# The Six Kriyas, Part One Answer Key Class Three: The Six Kriyas, Part One **1) In bridging to his discussion of the six treatments, Master Svatmarama describes a "way to reach spiritual attainments."  Describe this way, also explaining the keywords here in Sanskrit and Tibetan.** At this point in the text, Master Svatmarama says that the "way to reach spiritual attainments" is to perform pranayama in such a way that "exhale to fit our capacity, inhale to fit our capacity, and retain to fit our capacity."   The key word here is _capacity: _we need to constantly challenge our limits, but not exceed them, especially in pranayama, where a mistake can cause weeks or months of discomfort.  Better to go within our capacity: which is _yuktam yuktam _in the Sanskrit—a term which derives from the same root as _yoga.  _This root is √_yuj _yuj!_ , _which means _to join, _but also _to apply oneself in the appropriate measure.  _The corresponding Tibetan is _rungwar rungwar _:v$-0:k :v$-0:k_, _again meaning _to an appropriate amount, not more or less._ **2) What are two outward signs that our channels are becoming purified, through our practice of asana and pranayama?  What are the keywords for these signs; roots; and related English words?  What are some inward signs that would accompany these outer signs?** The first of two outward signs that the Master mentions for the success of our pranayama practice and the purification of the channels is that our body becomes lean.  The Sanskrit word here is kirshata k«zta, which comes from a root √kirsh k«z, meaning to be lean.  A related word is Krishna, so named because of his darkish blue skin-color, from other Sanskrit words referring to the darkness that comes as the moon wanes (or becomes lean). The second of the two outward signs is that the body becomes radiant.  The Sanskrit here is kanti kaiNt, which literally means shining.  This ultimately derives from a root √shchand íNdœ, which means to shine.  Related English words are shine, incense, incandescent, and candle.  One of the words for inner fire, chandali c{fail, also comes from this root. Related inner signs of success in our pranayama practice would be a sense of calm, or contentment, and of caring for others, as well as an increase in the wisdom with which we grasp the real nature of the world.  This is the true purification of the inner channels. **3) Master Svatmarama says that, if we succeed in our pranayama and thereby purify our channels, then we gain the ability to retain the inner winds for as long as we wish; we are able to perceive the inner channels; we are freed of disease; and we stir the inner fire.  What is the point of stirring the inner fire?** Stirring the inner fire—which is called kundalini or chandali in Sanskrit, and tummo in Tibetan—has the result of triggering a meltdown of certain substances within the central channel.  This meltdown then triggers perceptions of the true nature of reality.  When we have these perceptions directly, then we assured of our own freedom from pain, and the ability to save others as well. **4) Give the Sanskrit and Tibetan for the expression "six treatments," and then list the six in English.** The Sanskrit term for "six treatments" is _shatkarma _;qœkm_, _where _shat _means _six, _and _karma _means _treatment.  _Ancient Tibetan has a term for "six treatments," which is _jongje le druk _^}$-A{+-;=-Hs#_, _the "six practices of cleansing, or purification."  We see though in Tibetan more often mention of only five treatments: a cleansing; a vomiting practice; a nasal clearing practice; and two kinds of practices for clearing the bowels. The six practices of our text here, in English, are: cleansing (with a strip of cloth); lower abdomen treatment (with the injection of water); nasal clearing (with a thread); distraction prevention (by concentrating on a flame); abdominal fluid reduction (through rotation of the stomach muscles); and sinus freshening (through rapid breathing). **5) For what two pre-existing conditions does the Master recommend the six treatments?  How are these treatments used by people whose bodily humours are balanced?  Name the three bodily humours and their general functions, as well as the Sanskrit and Tibetan words for "bodily humour," finally explaining why this name is given to the three.** The Master says that they are recommended for excess fat in the body, and for mucous congestion.  He notes that people in whom the three bodily humours are well-balanced may not find any need to perform these practices at all. The three bodily humours are wind, bile, and phlegm.  In proper proportion, they nourish and cause the health of the body; the wind facilitating motion within the body; the bile aiding in digestion, and the phlegm cooling the body.  Think of the three humours as corresponding to the three energies of wind, fire, and water, respectively. When they fall out of balance, the three humors become problems that cause all the disease of the body, and so they are called _dosha _in Sanskrit and _nyepa _in Tibetan.  _Dosha _daez_ _is based on the word _dus, _which means _bad _or _out of the proper order.  _We see it in English with _dis _and _dys, _as in _disrespect _and _dysfunctional.  _The Tibetan word _nyepa  _({=-.k_ _also means _a problem._ The three humours are related to the three poisons of the mind.  Tibetan medical tradition says that diseases of the humour of wind are born from liking things in an ignorant way.  Diseases of the bile then are born from disliking things in an ignorant way, and those of phlegm come from the ignorance which serves as the root of mistaken liking and disliking. **6) What are some health problems which can improve with the _dhauti _or cleansing practice?** In general, the dhauti practice, done with a strip of cloth, is effective in problems of mucous congestion and difficulty in breathing, brought on by an excess of phlegm. **7) What is a practical way to implement the _basti _or lower-abdomen treatment in modern times?  What are some precautions to take, and what are some immediate practical benefits?** A modern means of accomplishing the basti practice is simply to utilize a rubber hot-water bottle with an attachment to perform an enema.  Fill the water bottle with distilled water, since any kind of impurity in the water—even in normal city drinking water—can cause intestinal problems. As with all of the kriyas or treatments, it is vital to have on hand the expert who is guiding you through the practice for the first few times.  Do not attempt to perform this practice on your own. Make sure you have enough water on hand; say two gallons per person.  The water should be warmed to body temperature, or it will feel uncomfortable.  Smearing some oil on the end of the catheter which you insert in your anal opening makes it more comfortable. It's best if the place where you are performing the basti is toasty warm, so that you can wear a minimum of clothing.  You will be laying on the ground belly-down, and inserting the catheter into your anal opening.  The water bottle filled with distilled water should be hanging up higher than your body, so that the water flows automatically down into your anus. Then simply lay down and relax, and let gravity do its job.  It make take five to ten minutes for the water to seep into your body.  If water leaks out from the anus right away, it means that the catheter is not inserted far enough into the body.  Gently guide it in further.  The catheter should have a flexible, soft end that is smooth, not roughly cut off. This part is important!  When the water reaches a certain quantity within your body, you will feel an immediate and overwhelming desire to clear your bowels.  You must have a toilet immediately available; our experience was that we performed the practice out of doors in a very empty place in the desert, and had dug holes in the sand where we could immediately relieve ourselves. Take your time, relax, enjoy the experience, and allow the bowels to release all the water, accompanied by all the fecal material in the lower intestines.  When the flow has stopped for some time, then repeat the process, once or twice more, until the water flowing out of the anus is completely free of fecal material.  Have lots of toilet paper available to dry yourself off. What you will discover from this process is that the normal act of defecation doesn't remove all the feces from the body; some sticks in the folds of the intestines and stays there, becoming dried and hard, and creating toxins in the body. Also, since very few of us miss a meal in the regular course of our life, our digestive system has almost never had a break.  What you will find from the basti practice is that a day's work for the intestines has just been cancelled, and they can finally take a rest.  You will feel amazingly light for an entire two days, with lots of extra energy, which translates also into a clearer state of mind. A basti practice can trigger a change in our entire eating practices and daily behavior.  We can take this lightness as a chance to beginning eating lighter and more healthy food. A final note: don't be concerned if you don't have a bowel movement for a day or two after the practice.  That's normal, since there's nothing to come down.  Be VERY sure to clean all the parts of the catheter and bag that may have come in contact with fecal matter or water with a disinfectant, so it doesn't cause any infection in the intestines.  Dry everything thoroughly and store in a dry, clean place. **8) What are some practical considerations in using a _neti_ pot to perform the nasal clearing practice?** Make sure the water is distilled; using dirty water can cause infections of the sinuses.  If the water is warmed to body temperature, it's more comfortable.  Place a pinch of salt in the water, and stir thoroughly; experiment with the amount of salt to see what's best for you—the idea is to replicate the salty fluids of the sea that we came from. Experiment with the best way to turn your head to get a flow going into one nostril and out the other.  Work at first with someone who's very familiar with the practice.  Make sure there's a sink or large basin to catch the excess water, and a towel to kee the dripping water off yourself and to dry with afterwards.  See how many pot's worth for each nostril is good for you; you might find that one pot per nostril is about right. Try to relax during the practice.  At the beginning you may have some water going down the wrong way; just relax and get it out and start over again.  You get best results if you do the neti once a day every day until you see an effect happening on the amount of mucous in your sinuses. **9) Describe the process of using a flexible medical catheter, rather than a thread, to perform the neti nasal cleaning practice.** Make sure that the catheter you use is very flexible and has a soft, rounded end.  It's better to start with a catheter which is very thin and only later work up to a wider one.  The catheter should be sterile, to prevent any infection from being introduced into the nasal passages. You can add a little sterile oil or grease to the catheter to make it slide more comfortably into the nostril, or else dip the catheter thoroughly in some warm, distilled salt water to start with. Work the catheter very gently and slowly into the nostril; it's best to have an expert with you the first few times, to make sure you're doing it right.  You don't want to scratch or tear the sensitive tissue inside the nostril. The end of the catheter will come out the nasal passage way back in the back of your mouth.  It won't necessarily start snaking towards the opening of your mouth on its own; you'll have to reach back with the first two fingers back into the mouth and try to catch it, to gently lead it out, being careful not to trigger your gag reflex. When you have the catheter out of your mouth, then carefully start to work it back and forwards with the hands.  Make sure you have a long enough length of catheter to do this comfortably.  You'll have to get used to the sensation of having this foreign object in your nostril and mouth, which can feel at first a little like you're choking. You'll quickly find how beneficial this practice is for opening up your nasal passages; you'll find that when you breathe then you're getting a lot more oxygen then you ever were before, and that it then becomes much more comfortable for example to do your asana practice.  You're simply getting more fuel into the body. The inside of everyone's nose is a little different.  You may find that your septum, the dividing flesh between the nostrils, has a shape which prevents getting the catheter down easily.  Try a more narrow catheter; never force anything.  Depending on your nose, it may not be possible to do this practice on one or even both nostrils.  Don't stress, work on the neti pot practice. If you're using a hollow catheter, make sure that you clean out the inside after use carefully, sterilizing it, so you don't get bacteria building up.  You might use alcohol for this cleaning. **10) The _neti _practice does wonders for clearing excess mucous from the nostrils and sinus cavities, making our yoga practice a lot more comfortable and energetic.  What though are some ways of preventing the mucous in the first place?  And what are some other ways that we can "manage" excess mucous, if we are prone to it?  What kinds of problems can come from excess mucous?** Diet can play an important part in preventing mucous build-up in the first place.  Cheese, milk, butter, and other dairy products have an immediate effect in many people, causing excess sinus mucous within a few hours to a day or two.  This is very probably due to the violence involved in the production of these foods: the karma in the food. In many people, the same applies to wheat, which involves the deaths of many small animals in its farming, harvesting, and storage.  In North America, we live in a culture which has centered for centuries around wheat and dairy products.  Just as an experiment, try using substitutes for these products for a month, and see if it doesn't radically change the amount of mucous in your body, and the level of your energy. As a milk substitute, try almond milk, oat milk, or rice milk.  Every body is different, but we find that the protein in almond milk is very desirable; less so with oat milk.  We find that rice milk tends to be a little lighter and to contain more sugar, making us a little "lungy."  But it can be a nice change. As a butter substitute, try one of the many brands of vegetable-oil based margarines; our favorite is the "Earth Balance" brand.  We personally find that soy-based cheese, milk, or butter substitutes are difficult to digest, and we don't rely on them to any great extent. Doing a vigorous pranayama practice of the "shining skull" (kapala bhati) just before your asanas has a dual effect of clearing the "light" mucous present in the front of the nasal passages, and then starting to clear some of the heavier mucous towards the back. You'll find then that yoga asanas where your head is below your heart, such as uttanasana (standing forward bend) can coax mucous out of the nasal passages.  Inversions are great for getting out stubborn mucous; and different inversions (handstand as opposed to shoulder stand, for example) open up different sinuses.  Opening and stretching channels, such as those in the legs, can have a surprising effect in releasing mucous from the body as prana is released, reflecting a connection between mucous and the prana. Mucous left in the body, especially in the sinuses, accumulates and putrefies becoming a toxin, causing headaches; colds and other breathing problems; poor hearing, and declining eyesight. Learn to fight imbalances of this humor, and you'll feel ten years younger.  Remember finally that imbalances of the phlegm humor ultimately come from our tendency to see the world in the wrong way, and through the deeper, neurotic behavioral and attitude tendencies that we build up in daily life.  Meditation, learning to be quiet and to understand the world, is in the end the best of the kriyas. **11) What are some behavioral signs of a _lung _disorder brought on by the improper practice of pranayama?  What are some opposite behavioral signs, of success in this practice?** Behavioral signs of a lung disorder include the following: (1) Obsessive behavior, such as insisting on cleaning small things in your living space over and over. (2) Restless behavior of the kind that would accompany an attention deficiency disorder: inability to stick with a particular task calm and concentrated until it is completed with quality.   (3) Surfing the web or television or radio stations, inability to stop and focus, enjoy one thing. (4) Inability to focus on a conversation or relationship in a sustained, concentrated way; restless need to get on to other sources of stimulation. (5) Diffused energy, energy spent on unimportant things. (6) Inability to stop and give others the attention they need. (7) Insomnia. Behavioral signs of the winds starting to go in the right places would then be the opposite: a tendency to be able to focus calmly and in a sustained way on any object, whether it be a song, a relationship, or a task.