Local nasal irrigation product on Oprah

By TOM KANE

HONESDALE, PA - It’s every writer’s and product promoter’s dream to be on the Oprah Winfrey Show. You become a star overnight and sell your book or your device by the thousands.

That just happened to the Himalayan Institute’s neti pot a few weeks ago. Neti is Sanskrit for "nasal cleansing." Oprah’s medical expert, Doctor Mehmet Oz, spent an hour on the show discussing the healing potential of the unusual device that looks like a genie pot with a pointed spout. Actually, this was the third appearance of the pot on the show, the first coming around April of 2007.

“This time, the pot was discussed for an entire hour on the value of nasal irrigation and each person in the audience got a free pot,” said Matthew Douzart, executive director of the institute.

“The biggest misconception is that the pot is to be used to fight a cold or relieve sinus problems or allergies,” he said. “For instance, you don’t brush your teeth when you think you are getting a cavity. You brush all the time. It’s the same here. You use the pot to prevent problems and ward off infections.”

This writer has been using the neti pot for this purpose for several years.

The institute is awaiting a tidal wave of requests for the pot in the mail and over the Internet because that’s what happened after the first and second appearance on the show. At that time, the request for the pot went out of sight.

“We sold out overnight,” Douzart said. “The pot went from being considered a weird device for nutty people who dress funny to a totally mainstream help for insuring good health.”

Two years ago, we would sell about a 1,000 a year,” he said. “Now, we sell a 1,000 a day.”

The pot is manufactured in China. “That’s one of the few places that can produce the pot on such a large scale,” he said.

This pot is made from polylactic acid, a bio-plastic made from plant starch that is commercially compostable, but can last nearly forever.

“The old pots were made from petroleum,” he said. “This pot uses 60 percent less energy to produce.”

Nasal irrigation is an ancient practice that goes back thousands of years, he said. “The neti pot use has a strong connection to meditation and the breathing that is a central part of the practice of yoga. It comes out of Vedic and Hindu traditions over 4,000 years ago,” Douzart said.

The device and its use came through the influence of the Himalayan Institute’s first spiritual leader, Swami Rama, who introduced it to the West.

For more information visit www.himalayaninstitute.com or call the institute at 570/253-5551.