[Kapalabhati]
Literally skull-brightening. A certain powerful yoga kriya which is taught in Isha Yoga basic programs.
A Yogic practice that involves forceful exhalation.
▵ Practices in Yoga
Keeping your sinuses well-balanced and maintaining free movement within them is very important. How do we achieve this? If you are effectively doing kapalabhati [part of Shakti Chalana Kriya as taught in the Shoonya Intensive program] for a period of time, it will establish this balance. If you want a preparatory step, you could do jala neti to reduce the mucus in the system. But this practice has to be properly imparted. Our Hatha Yoga teachers would be able to teach you if needed.
Since excess mucus creates blockage, one approach is to reduce the mucus level. Another aspect is to see why a particular area of the sinuses is getting blocked. Modern medicine approaches the issue with tablets that chemically dry up the fluids. If you take an antihistamine, it dries up the fluids in the system indiscriminately. But these fluids are needed. The proper functioning of the human mechanism, particularly of the five senses, is determined by how the fluid movement happens. Therefore, unless you have allergies that go beyond a certain point, drying up the fluids is not advisable.
▵ Dairy Damage
Most of the world is drinking milk that is produced in factory farms today, and most of the benefits of consuming milk are lost in that case. It actually causes more harm than good to consume such a complex mix of genetic substance from so many different animals. If you consume an animal product, at least it must be from a specific animal. If you quit mass-produced dairy products, most probably, your mucus problems will go away in a matter of two weeks. Another simple thing you can immediately do to clear the mucus is to have some warm water mixed with honey after you wake up in the morning.
To sum it up – you can quit factory farm dairy, have warm honey water, and do a certain amount of kapalabhatis (if you have been initiated into the Shakti Chalana Kriya), Surya Namaskar, or Surya Kriya. If you generate sufficient ushna and samat prana in the system through these practices, excess mucus problems will disappear. It is not advisable to dry up the mucus by taking pills.
▵ Blocked Sinuses? Breathe Freely, the Yogic Way (Isha)