what precautions should I take during jala-neti?

Question

I have been suggested jala neti for my sinusitis disorder. I want to do therefore. I have seen on youtubes as well and read the books on subject. I still want your suggestions as to what precautions should I need to take while doing jalaneti, so that it can be done comfortably. I am little afraid to do so.

Answer 1

Dear Mukund, You need to practice jala neti first time under guidance of qualified yoga instructor. However, I may outline the precautions that need to be taken while any shat karma, i.e. yogic cleansing actions:

1. Any shatkarmas including jala neti should be practised on empty stomach.
2. Jala Neti is advisable in the morning.
3. The Jala neti water should be luke warm and salty. How much? That you can measure by putting few drops of jala neti water on the back of the palm, if it is comfortable, use it.  Similarly, you can taste the water, if it is comfortable, use that much amount of salt only.
4. During jala neti, when you insert nozzle of neti pot, keep ensured that your mouth is opened and you breath through mouth and not nostrils; only then the water will flow smoothly from one nostril (to which nozzle is inserted) to other nostril out. If you breath through nostril during jala neti, it will harm you.
5. After you are done with jala neti, do kapalbhati to dry out your nostrils that are irrigated with water. Any water remained in the nostril after jala neti may cause headache or discomfort for the whole day. To check whether your nostrils are dry enough, just exhale forcefully over the back of your palm, check if the exhaled air contains the water droplets, if not, stop kapalbhati.

I hope that I have been able to satisfactorily answer your question, if you want other clarifications, please feel free to write here.

RELATED: 

1. Checklist for Beginners to Jala Neti
2. Dos & Donts during Jala Neti

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Recommendations:

Neti Pot - Generally, Copper Neti Pots are recommended.  But now-a-days, good quality copper pots for neti are not available in the market, even at Amazon online market place - we could not find in the Amazon search for Copper Neti Pot. We tried with steel made neti pot too, and got disappointed with feedbacks thereof.  The neti pots are better available at any of your local Yoga Institute like Morarji Desai Institution of Yoga at New Delhi, etc. The one we found that at amazon is cheap , can be easy to keep during travelling is small plastic neti pot at amazon. That works fine. 

If you want to use to quality ceramic neti pot, that is available by Himalayan Institute at amazon, but yes it is expensive, even beyond the copper neti pot, but it is very customized to the nostrils and handling while doing neti. We have good experience of it as we have been using it for a long time. But again do not forget that it is ceramic one, it has to be handled with care and can be broken.