Dhauti, basti, neti, laulikī, trāṭaka and kapālabhāti — these are called the six acts.

Naming the six purification practices

Sutra 1.9 of the Gheranda Samhita lists the ṣaṭ-karmāṇi, the "six actions" or cleansing practices that open this text's teaching, which is structured as a sevenfold path (saptāṅga yoga) rather than the eight limbs described by Patanjali. The six named here are dhauti (cleansing practices, traditionally including internal cleansing of the digestive tract), basti (a traditional cleansing practice associated with the lower abdomen, performed under careful traditional guidance), neti (nasal cleansing, classically using a cord or, in later practice, water), laulikī (also called nauli, an abdominal churning and isolation practice), trāṭaka (steady, unblinking gazing at a fixed point, usually a candle flame, cultivating concentration alongside its traditional cleansing role), and kapālabhāti ("skull-shining," a forceful breathing practice classically associated with clearing the frontal passages).

Their traditional purpose

The Gheranda Samhita, compiled later than the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and often considered the most encyclopedic of the classical hatha texts, situates these six actions as preliminary — the text's opening chapter is devoted almost entirely to purification, on the traditional premise that a body burdened with excess is not yet a suitable vessel for the subtler practices of posture, breath regulation, and meditation that follow in later chapters. This mirrors the Hatha Yoga Pradipika's brief mention of similar practices for students in whom certain constitutional imbalances (described in traditional terms as excess of the three doshas — bodily humors in the older Ayurvedic framework referenced by these texts) are said to be present.

Scholarly context

Georg Feuerstein's writing on the hatha yoga corpus situates the ṣaṭ-karmas as reflecting hatha yoga's broader emphasis on the physical body as the starting point of practice, distinct from — but not opposed to — the more purely mental orientation of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. Traditional commentary treats these six as specialized techniques historically taught individually and adapted to a given student's specific condition, rather than as a uniform, one-size-fits-all daily routine to be performed by every practitioner regardless of need — several of which the Gheranda Samhita itself notes are prescribed only for those with particular imbalances, not universally.

How this list is used today

Very few contemporary students practice the full historical range of all six shatkarmas as literally described in the medieval Sanskrit texts, and several — particularly basti and more intensive dhauti variations — are traditionally taught only under the direct, in-person guidance of an experienced teacher, given the specific preparation and supervision the tradition considers necessary. What is more commonly and safely retained in general practice are trāṭaka (candle gazing) and, in gentler forms, cooling or clearing breathing exercises drawn from the kapālabhāti family, along with simple nasal rinsing practices in the neti tradition.

A short accessible practice: trāṭaka

1. Sit comfortably in a dim, calm room with a candle placed at eye level, an arm's length away.
2. Gaze steadily at the flame without straining, blinking normally at first, for one to two minutes.
3. Close your eyes and observe any after-image of the flame in your mind's eye, without forcing it to persist.
4. Open your eyes if the after-image fades, and repeat once or twice more.
5. Sit quietly for a further minute, noticing the quality of attention this steady gazing has produced.

A note on scope and caution

The Gheranda Samhita's opening chapter reflects a specific traditional understanding of the body and its imbalances that predates modern medicine, and its purification practices were historically taught one-on-one, adapted to the individual student, rather than performed generically from a book. Readers interested in the more physically involved shatkarmas — particularly basti and vigorous dhauti techniques — are best served by seeking instruction directly from a qualified, experienced teacher who can assess suitability, rather than attempting them from written description alone, consistent with how this material was traditionally transmitted.

Treating all six as a mandatory daily routine

A common contemporary misreading presents the shatkarmas as a checklist every yoga practitioner should perform routinely, akin to brushing one's teeth. The Gheranda Samhita itself frames several of these practices as specifically indicated for particular constitutional conditions, not as universal daily requirements for every student regardless of need — a distinction easily lost when the list is quoted as a simple bullet point.

Confusing shatkarma with asana or general exercise

Because some shatkarmas involve movement of the abdomen or spine, they are sometimes casually grouped together with postural practice (asana) in modern presentations. The Gheranda Samhita's own structure keeps these categories distinct — purification (chapter one) precedes and is separate from posture (chapter two) and the later chapters on breath regulation, sense withdrawal, concentration, meditation, and absorption. Collapsing shatkarma into general "exercise" loses the text's own careful sequencing, which treats purification as a distinct preparatory stage with its own specific aims.

Assuming these are safe to self-teach from any text

Because dhauti, basti, and vigorous kapālabhāti variations involve techniques that require careful preparation and supervision in the traditional understanding, treating a printed description as sufficient instruction is a real misreading of how this material was meant to be transmitted. The texts themselves were compiled within a culture of direct, in-person teacher-student transmission, and the Gheranda Samhita's terse verse form assumes a teacher filling in the practical detail — an assumption modern readers using the text in isolation can easily overlook.