Gheranda Samhita lays out six core cleansing rituals—shatkarmas—that feel like hitting the “reset” button on body and mind. They roll out in this order:

• Dhauti (Internal Cleansing)
- Vaman Dhauti: Drinking warm salty water and triggering a gentle purge.
- Vastra Dhauti: Swallowing and withdrawing cloth to scrub the esophagus.
- Danta Dhauti: Brushing and scraping teeth, tongue, cheeks.
- Jala and Svayam Vaman: Drawing water up the throat, then releasing it.

• Basti (Colon Cleansing)
- Jala Basti: A water enema using a neti pot–style setup, coaxing out impurities.
- Sthala Basti: Dry technique involving air suction, almost like ancient “belly breathing” on steroids.

• Neti (Nasal Cleansing)
- Jala Neti: Pouring saline through one nostril to exit the other—think of it as nature’s nasal decongestant.
- Sutra Neti: Threading a soft catheter or string through the nose to clear deeper blockages.

• Trataka (Steady Gazing)
- Fixing the gaze on a flame or object until tears flow, sharpening concentration and soothing digital-eye strain in an age glued to screens.

• Nauli (Abdominal Massage)
- Isolating and rolling the core muscles in a circular “ship’s mast” motion—massaging internal organs much like a gentle steering wheel workout.

• Kapalabhati (Skull Shining Breath)
- Quick, forceful exhalations with passive inhalations to polish the brain’s energy pathways and rev up the metabolism.

These six purifications aren’t dusty relics—they dovetail with today’s gut-brain axis research and the quest for holistic immunity. At the 2025 Global Yoga Wellness Expo, specialists pointed out how Dhauti resonates with modern colon-hydrotherapy debates, while Kapalabhati finds fans among high-intensity-interval training enthusiasts. Each practice sets the stage for deeper yoga limbs, plumbing the depths of physical and energetic grime so that prana can flow freely—no shortcuts, just ancient wisdom aligning perfectly with contemporary wellness chatter.