It's the first snowfall of the year here in Minnesota which means it's cold season. Actually, cold season is all year long for some folks but I have been noticing quite a few people in class coughing lately so I thought it was appropriate time to do a post on how to stop coughing naturally, easily, inexpensively and effectively, all in the comfort of your own home.
In Naturopathy the sister of yoga therapy, it is believed that all illnesses are toxins in the body that need to be cleansed. In yoga there are body cleansing techniques called Kriyas. To some extent we all do kriyas everyday when we brush our teeth and take showers but ancient yogis developed techniques to clean the inner organs as well.
There is no real polite way to say this, Vamana Dhouti is cleansing the esophagus, stomach, and upper chest by vomiting saline water. Still with me? Now I realize I have lost many of you the moment I said the word vomiting but trust me, it's not at all like the vomiting from being sick or hung over. If you can believe such a thing exists, this is a much more gentle vomiting. More importantly it works like a charm! Vomiting is the bodies built in natural way to rid itself of toxins and saline solution is a natural cleanser. Have you ever noticed when you are sick you almost always feel better immediately after you vomit? Vamana Dhouti is a cleansing technique where you drink warm saline solution on an empty stomach and then immediately bring it back out. It's a relatively gentle, fast an effective way to rid a cough naturally so you can move on with your life and stop interrupting your yoga classes :)
The reason why this works so quickly and effectively is because you are literally washing out the pathogen (virus/bacteria) that is causing the cough. Most medicines focus on suppressing the cough but not really getting rid of the cause. Vamana Dhouti is going straight to the source of the cough and getting rid of it. If you have ever had a cough last longer than a few days you know how annoying they an be. So you take cough suppressant medications and suck on lozenges until the darn thing passes. All the while you are feeding the pathogen (check out my post Stop Feeding the Freeloading House Guest) and just waiting for it to run it's course. Vamana Dhouti is a way of kicking that pathogen to the curb!
Instructions for Vamana Dhouti:
1) Drink about 32oz or 1-1.5 liters lukewarm saline water. Very little saline is needed only about 1% (1/4 teaspoon)You should just barely be able to taste the salt. Sea salt is best.
2) Drink it very quickly! Drink on an empty stomach. Best to drink first thing in the morning when you wake. Drink until you feel the need to vomit. Drink it fast. If you drink slowly or just sip the water you will just end up bloated unable to get it back out. Guzzle the water as fast as you can. This will help bring it back out quickly. Also, it MUST be on an empty stomach! This does not work if there is any substance in the stomach and besides it is really much more unpleasant to vomit food/drink stuff back up.
3) You can churn the stomach a few times or do twisting exercises to help the process.
4) Stand with feet apart, bend the trunk forward about 80 degrees .
5) Using one or two fingers you can tickle the back of your throat until the water begins to come back out. Continue as much as necessary to get all the water out.
6) Relax for 15- 20 minutes afterwards
7) Eat a very bland breakfast about half an hour afterwards. Something easy to digest like oatmeal or kichadi is best.
8) If slight cough remains repeat the next morning until cough is gone.
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