Other cleansing techniques

Abdominal cleaning is of 2 types - one with water to be used as a flushing method and the other is to get rid of excess food. These 2 techniques are named Jala Kunjal which uses water and the other is called Vyaghra Kunjal which just removes the excess food.

We shall deal with the former - the Jala Kunjal - as this has important benefits to many of the common ailments suffered today.

This technique owes its origin to yoga. Yogis discovered that just as the skin must be cleaned to make it breathe effectively, so too the internal organs of the body such as the stomach be cleaned to make them work more efficiently.

So, how is the stomach cleaned? The first thing in the morning when the stomach is empty about 6-8 cups of water are had at a go and then the far end of the tongue is pressed to stimulate the vomiting reflex. This results in the water being expelled out through this back-flushing. It takes just a few seconds and the stomach is cleaned creating a light and refreshed feeling.

In this entire process, the pyloric sphincter plays an important role. This sphincter is located at the end of the stomach to prevent the food that has passed the stomach from coming back up into it. However, it sometimes opens if the digestion is inadequate so that the stomach can re-digest the food.

This technique controls the opening of this sphincter to "prime" the working of the stomach and the mucus linings of the oesophagus which may have become sluggish over time.