SHANKAPRAKSHALANA DHAUTI OR INTESTINAL CLEANSING - PART-III

While you are resting after Shankha Prakshalana, another person who has not done the practice should be preparing the special food for you to eat. You should not prepare the food yourself, you should only rest.

The food must be prepared from rice, pulses or lentils and cooked with clarified butter. The rice and lentils should be of high quality and easily digestible. Sufficient food must be prepared to fill your stomach to replace the volume of food that has been removed from the digestive system by the salt water.

The rice and lentils can be cooked in water together until they are soft. Simultaneously the refined butter can be warmed and melted. When the rice and lentils are cooked, a little salt and turmeric can be added if necessary, though this is not essential. Then mix in refined butter abundantly so that the final preparation is reasonably liquid.

This special food is absolutely necessary to gently and effectively lubricate the whole digestive tract because Shankha Prakshalana does not only remove all waste matter from the digestive system, but it also removes all the natural mucus layers from the intestinal walls. Therefore, after the cleansing practice, the walls of the digestive tract are completely bare. The special food in reasonable quantity is essential to replace the natural film on the intestinal walls with a temporary coating.

Don't allow more than one hour to elapse after finishing Shankha Prakshalana before eating your food.

Having eaten your food, you should take further rest. However, it is important that you don't sleep for at least three hours. You will be tempted to sleep, but try not to. If you do sleep you will pay the penalty which is a long period of physical lethargy. So don't sleep for at least three hours after taking food, if you don't want to be sluggish during the rest of the day and the following day. For three hours you should rest without doing any physical or mental work. After this time has elapsed, you may sleep if you wish. In this way you will avoid any side-effects.

For one week you should follow certain food restrictions. If you cannot abide by these food restrictions, then you should not practise Shankha Prakshalana. You should avoid the following foods: chemically processed, synthetic, pungent, acidic and non-vegetarian foods. This includes alcohol, cigarettes, tea, coffee, soft drinks, milk, buttermilk, yoghurt, spices and any characteristically acidic fruits such as lemons, oranges, grapefruit, pineapple, etc.

You must eat a simple, pure and reasonably neutral diet. You may include most foods such as rice, wheat, bread, most types of fruits and vegetables with low acid content, nuts, lentils, pulses, soybeans, etc. You must use your discretion and common sense. Remember you have cleansed the whole digestive system. If you eat the wrong food it may have adverse reactions on the digestive tract.

Also make sure the food you eat is clean, well cooked and not poisonous. Alter Shankha Prakshalana your digestive system is more vulnerable to unsuitable, bad or dirty food, so take extra care to protect your body.

You should not do your regular Asanas on the day you perform Shankha Prakshalana and the following day. For two days also avoid excessive mental and physical activities.

This is quite a long and complex practice. Therefore, normally, you should not practice more than twice a year. You should allow six months to elapse before doing Shankha Pprakshalana for a second time.

This practice is not to be done by people who suffer from peptic or duodenal ulcers. People with high blood pressure should not practice alone, but should seek proper guidance.

BENEFITS

Shankha Prakshalana purifies the whole body.

There is no medicine or method that can clean the small and large intestines so thoroughly as this practice.

Many diseases are directly or indirectly caused by accumulation of toxic waste matter in the intestines. This practice expels all impurities from the digestive tract and thereby helps to purify the blood system.

This can result in a wonderful and noticeable improvement in general health as well as helping to remove specific ailments. In particular, it has been found useful for the treatment of diabetes, hyperacidity, constipation, dysentery and many other ailments connected with impure blood such as bad complexion and excessive occurrence of boils or pimples.

Those people who feel healthy can also do the practice, for they can improve their health, making them feel lighter, more cheerful and exhilarated with life. Furthermore, it will help to make their minds sharper.

This is also a very important practice for those people who intend to perform intensive yogic techniques for higher awareness.