Page:Hatha yoga - or the yogi philosophy of physical well-being, with numberous excercises.djvu/94

94 The colon is a great big sewer through which should pass freely the sewerage of the system. Nature intends this sewage to be removed speedily, and man in his natural state, like the animals, does not long delay this necessary casting off. But as he grows more civilized, he does not find it so convenient, and so he postpones nature's calls, until at last she gets tired of calling his attention to the matter, and goes off and attends to some of her other numerous duties. Man helps along this abnormal unnatural state of affairs by neglecting to partake of sufficient water, and not only does not give the colon sufficient fluids to properly moisten, soften and loosen the waste matter on its way from the system, but he even lets his body run so short of fluids that nature, in desperation, draws back through the walls of the colon some of the water already given it for its use—failing to get spring water for her work, she must needs use sewer water. Imagine the result! The failure of man to allow a free passage of this refuse matter from the colon results in constipation, which is the source of innumerable cases of ill-health the real nature of which is generally not suspected. Many people who have a movement of the bowels each day are really constipated, although they do not know it. The walls of the colon are encrusted with impacted waste matter, some of which has been there for many days, a small opening in the middle of the mass allowing what is absolutely necessary to pass through. Constipation means a state in which the colon is not perfectly clean and free of impacted faecal matter.

A colon filled, or partially filled, with old faecal