What is Basti Karma

Technique of Drawing Water into Bowels

This can be practised with or without a bamboo tube or six inches long, smooth piece of 1/2 an inch diameter pipe . But it is better to have a bamboo-tube.  Sit in a tub of water covering your navel. Assume the posture Utkatasana by resting your body on the forepart of your feet, the heels pressing against the posteriors. Take a small bamboo-tube 6 fingers long and insert 4 fingers of its length into the anus after lubricating the tube with vaseline or soap or castor oil. Then contract the anus. Draw the water into the bowels slowly. Shake well the water within the bowels and then expel the water outside. It is known as Jala-Basti.

By practicing this Basti Karma, colic, enlarged spleen, and dropsy, arising from the disorders of Vata (air), pitta (bile) and kapha (phlegm), are all cured.

By practicing Basti with water, the Dhatus, the Indriyas and the mind become calm. It gives glow and tone to the body and increases the appetite. All the disorders disappear.

There is another way of doing Basti without the help of water. It is called Sthula-Basti. Sit in Paschimottanasana on the ground and churn the abdominal and intestinal portions slowly with a downward motion. Contract the sphincter muscles. This removes constipation and all the abdominal disorders. This is not so effective as the Jala-Basti.