Dhauti is a shuddhikriya which means the act of cleaning. It specifically cleans the stomach. Since is one of the main organ in the human body and the health of the human being is dependent on the condition of the stomach. Hence it becomes very important for you to clean your stomach. Dhauti is the useful activity for this cleansing.

Dhauti is of three types:

Vamana-dhauti: This is the easiest of all the three types. In this process you have to drink about six glasses of water and then vomit it out by putting the index and the middle fingers in the mouth till uvula. You throw up the water, which brings along with it the impurities in the stomach.

Danda-dhauti: Repeat the above process but instead of inserting the fingers, you insert a rubber tube of about three feet in length and the width slightly more than the lead pencil. It is gulped down slowly so that one end of the tube reaches the stomach while the other end is held outside the mouth. Bend the trunk forward and this siphoning action will bring out the water from the stomach. When all the water is thrown out, bring out the rubber tube. Before using the tube, clean and disinfect it by inserting it in the boiling water for a few minutes. It is difficult for a lot of people to insert the tube without vomiting because the throat is sensitive to the touch stimuli. For them it is advisable to go for the vamana-dhauti since it is the simpler of the two. The advantage of danda-dhauti is that there is no spasm of the stomach wall and the water is thrown out very smoothly.

Vastra-dhauti: This is the most difficult but useful dhauti. Here a strip of fine muslin cloth of about three inches in width and twenty feet in length is taken. It is washed and disinfected by dipping it in boiling water for some time and rolled up. Hold one end of it between the two fingers and insert it into the mouth. Gulp it down slowly. Stop gulping when only six inches of the cloth remain outside the mouth. Take care to ensure that you do not let the other end go into the mouth. Churn the abdomen by Nauli with the cloth inside the stomach. Now remove the strip slowly by pulling out the other end of the cloth. This dhauti cleanses the stomach by rubbing itself against the inner lining of the stomach wall and removing all the impurities from the stomach.

Dhauti has a great therapeutic value. You can use it as a part of yogic treatment of disorders like acidity and asthma.