15 Dec Nasal Irrigation: Clean your nose, balance your breath, steady your mind
Jala Neti – Nasal Irrigation
I recently moved to Miami and am enjoying the warm, damp weather and clear blue skies. While this climate is super grounding for my vata-predominant constitution, the ever blooming flora is wreaking havoc on my allergies. In an effort to stop the drain and clear my congestion, I reached for my neti pot, only to find that it vanished in the move. C’est la vie.
Desperate for relief, I grabbed a small spouted measuring cup out of the kitchen drawer to use for nasal irrigation instead of a neti pot. I filled it with warm water and a pinch of Himalayan salt. As I slowly streamed the solution into my nostrils, the irritants were flushed away and I felt immediate relief. I repeated the process throughout the day, for several days to keep my sinuses clear. I am now going to make this a regular practice and I hope this article will inspire you to consider doing the same.
Why you should practice nasal irrigation regularly
Jala neti, also called a nasal wash, rinse, lavage or irrigation, is an effective way to flush excess mucus and toxins from your nose which keeps your nasal passageway healthy. It’s important to keep your nasal passageway healthy because the nasal mucosa play an important role in mediating immune responses to allergens and infectious particles that enter the nose.
Nasal mucous membranes have a layer of cells that have hairlike cilia. The cilia move like a whip, directing a constant flow of mucus down to the throat. The same action is occurring in the lungs going upwards. The sinuses bring this liquid mucous to the nose, where it can be drained, protecting the body by moving pathogens away from the cells.
Cilia become less effective in removing pathogens when they become too cold, too hot, too dry, too moist, too dusty, etc. However, nasal irrigation can keep them clean and functioning at optimal capacity so they can fight off invading pathogens.
When a virus tries to invade the body, it attempts to disable the cilia and prevent them from making their whipping action. When the cilia is disabled, one of the body’s protective barriers has been breached. Once impaired, cilia can take weeks to regenerate. The virus can now freely travel down to the lungs and lodge itself into the cells there. This leaves us vulnerable to the common cold, flu and other harmful disease.
By doing jala neti on a regular basis, we support our immune response by supporting the normal flow of cilia (flushing and cleansing). This helps reduce the frequency of colds, infections and allergies, and lowers the secondary effects (flu, pneumonia, tonsillitis, ear infections, etc). Neti can also reduce the length of a cold if it does take place.
Doing jala neti during a viral invasion helps reinforce proper cilia functioning. As the virus attempts to disable the cilia, frequent nasal irrigation can keep the cilia functioning properly so they can thwart the attack. If you believe you have been exposed to a virus, perform jala neti three times a day to minimize the chances of the virus infecting your cells. Otherwise, doing jala neti once a day is recommended to keep the cilia healthy and support proper immune response.
Nasal irrigation is a quick, simple, cost effective way to boost your body’s defenses against air-borne pathogens and illness. But the ancients believe there is more to jala neti than keeping the nose clean.
Nasal irrigation to access deeper meditative experiences
Nasal irrigation has been part of the yogic and ayurvedic traditions for thousands of years. In addition to the physical benefits of cleansing the nasal passageway, the ancients understood the subtle effects it had on the pineal and pituitary glands. As such, they valued jala neti for its capacity to facilitate awakening of the spiritual body.
Jala neti cools the mind, regulates hormones and balances the breathing function, which balances the left and right hemispheres of the brain. In western medical terms, we may correlate this to balancing the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. This helps to steady the mind, improve alertness and support prana (the life force).
On a more subtle level, jala neti can facilitate activation of ajna chakra (the psychic center) to tap into higher states of meditation. Jala neti balances the breathing function allowing ida (feminine, moon, yin) and pingala (masculine, sun, yang) energies to merge into the shushumna (central) channel. To further explore the stimulatory effects of Ajna Chakra, the best activities to do immediately after jala neti are: yoga asana, pranayama and meditation. The yoga masters say that the true purpose of cleansing techniques, such as jala neti, are to purify the senses and the mind to enable the yogi to access deeper meditative experiences. Try it and let me know how it goes!
Additional benefits of jala neti are listed below.
Benefits of Jala Neti
• Provides relief for allergies, common colds, asthma, airborne viruses and upper respiratory tract infections
• Reduces frequency of colds and secondary effects (flu, pneumonia, tonsillitis, ear infections, etc.)
• Can aid individuals trying to quit smoking. It reduces the tendency for mouth breathing which re-sensitizes the nose to the actual pollution of ingesting smoke, thereby de-programming the brain of the physical and psychological addiction
• Supports upper respiratory health
• Balances the nervous system
• Clears the mind
• Restores lost sense of smell by improving sensitivity of the olfactory nerves
• Allows for fuller breathing which increases the amount of prana
• Stimulates the pituitary gland which helps activate the ajna chakra (the third eye)
• Draws out excess heat from the brain, creating a cooling and soothing effect, therefore beneficial for headaches, migraine, epilepsy, temper tantrums, hysteria, depression and general mental tension
• Effects the pineal and pituitary glands which control the hormonal system. This has a harmonizing effect on emotional behaviors
Best times to do Jala Neti
Jala neti should always be done on an empty stomach. The best times are:
1. Upon waking before breakfast
2. Mid morning before lunch
3. Evening before dinner
4. Evening before sleep
Jala Neti / Nasal Irrigation – Directions
I’ve provided the traditional jala neti cleansing instructions below. If you don’t have a neti pot, I recommend you purchase one here. For further reading, I’ve linked to reference materials below.
Preparation
1. Wash your hands with soap and water
2. Gather a sterile neti pot (or spouted glass or stainless steel container)
3. Boil 1 cup of water (use purified, distilled or filtered water to avoid introducing microorganisms into your nose) then pour into your neti pot.
4. Using a sterile spoon, add ¼ teaspoon Himalayan salt (you may also use any salt that does not contain iodine) and stir until fully dissolved.
5. Allow the water to cool so it is lukewarm.
6. Have tissues nearby
Irrigation
7. Standing over a sink, a bowl or in the shower, place the spout of the neti pot into the opening of your right nostril.
8. Bend forward from your waist, then slowly tilt your head so the left nostril is lower than the right nostril. Breathe through your mouth and let the water flow into the right nostril and, ideally, out of the left nostril.
9. After 20-30 seconds, half of the water will have flowed through. Stand up and bring your head to the upright position. Before changing sides, gently blow out both nostrils to expel any remaining saline. If you use a tissue, do not pinch the nostrils closed while exhaling.
10. Repeat with the other nostril, tilting the head to the opposite side.
If your nose is burning, you did not use enough salt.
If there is still a blockage after completing both sides, repeat the exact same sequence as many times as necessary to clear the passageway. Repeating this sequence is better than doing one whole pot in each direction and taking a break to refill in between sides as it allows the mucus to dissolve and exit more quickly.
Drying the Nose
11. Bend forward at the waist and hang the head upside down with the nose pointing towards the floor. (You may bend the knees and place your palms on your thighs for support, or if flexible, do “rag doll” pose and bring your hands to the floor; alternatively, you could sit in a chair, especially if you have high BP or feel dizzy). Gently inhale through the mouth and exhale through the nose 10 times to allow any residual water to drain out. Then point the nose towards the knees. Again, inhale through the mouth and exhale through the nose about 10 times.
12. Next, come to a standing position and do rapid breathing: Exhale vigorously through BOTH nostrils, quickly drawing the abdomen toward the spine with each exhalation. If you use a tissue, do not pinch the nostrils closed while exhaling. Then close off the right nostril with one finger and do 10 rapid sniffing breaths through the left nostril only. Then close the left nostril and do 10 rapid sniffing breaths on the right nostril only. Finally, do 10 breaths again through both nostrils together.
If it feels like there is still water in your nose, repeat steps 10 and 11 again. Leaving dirty water in the sinus passages may result in infection, so drying the nose is important.
Post Irrigation
12. Sanitize the neti pot.
13. Put a small drop of sesame oil, ghee or coconut oil on the tip of your pinky and gently rub the lining of the nose.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be medical advice. Please consult your physician before trying anything new.
Lois Leonhardi is a certified ayurveda wellness practitioner, yoga instructor and author of “The Essential Ayurvedic Cookbook”. She trained under Dr. Lad at the Ayurvedic Institute in New Mexico and in Pune, India. She has over 20 years of training in holistic studies (ayurveda, yoga and meditation). Lighthearted and compassionate, she listens to your concerns and creates realistic personalized programs to help you de-stress, detox and restore balance naturally. Sharing the wisdom of the mind-body connection and how to use food as medicine she reveals the secrets of how to slow the aging process, increase energy and bolster immunity giving you the tools to heal yourself, feel better and look great. www.yogawithlois.com.
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References:
http://healsa.co.za/PDF%20Files/Neti_Handbook.pdf
http://jalanetipot.com/research.html
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30616871/
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