You know that dude, Pantanjali? He wrote a book called The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. In no way was he the first yogi to practice yoga, although he was the first yogi to write down the practices. 

This book, a holy text, is recommended for all yogis looking to further and deepen their spiritual practice. A wide description of the practice itself as well as its fruits after committed and devoted practice are translated and relayed for any spiritual aspirant. 

A key fundamental aspect of yoga he speaks of is called the “8 Limbs of Yoga.” These 8 limbs that make up the tree of yoga are, in order, as follows:

Limb #2, niyama, it is thus broken down even more, into 5 branches.

Today, we’re going to look at branch #1, sauca. 

Sauca, (SAU-cha), means cleanliness or purity. Inner cleanliness of our thoughts, feelings and hearts are just as important as outer cleanliness of our bodies. 

These things are amazing! If you’ve been brushing your tongue as part of your cleansing routine, you will love this instrument. It gets your tongue even cleaner! One will last you years! It’s small, travel friendly, quick and easy to use, and removes any excess gunk and/or bacteria living on your tongue.

Tongue cleaning is proven to help prevent heart attacks, pneumonia, premature births, diabetes, osteoporosis and infertility. The average person has 10,000 taste buds and within each bud contains 50-100 taste cells. The cleaner your buds are, the more awake, intelligent and perceptive they will be!

So after you use the toilet, whether it be liquid or solid, but especially if it’s solid, wash your bum. Just wiping it with toilet paper will only smear bacteria around your skin. Splashing with water and/or a dabble of soap with not only kill any bacteria, but will leave you feeling oh so fresh and clean. Then gently pat dry with paper. 

Instead of Q-tipping your ears, try Q-tipping your nose. Softly and moving in a circular motion, to clear out any obstructions from your nasal pathways. Blowing your nose into tissue of course helps, but using a q-tip will get into all the hard to reach spaces. 

If you go to a Korean Market, there is a small instrument used to clean the ears. Instead of like a Q-tip, where it has the potential to shove wax back into the drum of your ear, this tool is more of a shovel to scoop the wax fully out. Sorry, I don’t have the Korean to English translation, but maybe you can ask a friend who is Korean to go with you to help out with communicating.

Taking grapefruit seed extract is the ultimate cleanser for bacteria that may be living in your intestinal tract. The citric acid is so potent that it will not only heal internal disturbances such as stomach aches and food poisoning, but will also serve as an everyday neutralizer for more ease in your digestive process. It is extremely bitter, so I recommend drinking with coconut water or fruit juice. You can do daily, once a week, or whenever a disturbance comes to rise. In addition to this, I highly recommend triphala.

Some practitioners even use aloe or ozone to aid in the process. This will serve in your digestive health and wellbeing for the long run. The easier it is for your body to let go and “release” internally, the easier it will be for you bodymind to let go and release externally, in life. 

Do it as often as you need it, Inquire with a professional healing practitioner if in need of more guidance. Start from the inside to manifest on the outside. It all stems from within!