How does yoga boost immunity?
Keeping immunity up and strong through yoga is one of the most common goals for most of us. Regular practice of yoga asanas and pranayama boosts immunity by improving blood circulation, respiratory and cardiovascular health, and lymphatic drainage. However, the Shat Karmas (six cleansing techniques) have a powerful impact on immunity.
Neti Kriya is the most beneficial cleansing practice that boosts immunity. Neti is the process of cleansing the nasal passage. There are two types - Jala Neti and Sutra Neti.
What is Jala Neti?
Using a Neti Pot for this practice, it is done by allowing warm, saline water to pass through the nose. The practitioner has to stand in a particular way and tilt the head to one side to allow the water to seamlessly pass through. Throughout the whole practice one must keep breathing through the mouth. Attempts should not be made to breathe through the nose.
For anyone suffering from sinusitis, colds, insensitivity to smell, nosebleed, headache, eye strain or eye infections, neti is extremely helpful and can be practiced everyday. If there are no medical concerns, it is best to practice only once or twice a week. The practice should always be done under the guidance of an experienced teacher.
What is Sutra Neti?
Sutra means ‘thread’ and the practice consists of passing a length of thread through the nose. One must squat on the heels, tilt the head slightly back and insert the thread or catheter straight into the left nostril. The thread should not be forced through the nose but gently pushed so that it slowly passes down into the throat. When it reaches the back of the throat, it should be pulled out through the mouth leaving a few inches of thread hanging out of the nose. Slowly and gently pull the thread backwards and forwards thirty to fifty times. This cleanses the passage and removes mucus or particles that are stuck on the lining. This is extremely beneficial in inducing better breathing, clearing blockages that may be the root cause of concerns like sinusitis, cold, headache or heaviness around the nasal and head region.
Our Head of Yoga, Pradeep, explains what a Neti Pot is and the benefits of Neti Kriya
What are the benefits of Neti Kriya?
Both neti practices exert a profound physiological effect on the body, mind and personality. On the physical level, irrigation of the nasal mucosa removes accumulated mucus from the nostrils, associated passages and sinuses, allowing air to flow without obstruction. The membrane lining the nostrils secretes a protective film of sticky mucus. Tiny hair-like cilia promote the movement of this mucus, along with pollutants, dust etc., which adhere to its surface. The nasal membrane is highly innervated by nerve fibers and is perhaps the most sensitive area of the whole body. These nerve fibers include not only the fibers of the olfactory nerve (the first cranial nerve) responsible for the sense of smell, but also numerous other autonomic fibers which relay information to the brain about the inflowing breath. Not only smells, but also environmental temperature, humidity and allergens in the air are all sensed by the nose as the inflowing breath is drawn across this mucous membrane.
Neti has a relaxing and irrigating effect upon the eyes by stimulating the tear ducts and glands. It also clears the entrance to the eustachian tubes in the nasopharynx. The sinuses, important bony cavities within the facial and frontal bones, are also lined with mucous membranes and help to make the skull light and the voice resonant. Neti promotes drainage of the sinuses, preventing stasis of mucus and keeping them clean and functional. Regular practice of neti maintains healthy secretory and drainage mechanisms of the entire ear, nose and throat area. This helps keep away colds and coughs, allergic rhinitis, hay fever, catarrh and tonsillitis. It also gives resistance to various diseases of the ears, eyes and throat, such as myopia, tension headache due to eyestrain, certain cases of deafness such as ‘glue ears’ and middle ear infections, inflammation of the adenoids, as well as inhibiting the formation of nasal polyps.
Where there is weakness or deficiency in these areas, even in children, or stemming from childhood, neti stimulates and restores natural functioning. Mouth breathing in children, leading to poor memory, concentration and development is overcome by neti. Neti relieves muscular tension of the face and nervous tics, and helps maintain facial youth and freshness. It releases emotional tension and is beneficial in anxiety, depression, epilepsy and hysteria. The intense purification that takes place improves focus, clarity and productivity in day-to-day activities.
Neti Kriya balances the mind and body
A balance is brought about between the right and left nostrils and subsequently, the left and right brain hemispheres, inducing a state of harmony and balance throughout the body and mind, the entire central nervous system and the systems governing respiratory, circulatory, digestive and excretory functions. The frontal lobes of the cerebrum, responsible for the higher mental faculties, begin to function optimally. Integration of the higher mental faculties leads to genius, intuition, creativity and so on.
According to Yogi Swatmarama, perfection of neti leads to divya drishti. Divya means ‘divine’ and drishti is ‘sight’ or ‘vision.’ Divya drishti is the faculty of clairvoyance which manifests with the awakening of ajna chakra. It is a faculty of the higher intuitive mind or the 'third eye.’
The practice of neti is said to stimulate ajna chakra, remove its blockages and bring it into fuller functioning.
When the mind and body are balanced and clear of toxins, immunity improves and the risk of succumbing to diseases is much lower. Hatha Yoga lists the Shat Karmas as one of the most essential practices to reach higher levels of health, peace and harmony, and to subsequently reach our highest potential.
