There are very simple things you can do to fortify your body and mind against unnecessary disease and suffering. And what could be more simple than properly sitting on the toilet.
This strategy takes no extra time out of your day to accomplish. In fact, it’ll save you time, because it should lessen the time you spend on the toilet. If you’re one of those people who has tons of reading material in the restroom, then I’m speaking to you. You can remove those books and magazines because you won’t have to wait and wait and wait for your bowels to move! If you’ve ever felt that after you’ve done the deed and there was something left behind — in other words, you really haven’t completely evacuated — this strategy should make a big difference.
But I do have to also say that having the proper amount of magnesium saturating your body along with proper hydration will go a long way to making your intestinal peristalsis work effectively and efficiently.
What is proper hydration? Measure your body weight in pounds, divide that number by half, drink that many ounces of water per day. In each liter put ¼ tsp of sea salt.
A Short History of the Western Toilet
First, you should keep in mind that it’s only been since the industrial revolution that humans started sitting on toilets again. I say “again” because archaeological digs show toilets with flushing water existed in 3,000 B.C. Pakistan and India! Ancient Egypt and Rome also had some impressive plumbing going on but it was mainly reserved for the upper classes.
It really wasn’t until the 19th century the commoner switched from the great outdoors and chambers pots to their own in–house facilities, which meant they sat in an elevated position. Some history books report that many doctors at the time were concerned with how unnatural excreting in a sitting position appeared.
How Other Cultures Use the John
Asia, Africa, South America and parts of Australia use the “squatting” method. Now, before you get too concerned, I’m not suggesting you remove your toilet and start squatting over the hole in the floor. Let me explain…
Why Sitting on the Toilet is Such a Problem
I didn’t learn this in medical school. I wish I had. Because if doctors knew this information and passed it on to their patients, it would dramatically cut the incidence of colon cancer and stop the chronic constipation that affects over 60% of the population!
Nature designed our anal canal so that in any posture other than squatting, the puborectalis muscle (from the pubic bone to the rectum) restricts the anal canal. These muscles are are responsible for the control we have over our bowel movements much like certain pelvic muscles control urination. You can feel it tightening when you really need to go and you have to clench down until you get to the restroom.
When in a standing or sitting position this “sling” is pulled tight around the anal canal. It’s a great safety valve that prevents accidents! But what you may not know is that it’s only when our knees come near our chest that this sling is loosened.
It’s worth noting that countries in Asia and Africa have a very low incidence of colon cancer – where squatting is still the norm. Also, 80% of all colon cancers occur at the far end of the colon. So, the risks of sitting upright on the toilet are hard to deny… but fortunately easy to correct.
Make It Happen
There are several ways you can continue to use the toilet without trying to push your stools out through a clenched anal passage.
1. No Fuss Version: Lean forward on your toilet seat until your chest touches your knees. Wrap your arms around your thighs to help hold you down. This provides a good stretch at the same time. Inhale deeply (not too deeply, though, considering where you are…) and then exhale pushing down on your pelvic muscles. The rest I’ll leave to your imagination.
2. Luxury Version: Get a little footstool 2–3 feet high that you leave in front of your toilet. When you sit on the toilet, place your feet on the stool and follow the same instructions as in the No Fuss Version. You can get a nice looking footstool that will become a welcome piece of décor in your bathroom. If you have children, you may already have such a stool as part of their potty–training set.
3. Advanced Version: Get a stool that goes almost as high as the toilet itself. Even a chair will do. This way your feet will be just a little lower than the toilet seat. This is essentially a full squatting position. It may take a little balance and practice. Highly recommended for children. This version is better than the lower stool or leaning forward because you have gravity to help pull your bowel movement out and is the closest to being out in the wild.
4. Professional Version: With a properly raised platform you can sit in a full squatting position easily. Nature’s Platform offers a platform that takes only a few seconds to set up and fold up. They’ve taken into account key factors like having the platform tilt back five degrees so you don’t have to balance on the balls of your feet.
5. The Squatty Potty: I use this particular footstool because it fits around the base of the toilet and doesn’t get in way like a stool or telephone books.
Questions and Answers
I’m not constipated, should I still bother doing this strategy?
Often times people are constipated and they don’t realize it. Just because you have one daily bowel movement doesn’t mean you’ve completely cleared your colon. Try this strategy for a month and see if your bowel movements start to become larger and/or more frequent. Also, more subtle toxins, parasites and congestion may be building up in your colon and you are absorbing toxins into your bloodstream. That problem would be eliminated by having more complete bowel movements.
The position will also improve bladder function because you’re not stressing your pelvic nerves by trying to push your excrement through a clamped anal passage. Hemorrhoids have also been known to disappear permanently thanks to adopting this posture.
I don’t notice any difference — am I doing something wrong?
Keep in mind that for your entire life you’ve been stressing your anal canal and the puborectalis muscle. Even when you first start adopting the correct posture, they still may be tense and clamped. Just give it time. Usually after seven days people start noticing an improvement. Make sure you do the deep breathing as this will help the muscle and the anal canal to relax. Try tensing when you inhale and then relaxing when you exhale. Sometimes purposefully tensing the puborectalis muscle will enable you to purposefully relax it.