Sometimes the answer is not in cure but its prevention. same goes for Coronavirus. Here are some Yoga Kriyas to help you clean your sense organs and also develop a healthy system to fight Coronavirus with ease.
Purification yoga kriyas for better health during Coronavirus.
How do you imagine a house which has not been used or cleaned for 10 years? On the outside you might see some broken windows or dulled walls, but inside is going to be more than that. Messy leftover furniture, cobwebs, dust mixed with pungent smells of insects and their feces. With all of this going on, even sunlight does not reflect inside. Without basic care a house becomes utilisable, a store full of problems. This is Yoga Kriya,
This is how you can imagine the body’s situation as well. If not cleaned well, we might start to experience things like a dull skin on the outside, some unwanted blockages in blood vessels on the inside. Imagine days old food particles stuck in the intestines. Truth is, we also need maintenance. A balanced diet and basic exercises can help us go a long way. But we are still living in a dream, ignorant of what’s happening inside. On the outside everything seems fine, until one day we are diagnosed with some serious issue like IBS, liver infection, PCOS, or even hair fall. Instead of realizing why it happened, we start blaming some immediate actions of ours.
Remember, the immediate actions are a result of multiple unfavorable actions in the same direction. To reach its root cause we need to dig deeper. The junk that we have been storing in our systems and/or the sedentary lifestyles that we all indulge into can be considered a big factor acting as the root cause of many of our problems. At base level the body tries to communicate but we do not listen to it. When the small junk becomes so big and life-threatening that the body eventually sends a bold alarm signal in the form of extreme pain or some other hard hitting action (like hair fall).
How Yoga Kriyas fits in for Coronavirus?
If you have not been taking care of your body from long, thankfully Yoga practice has a way out. Even though the final goal of yoga is samadhi (self realisation), a physical yoga practice helps in building up a mental and spiritual practice. You cannot practice the mental aspects properly if the physical body is not fit. You need to be stable and strong. For the physical body to be strong, the muscles, nerves, breathing, and other functions of the body should be uninterruptedly working in harmony with each other.
How to begin?
Traditionally, according to Hatha Yoga, especially for Coronavirus, one should perform cleansing yoga kriyas and then move on to practice of asanas and pranayamas. The cleansing kriyas detoxify the body and mind, relieving it from illnesses and allergies. Asana practice makes the body more strong and mobile. All problems like back pain, cervical, gastritis, IBS, heart problems, and diabetes can be reduced with regular practice. Pranayama works on balancing the body and mind, making the subtle body powerful. Memory loss, depression, distracted mind, weakness, all such issues start to fade away.
The first step:
To strengthen the body and mind, proper cleansing inside out is fundamental. Interestingly, yoga kriyas or shatkriyas were introduced hundreds of years ago, aiming at enabling the body and mind to function at its optimum capacity. This would result in progressive growth in practice of asana, pranayama & dhyana. So, as a beginner from the 21st century, the first step can be a few basic cleansing kriyas, as a prevention against Coronavirus.
What is Shatkriya?
Shat means six and kriya means activity. So there are six (purification) activities that Yoga (specifically Hatha Yoga) prescribes. An all-directional attack at the impurities of the body as well as of the mind. It aims at eliminating blockages; blockages which prevent proper absorption of anything – food, air, energy, etc. Once their pathway is clear, the flow can not be disrupted.
These 6 kriyas are:
Dhauti
Neti
Kapalabhati
Nauli
Basti
Trataka
We will focus on the first two for now.
Dhouti
Dhouti aims at detoxifying the digestive and respiratory track. This is useful in times of Coronavirus 19 when the focus is on cleaning the throat and the wind pipe. As beginners we can try Mukha Dhouti and Vamana Dhouti (Kunjal). Mukha Dhouti is an attempt to clean and massage the digestive system. A very simple but very powerful technique which has the capacity to correct and tune the breath. Though it might sound insignificant, but once the breath is corrected, the whole journey becomes smooth.
In kunjal, one has to ingest at least 2 litres of saline luke warm water, and then vomit it all out. This helps us have a cleaner stomach, rid of unwanted material and excess acid. If you find it difficult to try, you can begin with Mukha Dhouti.
If you wish to the simple mukha dhouti, check out the YouTube video we created:
A simple practice of Mukha Dhouti yoga kriya has the power to inculcate a correct breathing pattern. It is a promising exercise for stressed, anxious, or short tempered people. It regulates the digestion process and most importantly it throws any unwanted particles out from wind pipe which is very important during coronavirus.
Points to remember:
Dhouti yoga kriya should be avoided if you are suffering from:
Vertigo
Epilepsy
Hernia
Stomach ulcers
Severe back ache
During pregnancy
Neti
Neti is referred to as a nasal yoga kriya cleansing process. Keeping the ENT clean and healthy especially dueing the times of coronavirus (Covid 19). Broadly speaking the nasal cavity is cleaned with a cloth like structure and then flushed with water. In yogic terms, we call it sutra netri and jala neti.
Sutra Neti involves the act of inserting one end of a thread from one nostril and taking it out from the mouth. Jala neti involves pouring of water from one nostril and letting the water drip out from the other nostril. Both these activities require complete concentration and awareness to perform successfully. Once you get the technique, the challenging part is over.
If you wish to try these, check out the youtube video we created: sutra neti for beginners.
Sutra Neti:
Jala Neti:
Neti, in general, purifies most structures in the head. Hence it is very helpful in removing hypersensitivity as seen in persons suffering from most allergies. There is a possibility that the vision becomes better, and hearing becomes clearer. Your throat and nose house the dangerous Covid 19 virus. It is very important that during these times, we keep these two clean.
Points to note:
- Neti should be avoided if you have had a recent ear infection or nasal septum operation.
- Sutra neti in particular should be avoided if you have back or neck pain, cardiac problems, and hernia. One must also avoid Sutra Neti during the latter part of pregnancy.
- Dip the sutra (or rubber cathedral) in warm water before inserting into the nose. This will make the sutra soft and comfortable to use.
- Check the tutorials before attempting.
- If you have any serious health conditions which impacts your respiratory tract, consider consulting an expert before attempting.
We hope you found this information useful. If you have any doubts please let us know in the comment box.
