Details of Colema

[Holly Lisle]

> I specifically asked to hear about Holly's health experiences, and a
> "quackwatch" debate broke out.  I asked her for the info, and I would appreciate
> it if everyone would allow her to disseminate it without the need  for her to
> defend her every word.
 
> I assure you that I am an intelligent woman capable of making my own decisions
> and doing my own research on what Holly has to say--no need to debate on my
> account.  So, please, Holly explain the colonics process to me.  If I've missed
> the email on the actual description of the process, then repost.   Thanks.
> 
> Christina

You didn't miss the post.  Here are the details for the colema, which 
is one especially easy, brainless, do-it-yourself form of colonic.

(The easiest method of all would be to go to somebody who does 
them, but I am a) cheap, and b) do not trust anybody with my body 
but me.  I KNOW I'll be careful, and will not take shortcuts.  I can't be 
sure of anyone else.)

Acquire:

A colema board (a board about thirty-six inches long with a hole 
and a splash guard at one end

5 gallon bucket or closed container

Appropriate tubing

Colander that you never want to use again

Rectal tube  (about the thickness of a pencil)

KY or other water-soluble lubricant.

Fill the bucket with five gallons of water.  Various practitioners vary 
on the temperature of the water, and on what it should have in it 
(from plain water to water with added coffee or raw garlic juice or 
lemon and honey or . . . ).  Read them, decide which method makes 
the most sense to you, try a couple of different approaches.  Place 
it on the back of the toilet, preferably on top of a couple of really 
thick phone books or a stack of William Shatner and L. Ron 
Hubbard novels.  (Bad Holly!  Bad Holly!  <smack!>)  It needs to sit 
between thirty-six and fourty-two inches higher than the board -- you 
want a moderate amount of water pressure, but nothing excessive.

Put the colander in the toilet beneath the seat, and put the seat 
down on top of it. 

Prop the colema board over the toilet, with the other end balanced 
on a chair or the side of the tub.

Clear the air out of the tubing by opening the clamp briefly.

Hook up the tubing, running it through the splash guard of the board 
-- the rectal tube will insert on the inside.  The nice thing about the 
design of the Colema (tm) board is the fact that the splash guard 
prevents you from ever accidentally inserting the tube into the 
rectum more than three to four inches.  3-4" is basically safe, 
because the rectum is straight a bit further than that.  You don't want 
to use a method that inserts the tube past the first flexure of the 
colon -- that is a riskier procedure because of the chance of 
perforation.  

Lubricate the tube, and while lying down, insert it into the rectum, 
sliding hips against splash guard.

Open the clamp.  Water will start to flow into your colon.  With your 
fingertips, massage your abdomen, starting from the lower left 
quadrant and working up to the upper left quadrant, then across to 
the upper right quadrant, and down to the lower right quadrant.  
What you're doing is massaging the water up the descending 
colon, across the transverse colon, and down the ascending colon 
into the cecum.  You'll hear it sloshing.

When you feel pressure, clamp off the tubing to prevent backflow, 
then evacuate.   The tube is affixed to the back of the board and 
won't pop loose.  You don't have to get a specific amount of water 
in, you aren't trying to hold as much as you can, all you are doing is 
gently washing water in and pushing it back out.  Initially, you'll 
probably find that water hangs up in the descending colon.  After a 
few days, (about the time the descending colon starts clearing the 
crud out), the water will flow better.

The actual Colema process isn't bad.  It takes time -- about an hour 
to an hour and a half for the colema itself, about half an hour for the 
cleanup.  The aftermath is much more of a pain than the colema.  
You have to be scrupulous in clean-up, and the procedure of 
washing off the stuff in the colander to find out what your little 
hunting expedition has shaken loose is . . . well . . . yuck.  
Educational, in an ohmighod sort of way, but yuck.  Don't expect 
anything really dramatic the first couple of days.  I didn't start 
running into beef chunks until day four.  And according to both 
Walker and Jensen, you may go three or more complete cycles 
(one full week, twice a day, with seven or so weeks in between 
cycles) before the really nasty stuff breaks free.  I'm only on my first 
cycle, so I can't attest to the really bad stuff.  What I've seen so far 
has convinced me of the worth of the process.  Jensen has full-color 
photographs of some of the goodies that have come out of folks.  
Whee.

That's the basics.  Various proponents recommend various diets, 
or fasting, or nutritional supplements at the same time.  I'm 
breastfeeding right now, so I'm not open to fasting or adding a lot of 
supplements to my diet.  I eat mostly raw fruits and raw or steamed 
vegetables with whole-grain breads and pasta.  I take B-12.  That's about 
it for my regimen.

If you're interested in getting your own equipment, there are web sites that 
offer it.  I bought mine from http://www.awarinst.com/.  The guy I talked to, 
Seth, was very informative and helpful, the stuff arrived in good shape and 
promptly, and the prices were about the same as everyone else's.  The 
upfront cost for the complete setup is around $300 bucks, which is a lot, I 
know.  Going someplace to have it done is something like $30-40 a time, 
though -- having your own equipment will pay for itself and then some 
during the first cycle.

A lot of this comes down to how comfortable you are with your own body.  It 
isn't the nicest process -- it's smelly and occasionally messy and it's 
possible there are things inside of your body you would be happier never 
meeting face to face.  I'm satisfied that for me, at least, it has been and will 
continue to be worth the trouble.  Before you jump, invest in the book _Dr. 
Jensen's Guide to Better Bowel Care: A Complete Guide to Tissue 
Cleansing through Bowel Management_.  It only costs about twelve bucks, 
and not only do you get the nifty pictures and a bunch of interesting case 
histories, but you'll get really detailed descriptions of the process, and a lot 
more information than I can give on what to expect from it.  Health food 
stores and Amazon.com and probably barnesandnoble.com have the 
book, and its a cheap way to decide whether or not this is something you'd 
want to try.

Holly
          Holly Lisle --- never give up on your dreams
          --------------------------------------------
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