Six Yogic Cleanses

The ṣaṭkarma (six actions) are Haṭha Yoga's purification practices: neti (nasal cleansing), dhauti (digestive tract cleansing), nauli (abdominal churning), basti (yogic enema), kapālabhāti (skull-shining breath), and trāṭaka (steady gazing). These are not wellness trends — they are 1,000-year-old technologies for making the body a fit vessel for prāṇa and kundalini.

Without purification, higher practices stall. tummo cannot ignite in a body clogged with toxins. prana cannot flow through blocked nāḍīs. The ṣaṭkarma clear the pipes so the energy can move. — .

The ṣaṭkarma are codified in the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā (15th century) and the Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā (17th century), but the practices are far older — passed orally through the Nāth Siddha lineage for centuries before being written down. Svātmārāma prescribed them as the FIRST step of yoga — before āsana, before prāṇāyāma, before meditation.