It's Spring Time. I know your eyes and nose are feeling it…. Have you ever spent 10 minutes just rubbing your eyes because they are so irritated and itchy, just to realize it made them itch even more? Did you ever wish you could take your eyeballs out, rinse ‘em off and put ‘em back in? No? Am I the only one? I know I’m not...
Netra Basti is just that. Well, we don’t take your eyeballs out. Living in Southern California, in the age of technology, where everyone is staring at cell phones and TV’s (Whether it's at home, in line at a supermarket, the doctor's office, the bank, etc.) or working/playing at the computer all day and night, we are left with a society of dry, itchy, irritated and red eyes. And not to mention all the pollution infesting the air we walk around in all day. My eyes are itching just thinking of all that!
Netra Basti is the traditional Ayurvedic eye treatment that involves bathing the eyes in plain or medicated ghee. The ghee is retained within a dam made of dough consisting of chickpea flower (or wheat flower) for approximately 15 minutes on each side (give and take 5 minutes given your constitution and present health). This is a specialized Ayurvedic treatment for the eyes and nervous system.
As the ghee is retained it oozes all around the eyeball, down the eye socket and optic nerve and penetrates deep into the nervous system and brain tissues that lie behind the eyes. Leaving a nourishing and satisfying feeling not only in the eyes, but throughout the whole body and mind.
Our brains can be compared to a car engine: when in use, it produces a lot of heat, and that heat needs some kind of lubrication to be contained in, or else all the parts dry out and burn out, leaving you with a non-functioning engine/brain. Hence, some kind of oil is required. Ghee in this case works great for your brain.
There are many benefits to this therapy. The ghee helps to eliminate dryness, itchiness and irritation of the eyes. This includes redness of the eyes. This therapy also improves the sight, heals stiffness, pain and roughness around the eyes, it strengthens the eyes and protects them against the sun’s sharp ray, This therapy is also very helpful for serious eye disorders, such as glaucoma, ulcerated cornea, or inflamed lesions surrounding the eyes.
Other conditions this treatment is good for:
Loss of vision
Blurred vision
Eye injuries
Pain in the eyes
Darkness around the eyes
Paleness around the eyes
Dry eye syndrome
Headaches and migraines
Overactive mind
In addition to relieving all the symptoms listed above, this treatment aids gradual improvement of serious eye diseases, and has the added benefits of bringing about clarity of the mind. This eye treatment takes only a few moments, even doing both eyes at the same time for 5 minutes gives great relief, even if your eyes are not bothering you, this is still a great therapy that tremendously calms and soothes the mind and body as a whole!
The Ghee creates a settling affect on our fried nerve endings, leaving us feeling grounded and in control rather than under the control of this chaotic world! Contact me at [email protected] or find your local Ayurvedic Practitioner for your Netra Basti treatment.
~Namaste~
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