How to Take an Enema

At first, taking a home enema seems like an uncomfortable, embarrassing practice, and many try to find a reason to dismiss it as unnecessary. This is how I felt at first, but after a few experiments I find it to be a powerful cleansing tool and quite easy and comfortable to do.

I wrote 'Why and How to Take and Enema' to report on the benefits I have found and to explain how to easily perform this at home. It is truly a cheap and powerful health remedy, living up to the name of this website. This article introduces the basic salt-water enema for cleaning and detoxifying the colon, as well as coffee enema for detoxing the liver and releasing gall stones.

To put it simply, an enema is a powerful tool to help the body detoxify and cleanse the colon. The colon works like a dehydrator and draws liquids from the food you eat and whenever you eat starchy foods, such as white flour products or potato, they turn into a glue-like substance and stick to the colon walls. The longer the food matter stays stuck in the colon the more toxic it becomes, and the more it hinders the colon function, putrefies, rots and prevents the absorption of nutrients.

Eating a lot of meat and other non-fibrous foods can make the problem worse, as we need fibre to 'scrape' the colon walls clean and move stuck material. (Note: many people have a problem digesting fibre because of weak stomach acids - a very common problem in the Western countries. This problem should be addressed to enable the body to properly digest the more fibre-rich fruits and vegetables.) An additional problem with eating a lot of meat - as reported by many pro-vegetarian health professionals - is that our digestive system is somewhere between that of a meat-eating and that of a vegetarian animal - and in fact our digestive system is too long for digesting meat. As a result it putrefies and becomes toxic. Meat is also very labour-intensive to digest and often stays in the body for many days before being excreted.

The colon has an extremely important function in detoxifying the body, absorbing nutrients and its proper function is essential for the strength of the immune system.

I truly realised the power of the enemas during my 21-day juice fast. As my body was cleansing due to the liquid diet, I would start getting detox symptoms if I didn't have an enema every 1-2 days. The typical symptoms were throatache, achiness, weak muscles, headaches, and just general feeling of being unwell. As soon as I took an enema, however, these symptoms would be relieved and some hours after, completely disappear! During three weeks of experiencing this again and again, I became convinced of the efficiency of the enema to help the body detoxify. For a day-to-day diary of this process, follow the juice fasting link above.

On the day I broke the fast, I took a coffee enema, without expecting much in terms of results. I had just read that it helps to cleanse the liver so I thought it would be a good thing to do. And although taking the coffee enema itself felt like an easy and gentle process, the results were quite dramatic. First I felt and heard a squirt on the LEFT hand side of the belly, just below the rib cage and then I passed what seemed like a HANDFUL of gallstones. This seems odd, because the sound is meant to be on the right side of the body, nevertheless in my case I felt it on the left side.

I had no idea I had gallstones! This inspires me to take the coffee enema a few more times, to help the liver cleanse even more. Reading more about this on various websites, it seems that gallstones are not only in the gall bladder but, in fact, the whole liver can be full of them.

Thank you for the image: Zatavki.com

Some information a toxic liver from an online article on the Petaluma Healing Arts & Rejuvenation Centre's webpage: Petalumahealingarts.com: "The Amazing Liver & Gallbladder Flush":

"A skin irritation, weak eyesight, a bowel problem, an irregular menstrual cycle, a recurring headache, weight gain, loss of energy, sudden aging, restricted blood vessels, bloated intestines, digestive problems, breathing difficulties, memory and concentration loss, pain in the joints, or any major illness such as heart disease, cancer, MS, diabetes or Alzheimer's, to mention a few, would not occur if the liver were in optimum shape." - I have highlighted the symptoms I have recently had problems with.

The author of the website is Andreas Moritz, the writer of the book: "The Amazing Liver and Gallbladder Flush". She continues: "By removing the stones through a series of liver cleanses (usually six to eight are sufficient to fully restore liver performance), and consequently maintaining a reasonably healthy diet and lifestyle, the liver returns to its natural efficiency, and most, if not all, symptoms of discomfort begin to subside. Energy and well-being notably increase with each cleanse.

"Sweeping the liver clean eliminates thousands of bits of poisonous substances that have helped form the stones and block thousands of liver bile ducts. Cleansing the liver bile ducts from gallstones may indeed be one of the most important and powerful procedures around to dramatically improve one's health and raise the body's vibration. By re-opening the bile ducts, the body's energy circuits becomes restored and healing can take place on all levels of body, mind and spirit."

I have certainly experienced enhanced energy since the liver cleanse - although this might have a lot to do with the juice fast as well. I will aim to complete five more coffee enemas to see if my energy increases even further.

The above website also reports that contrary to common belief, most gallstones reside inside the liver, and not only in the gallbladder. Also, there can be hundreds, even thousands of stones in one person.

This is an explanation of Andreas Moritz' personal experience with a different method of liver cleanse, which she promotes, involving apple juice, olive oil, Epsom salts, etc.:

"During my first cleanse, I passed 500-600 gallstones, pea-size and larger, which had been impacting my liver for decades. Almost immediately, I was overcome by a simultaneous feeling of disgust, tremendous relief and euphoria. [...] Among numerous other complaints, which I almost had forgotten about because they had so much become a part of my life, the chronic backaches, indigestion and permanent numbness of my left leg disappeared (for good) and mental clarity reached unprecedented heights within several hours after the first cleanse. The positive effects continued to unfold and intensify after I passed another 3,000 or so gallstones during the following six cleanses.

"I still feel perplexed about how I possibly could have survived with several handfuls of gallstones in my liver that were loaded with poisons, harmful bacteria and other noxious substances. Soon, I discovered that gallstones in the liver are more common than I ever could have imagined."

How to Take a Salt Water Enema

1. Boil approximately a liter (a quart) of water. Normally it is advised to boil this for 10 minutes in a pot but I just let the water reach a boiling temperature and turn it off after to save time.
2. Put the water in a container, I use a large glass bowl. Put the bowl in the sink and run cold water into the sink so that the water in the bowl cools down. I use tap water boiling but many say that using distilled water is quite important.
3. Check that the water is body temperature. It should feel slightly warm to the hand, not cold and not hot. If the water has cooled too much, add a little boiling water to bring it to a comfortable temperature.
4. Add one tablespoon of sea salt or other natural salt. Do NOT use normal table salt, which is chemical and typically has anti-caking agents in it. Use a natural table salt, such as pink Himalayan salt or sea salt.
5. Add the juice of half a lemon into the water (optional).
6. Spread a towel onto your bathroom floor (you may do couple of the first enemas lying in the bath if you feel better about it but an enema doesn't have to be very messy at all. I find that a towel on the floor works fine).
7. Hang the enema bag some one meter (three feet) above the floor, use string to tie it to something if necessary. (Sometimes I hang it higher but am not sure if this is advisable.)
8. Let out some water through the enema nozzle to remove any trapped air from the tube.
9. Use lubricant if needed and let the water flow into your bum/ colon. The easiest position to do this seems to be on your knees bending over.
10. Lie down whichever way feels most comfortable. If you wish, you can follow Paavo Airola's instructions of first lying on your back for a minute, then on your right side, then stomach, and then on your left side. This, as well as massaging the abdomen, will help the water reach different parts of the colon.
11. Hold the enema for 10-15 minutes if it feels easy and comfortable.
12. Sit on the toilet to let the water out. If you are very dehydrated, it might be that much of the water does not come out but gets absorbed into your system. Don't worry, drink water and, if you like, perform another enema.
13. Clean your enema pack, run some more hot water through it, with soap, rinse thoroughly. Soak the nozzle in boiling water or in disinfectant alcohol. Let it dry, store away.
14. Obviously, if you have any complications with your colon, check with a doctor first to ensure that it is safe to do this.

The whole process of taking an enema can be surprisingly quick. This is a very cheap health cure but if you prefer an upgraded method of this, and wish to spend money, you can book an appointment with a colon hydrotherapist/ nutritionist to take a colonic. With a colonic, the process is done by an experienced professional, and often the waste water comes out through a transparent hose so that you can see what comes out, whether parasites, mucus, or other things. It is also a more thorough cleanse than an enema because the water is allowed to run in and out of the colon over a period of time.

The salt in the water is important because it brings the level of sodium in the water to a similar level as the body's own fluids. It will be much more comfortable and easy to retain the enema for longer since the body is not trying so hard to expel the fluid. I have experienced this first hand. The difference between the comfort levels of a warm water enema and a salt enema is to me like night and day.

Note that the first time you may not be able to take in the whole one liter of water, that is ok and quite normal. Just take in what feels comfortable, try to retain the water for 10-15 minutes but don't stress yourself - if it feels uncomfortable, just sit on the loo and let it come out. You can take the whole 1 liter in a series of enemas, if you wish.

After taking the enema you may feel unusually tired or thirsty. This is true of most detoxification procedures because the body is performing some functions to complete the cleaning. Support your body's cleaning functions by whatever way you can; keep hydrated and rest if you feel like you need to.

How to Take a Coffee Enema

It is important to have performed the water enema for a few times before attempting a coffee enema. It can be quite harmful if the colon is blocked up and the toxins released from the liver/ gallbladder can't come out quickly enough.

The other important thing with coffee enema is the time. The recommended time to retain the coffee enema is 10 minutes and it is not advisable to hold it for longer - in fact it can be harmful. Within this limited time, the coffee should not (unless you have an underlying health problem) go into the blood stream. I was caffeine free when taking the enema and felt no adverse effects - I didn't get a caffeine rush. But I did feel surprisingly energetic and well after taking the enema.

A coffee enema follows the same procedure as the salt-water enema above but instead of sea salt and lemon you mix in some coffee. It is important to use organic fresh coffee, and NEVER instant coffee. I just bought a single espresso from my local organic shop and mixed it in the water (half an enema bag - less is better with coffee enema). The better way of doing this (some say crucial for the enema to work) is to boil a tablespoon of ground organic coffee (in ground up beans form - not liquid!) in a pot of water for 10 minutes and then sieve it, before cooling the water down.

With the coffee enema, generally, you hang the bag quite low so that the fluid flows in at a slower pace and doesn't go as high up in the colon. You lie on your right hand side, although other positions are fine as well.

If you have any complications with your colon or suspect that you are sensitive to caffeine or anything else in coffee, please consult your doctor before performing the coffee enema, or the salt water enema for that matter.

Update: 4th May 2012 - How to Take an Enema

It's been two weeks since I took my last enema, at the end of the 21-Day Juice Fast. I decided to take another coffee enema, since the first time I did it the results were so promising. I wanted to continue with the liver cleansing. Some six coffee enemas in total should do it, and I am quite happy to leave long breaks in between to let my liver adjust and recover from the cleansing effort.

I took a salt-water enema first, to ensure that my colon is as clean as possible. Coffee enema releases a lot of powerful toxins from the liver, so it is important to make sure that they have an opportunity to come out as quickly as possible. For the same reason one should not hold the coffee enema for more than 10 minutes. This time I also laid on my right side, as recommended on some websites specifically for the coffee enema.

The difference between the water enema and the coffee enema was huge. The salt-water and lemon juice enema I took first (1 liter/quart of boiled and cooled tap water, juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 tablespoon of sea salt) was very easy to retain and came out mostly clear. The coffee enema, done soon after, came out a muddy mess, with what felt like gall stones, although I couldn't see them this time. Coffee enema was also a lot harder to retain, due to the lack of salt (I wouldn't recommend salt in it, however, since that may help to retain the water longer, which - again - slows down the excretion of the toxins.) So in terms of the level of detoxification there is a clear difference between the two enemas. And I can understand why it is a general rule to do at least three successful water enemas before attempting a coffee one. (More about this written above: 'how to take a coffee enema'.)

I also felt a slight 'high' after the coffee enema, which may have been due to the caffeine - although it is not meant to be able to absorb into your system if the enema is only retained for 10 minutes. I have been caffeine free for 5 weeks now.
I also felt a little shaky afterwards and I do have this 'fresh' feeling at the top of my chest, which started already after the water enema. It is difficult to describe, and it is not the 'sparkly' feeling I've described before. Just a refreshed feeling, as if slightly cool air was passing through the top-middle of my chest. A subtle feeling, but very nice.

I am glad to have successfully detoxed my liver again. I hope this will increase my energy levels even more (last coffee enema definitely did).

To read about what I have been eating recently, see 'The Pulse Test/ Food Intolerance Test' Diary.

Wheatgrass Implant/ Flaxseed Oil Implant

Some people recommend taking implants, which are like enemas but much smaller quantities and generally absorbed by the body through the colon.

For benefits of wheatgrass implants, read: "Benefits of Wheatgrass"

For flaxseed oil (linseed oil) implant benefits, read: "Barbara Wren: Cellular Awakening"

I haven't tried either of these implants, just wanted to provide you with the links since I have heard interesting reports on how useful they may be.

Enema Bags, Coffee and Books

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