Page:Hatha yoga - or the yogi philosophy of physical well-being, with numberous excercises.djvu/93

Rh waste matter than the average man or woman who allows his or her food to reach the stomach only partially prepared for digestion and assimilation. The average person wastes at least half of what he eats—the waste matter of those who follow the Yogi practice being comparatively small and much less offensive than that of the average person.

In order to understand our subject, we must take a look at the organs of the body having to do with it. The large intestine of the "Colon" (the large bowel) is the part of the body to be considered. The colon is a large canal nearly five feet in length, passing up from the lower right-hand side of the abdomen, then passing over to the upper left-hand side, then passing down again to the lower left-hand side, where it makes sort of a twist or curve, and grows smaller, terminating in the rectum or exit of the waste matter of the system.

The small intestine empties into the colon by means of a small trap-door arrangement, on the lower right-hand side of the abdomen, this trap-door is so arranged that it allows matter to pass out, but will not allow it to pass back. The Vermiform Appendix, the seat of appendicitis, is just below this entrance. The colon rises straight up on the right-hand side of the abdomen, then makes a curve and passes right over to the upper left-hand side; then descends straight to the lower left-hand side, where the peculiar twist or curve called the Sigmoid Flexure occurs, following which is the rectum or smaller canal leading to the anus, which is the opening in the body through which the waste matter passes out of the body.