The word “yoga” in Sanskrit means “union, connection, connection, unity, harmony.” You can talk about the harmony of the three principles of man: physical, mental and spiritual. Thus, achieving such harmony is the goal of yoga. Moreover, it must be emphasized that this goal is achieved by various aspects of yoga: Kriya Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnani Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Laia Yoga, Mantra Yoga, etc.
Hatha yoga is the lowest level of yoga and, at the same time, the base for other types of yoga. It leads to the physical perfection of the body, all systems and organs of the body. It includes physical exercises (Asanas), breathing exercises (Pranayama), hydrotherapy and various cleansing procedures, nutrition, dosed fasting and so on.
Yoga gives great importance to hydrotherapy: rubbing, pouring, shower, swimming, drinking water. Recommendations of yogis for drinking water can be summarized as follows:
- it should be clean and have a room temperature;
- must be raw, but if boiled, it must be frozen and thawed;
- drink several glasses a day: in winter – 8-10, in summer 10-12 or more;
- drink should be 1-3 sips every 15-20 minutes.
Yogis consider the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) the kitchen of the human body, clogging of which leads to various diseases. Therefore, they attach great importance to the purification of the gastrointestinal tract.
Stomach cleaning
The process of cleaning the stomach is called Vamana-Dhauti. Technique: sitting on a stool to drink in small sips up to three liters of warm boiled water, until you feel overcrowded in the stomach. Then stand, bend over, induce vomiting, pressing your fingers on the root of the tongue. These actions are repeated until the stomach is completely empty.
Contraindications: serious heart disease, hypertension, gastric ulcer and 12 duodenal ulcer. Therapeutic effect: treatment of chronic gastritis, chronic diseases of the biliary tract, dyspepsia.
Bowel Cleansing (Basti)
Performed during the week:
- first day – lying on the right side, make an enema (0.5 liters of warm water);
- the second day, too, but increase the volume by 2 times (1 liter of warm water);
- the third day – do not do an enema (break);
- the fourth day – to do an enema with 1.5 liters of warm water;
- the fifth and sixth days – a break;
- the seventh day – to do an enema with 2 liters of warm water.
This weekly cleansing procedure is recommended to be repeated after 1 month, then after 2 months, after 3 months, after 4 months, after 5 months and, finally, after 6 months. Then do 1 time in six months.
This cleansing procedure allows you to restore impaired body functions, relieve lethargy, plaque on the tongue, pain in the liver and various ailments.
Cleaning the nasal cavities with a kettle (jala neti)
You can take any kettle with a capacity of at least 400 ml of water. Pour warm water (approximately 38 0 С) into it and stir in it a teaspoon of table salt without top. Put on the teapot’s nipple the nipple, after cutting a hole with a diameter of 3-5 mm in it.
Sit on a chair, put a basin on your knees. Take a teapot in the right hand by the bottom, insert the nipple into the right nostril, tilt your head to the left. Tilt the body slightly forward. The mouth is open while breathing through the mouth. After a few seconds, the water, having passed through the right nostril, washes the maxillary, ear and frontal cavities and, bypassing the mouth, begins to flow through the left nostril. As soon as the teapot is empty half (200 ml), stand up, bend over and make several sharp exhalations through the nose to clear the sinuses from the remaining water. Blowing nose is prohibited, because water can get into the middle ear and cause inflammation. The remaining water (200 ml) to do this operation for the left nostrils.
The procedure for cleaning the nasal cavities is recommended to do every morning after taking a shower as a prophylactic against colds, acute respiratory infections and as a therapeutic tool to combat rhinitis, chronic rhinitis, sinusitis, frontal sinusitis. Jala neti normalizes nasal breathing, which has a beneficial effect on the whole body.
Nutrition
Proper nutrition is one of the important elements of the system of hatha yoga, because without it there will be no expected therapeutic effect from yoga exercises.
The basic rules of nutrition can be summarized as follows:
- eat only when you want to eat;
- consumption of meat, meat and dairy products is reduced to a minimum;
- in the diet every day should be present greens: Kindza, parsley, celery, dill;
- do not overload the stomach;
- replace sugar with honey and dried fruits;
- when cooking use vegetable oils;
- limit the consumption of flour products cooked with yeast;
- all kinds of cereals and all kinds of legumes are recommended, as well as cereals and jelly from sprouted wheat;
- to cook food as little as possible;
- up to 60% of products must be raw, consisting of vegetables and fruits;
- drink their own juice;
- chew food thoroughly.
Therapeutic fasting
The most natural way to clean the body of accumulating harmful substances is therapeutic fasting. Yogis use three types of it:
- prolonged fasting (from 10 to 40 days);
- average duration (from 2 to 10 days);
- short-term fasting (from 24 to 36 hours).
Please note: all types of fasting can be carried out only after consulting with a doctor and under his supervision. This is due to the fact that the effect of hunger on the human body is unpredictable and diverse. Do not take risks.
Short-term fasting is carried out 1 time per week: more and less healthy person for 36 hours, and the old and weakened – within 24 hours. Weekly fasting perfectly cleanses the body.
The order of the 36-hour fast: as usual, dine, go to bed. The next day, do not eat anything, just drink raw water at room temperature. A headache may appear by the end of the day. With subsequent short-term fasting, the headache gradually subsides. Do not swallow saliva, but spit it out, as there will be a lot of toxins in it. Go to bed, and in the morning you can eat a light breakfast. Do not overload your stomach with heavy food during the day.
24-hour fasting differs from the 36-hour fast only in that it is interrupted in the evening and you can drink a glass of kefir or juice before going to bed.
Initially, during fasting, you may not feel very good, because there are many toxins in the body. But as they wash out of the body feel better.