is to form a cup with your hand and fill it with water. Then you bend over your hand filled with water and open and close your eyes so that they will be cleaned.


You can also take a big pot with water, dip your face into it and open and close your eyes while your mouth is full with water.

Nowadays you can also buy eyecups and they can also be used for this exercise.

Benefits of Netra Dhauti

Netra Dhauti improves eye sight and is beneficial for all kinds of eye problems. This is also a good exercise if you are suffering from head ache because headache is often related to problems with the eyes or stressed eyes.


insomnia can also be eased because this exercise gives the eyes a rest and they get something like a workout during cleaning the eyes with waters which prepares them to relax.


Don’t do it if you have wounds in your eyes or just had a surgery at your eyes.

Tips and Help

If you have burning sensation in your eyes, use rosewater to rinse them or put a bit of it in water. If you have sore eyes, a burning sensation or if they are tearing, you can use water with Triphala, an Ayurvedic medicine in there.

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Karnapidasana – Ear Pressure Pose

Names

Karnapidasana, Ear Pressure Pose

How to perform Karnapidasana

You can go into this pose from Sarvangasana, the shoulder stand, or Halasana, the plow. This means you either have your legs straight over you or on the floor behind your head and your hands are supporting your back.


In both cases you slowly bend your knees and place them next to your ears.

You can either place your arms flat on the floor behind your back, palms flat or with your fingers interlaced, or, more advanced, you can put your arms around your thighs and actually hug your legs with your knees next to your ears.


In order to come out of Karnapidasana, support your back with your hands and straighten your knees to go back into the plow pose.

Then come in Sarvangasana by bringing your legs straight up into the air. Slowly bring your back and legs back down to the floor.

Annotation

Here it is recommended to do Sarvangasana, Halasana and Karnapidasana in a row.

This is a popular sequence of inversion postures which increases the benefits of the inversion.


It is always recommended to do either Matsyasana or Chakrasana after these three poses and in this way it suffices to do that once.

If one decides to perform all three yoga poses separately, it is advisable to do Matsyasana or Chakrasaana after each pose to relax the spine.

Benefits of Karnapidasana

Karnapidasana obviously stretches the muscles of your back and your legs. In this way it can prevent back pain.

Your thyroid gland is stimulated through this pose, too, and activated to work properly.


Additionally, Karnapidasana is good against problems of the ears. As an inversion pose, the blood flow in the head is increased and your ears get an additional pressure through your knees at the sides.

This pressure with the higher blood flow helps your ears to cleanse themselves and can increase your hearing ability.


Through the higher amount of oxygen coming to your head, the pose helps you to think clearly and thus releases stress.


As all inversion poses, this one is good against diabetes because of the increased blood flow and also helps you to sleep better at night.

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Kapal Randhra Dhauti

Names

Kapal Randhra Dhauti, Scalp Cleansing

Kapal is the Sanskrit word for head. Randhra means hole. The Kriya thus means the cleansing of the hole of the head.


If you are not aware what this means, just think of the skull of a newborn baby. It is soft and at the top, there is a kind of hole. This is the place meant to be cleaned in this Dhauti.

How to perform Kapal Randhra Dhauti

In Kapal Randhra Dhauti, you rinse the top of your head with water. Lean forward and pour water on your head with one hand while rubbing the top of the head with the other flat hand.


Use water of a pleasant temperature and wash the top of your head. Some people refer to the scriptures’ advice to use cold water for this practice.

One needs to take into consideration however that these scriptures were written in India, a generally hot country where cold water is still not freezing through the influence of the daily sun.

It is thus safe to say that water at a normal temperature is good for use.


In the next step, you massage your temples with your thumbs, both clockwise and anticlockwise.


Additionally and to have more benefit, you can place your middle fingers from both sides to the top of your nose bone, just below your eyebrow. Hold your breath and gently massage your upper nose.


When you have to exhale, stop the massage and exhale with force.

Benefits of Kapal Randhra Dhauti

This technique is very good for calming your mind and brain.

Through the massage you reduce stress and by this can reduce problems of insomnia and even bipolar because you relax your mental situation enourmously.

You clear your thoughts and thus get more and more peace in your complete system.


Problems of headache and migraine are reduced and your nervous system has a chance to calm down, too.

In this way Kapal Randhra Dhauti also helps against depression – it gives you the chance to relax and see things another way! All kinds of stress and its symptoms can disappear with regular practice. Even bipolar disorder can be treated with this relaxation of your mind.


The calming effect is also good for your blood pressure and makes the blood circulate to your head, too. This prevents dizziness and of course the oxygen is beneficial for your brain power, too.


The water opens the pores of the scalp and cleans it.


Practitioners of meditation enjoy doing this technique as it helps you go into meditation easily.

Tips and Help

Also make sure to dry your head after washing will prevent you catching cold. It is recommended to practice this in the morning.

When to avoid Kapal Randhra Dhauti

Take care not to do this cleansing technique when it is cold as you could easily catch a cold.

It is working with the Kapha region of your body and thus the practice could increase the mucus if there is cold air around the person performing it.

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Jala Neti

Names

Jala Neti, Water Neti, Water Nasal Cleaning, Neti, Water Nasal Cleansing

For doing Jala Neti, you need a Neti pot or a ‘Ganga Sagar’, as it is called in India.

This is a pot that has a kind of tube or pipe from which you can pour out water in a steady stream.


In India it was formerly usual for people to perform Neti Kriya without any Neti pot. They sniffed water into the nose from a normal Lota, a drinking pot.

Other practitioners drank water and then brought it out through the nose. Again others drank it through the nose and then performed Kunjar Kriya afterwards.

This nasal cleaning in different ways was previously a normal way of cleaning one’s body, just like brushing teeth and showering.


With the invention of the Neti pot the practice has become easier for people who have never practiced Neti before.

How to perform Jala Neti

You need a Neti pot, half a liter of water of a pleasantly warm temperature and about one teaspoon of sea salt. Mix the salt into the water.


Jala Neti can be performed in standing, squatting or in Utkatasana . If you stand, bend forward from your waist and then perform it. Check which of your nostrils is active and start from that one.


Fill your Neti pot with the salty water, and if your right nostril is active, tilt your head to the left and place the cone of the pot to your right nostril. It should have an ending of a size that you can easily insert it a bit into your nose.

Lean a bit further to the left side and start breathing through your mouth. Relax and let the water flow into your right nostril and out of the left one.


When the water is all out, take the pot away from your nose and sniff out the remaining water and mucus from your nose with force.


Repeat the same procedure from the other nostril.


After performing the Kriya from both sides, stand up straight, bend forward a bit and take five to ten breaths with inhalation through the mouth and exhalation through the nose.

If you still feel water in your nose, bend forward completely and repeat the breathing. Get up again and sniff everything out that is left.


Now you should tilt your head back for about 30 seconds, then to the left for 30 seconds and finally to the right for 30 seconds.

Again you sniff anything out that still remained inside.

Benefits of Jala Neti

Neti is one of the best Kriyas for cleaning the nasal and sinus cavity.

In our nose there is hair that catches dust and dirt and mucus that does the same. In this way your body prevents the dirt from reaching further into your respiratory system but obviously this dust then is caught in your nose.

Neti helps you to properly clean your nose from this dust, mucus and all bacteria which may be caught in that.


By this cleaning, Neti prevents and even cures infections of the nasal cavity, hay fever and other allergies, sinusitis, adenoids and post nasal drip. Even sore throats and coughs as well as inflammation of the tonsils can be prevented and healed.

If you suffer from asthma or bronchitis, Neti can relieve your breathing problems by opening and cleaning your nostrils.


Your nose is connected with your eyes, ears and even your brain. This is why, when you have a cold or flu and mucus accumulates in your nose and sinuses, you feel that your whole head is heavy.

You feel pressure on your ears and can even have headache. Cleaning that mucus can have a liberating effect!


You can thus get rid of headaches and migraines and your vision will get clearer. Your eyes get hydrated and thus you shine much more.


If your hearing ability is impaired by mucus or if you have pain, inflammation or infections in the ears, Neti might be a helpful practice.

It is even said to cure otitis media and tinnitus.


The cleansing of your nose also enhances the power of your olfactory nerve which is connected to our sense of taste.

This is why it is said that Neti improves the senses of smell and taste.

Jala Neti is additionally a great help for people who are willing to quit smoking.

Tips and Help

Take care not to pour water from the top of the pot on your face.


Do not force the pot’s cone too hard into the nostrils.


Drying the nose afterwards by blowing is necessary because it is not good to leave water in the nose. It can cause you cold or funny feeling in the head so better clean it out.

To prepare yourself for Jala Neti, you can practice Dirgha Pranayama and Nadi Shodhana Pranayama before.

After Jala Neti you can practice Kapalabhati Pranayama which will dry your sinus cavities.