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| Home > Hatha Yoga Techniques > Sat - Karmani
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| | Hatha Yoga Sat - Karmani
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Sat karmani is the deep bodily cleansing procedure, which aligns the body in its most balanced and healthy form, and prepares it for the higher levels of Yoga.
The procedure prepares those with excessive phlegm and fatty deposits for the challenging discipline of pranayama. If the three Ayurvedic dosas (humours) namely vata, pitta and kapha are already well balanced then these six preliminary cleansing techniques are unnecessary.
Respectively called Dhauti, Vasti, Neti, Trataka, Nauli, and Kapalabhati, the sat-karmani procedure is described in the first chapter of the Gheranda-Samhita and in the second chapter of the Hath Yoga Pradipika, although the most descriptive accounts are available in Gharendra Samhita.
1. "Dhauti" means `washing` or `cleansing`, and refers to a number of bodily purification techniques, of which four principal types are:
Antar-dhauti (internal cleansing) comprises of four procedures:
· Vata-Sara (air-flowing)
· Varisara (water-flowing)
· Vahnisara (Fire-motion)
· Bahiskrta (expulsion)
The first of these, vatasara, involves shaping the mouth like a crow`s beak
and drawing air into the stomach, wherein it is made to circulate before being sent down-wards and expelled via the anus.
In varisara, which is said to be the `highest (param) dhauti", water is intentionally moved through the digestive tract and then expelled.
Vahnisara (also called Agnisara), consists in drawing in the abdomen after a vigorous exhalation until the `navel knot` (nabhi-granthi) is against the spinal column, and then pumping the abdominal muscles in and out numerous times, thereby massaging the abdominal organs and intensifying the `gastric fire` (Jatharagni).
Bahiskrta (first stage) is per formed in the same manner as.vatasara, only the air is retained in the stomach for one and half hours before being expelled. Then, the practitioner is required to stand (or squat) in water and draw out the shakti-nadi (lit.`tube of power`) which term denotes the large intestine so that it can be thoroughly washed, and then draw it back in.
Danta-dhauti includes cleaning the `root of the teeth`, the `root of the tongue` the ears (karna) and the `hollow of the skull` (i.e. the frontal sinus).
The teeth are rubbed with earth or herbal powder. The base of the tongue is scrubbed by using the first three fingers. The tongue is then massaged with butter before being pulled out and stretched with metal pliers, a procedure that is necessary preparation for khechari-mudra. Fingers are used to clean the ears, and the sinuses are cleared by vigorous rubbing of the brow-hollow between the eyebrows with the right thumb.
Hrd-dhauti, although literally meaning `heart-cleansing`, is concerned with maintaining cleanliness of the esophagus and stomach. The Gheranda-Samhita describes three techniques, the first of which "danda- dhauti".
Danda (stick) Dhauti (cleansing) involves inserting a stick ( plantain, turmeric or cane stalk) into the throat and then drawing it out again.
The second is called "Vamana- Dhauti", Vamana meaning `vomiting`. In this a person drinks eight or nine glassfuls of water, or enough so that it backs up into the throat. This will create a feeling of nausea, making it easy to empty the stomach of its entire contents.
The third is "Vaso-Dhauti" (cloth cleaning), in which the practitioner swallows a long thin strip of cloth while keeping hold of one end, and then slowly pulls it out. Vaso-dhauti is the only dhauti to be mentioned in Hatha Yoga Pradipika. In the mentioned text, it is stipulated that the cloth should be the width of four fingers and the length of Fifteen hand-spans (hasta) and should be moistened before swallowing. The beginner may swallow only one span the first day, two the second, and so on.
Mula-Dhauti (or Mula-Sadhana) is designed to assist the flow of apana, and involves cleaning the rectum by applying water with either the middle finger or a plant stalk.
"Vasti" literally means `bladder`. The name is derived from the fact that an animals` bladder was originally used to administer an enema. The procedure is very much on the similar notes. Vasti is performed by squatting on the heels in navel-depth water with a tube inserted into the rectum, and then drawing water up the tube by contracting the anus. The Gheranda-Samhita calls this jala-vasti (water vasti). It also mentions a `dry` version (shushka vasti), in which the practitioner sits in Paschimottanasana and draws air into the rectum by contracting and dilating the anal sphincter.
"Neti" is the practice of cleaning the nasal passages with a fine thread (Sukshma-sutra). The practitioner keeps hold of one end of the thread while passing the other up through one nostril at a time and pulling it out through the mouth. The variation of the procedure is Jala-Neti, in which water is poured into one nostril and ejected through the other nostril or through the mouth.
"Trataka" involves gazing intently at a small or `subtle` object without blinking until tears well up in the eyes. The object can be most likely a candle (or diya`s) flame. The purpose of this procedure is to cleanse the eyes and improve the ability to concentrate. This in turn enhances the ability for practices such as Sambhavi-mudra. It is also said to facilitate divya-drishti. Divya drishti is referred to both `clear vision` or `clairvoyance`.
"Nauli" is the act of drawing in the abdomen, projecting the rectus abdominis muscles forward and expanding and contracting them in such a way as to resemble the waves of the sea. The procedure is called lauliki in the Gheranda-Samhita. The technique provides a powerful massage to the intestines and digestive organs. It also increases the `bodily fire`. In scientific observations made, Nauli has been shown to be extremely effective at producing sub-atmospheric pressure in various internal cavities. This all affects the uptake of fluid into the colon and bladder required for both vasti.
"Kapalabhati" (shining skull) is described as breathing in and out rapidly like a bellows, a technique also employed in Bhastrika Kumbhaka.
There are three alternative varieties of Kapalabhati as per "Gharendra Samhita": namely Vama-krama (left process), Vyut-krama (inverted process) and sit-krama (hissing process).
· Vama-krama is so-called because one begins by breathing in through the left nostril and expelling the air through the right. After that one breaths in through the right and out through the left and then repeats the whole sequence several times. The process is described as breathing in through Ida- and out through Pingala Nadi, and vice versa. This procedure emphasises the fact that it is the subtle energy underlying the physical breath with which the yogi is most concerned, one of the effects of the exercise being to repeatedly reverse the flow of prana.
· Vyut-krama involves drawing water up through both nostrils and slowly ejecting it via the mouth.
· Sit-krama involves sucking water in through the mouth and ejecting it via the nostrils.
All versions of kapalabhati are said to relieve the symptoms of diseases caused by an excess of kapha-dosa (excessive phlegm).
When all the procedures of Sat Karmini has restored the body in a healthy, clean, pure and balanced state, the body is easy to fall in alignment with an even more exalted state. And it is from here that a sacred journey of mind soul and body begins to meet "Paramatman."
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