Karnapoorna (Karna Purana)

Karnapoorna! Or Karna Purana. And there might be a 3rd or 4th spelling or 5th spelling, but no matter, it’s important to know that it exists.

Do you know what it is?

For the seven of you raising your hands, awesome! For the rest of you, let me happily share.

Karnapoorna is one of the many therapies in Ayurveda that is done with oil. It means, putting oil in your ears!

Now, not only is it a therapy, but it’s also used as swastha vritta (mmwaahahaa..I love throwing in sanskrit sometimes just to keep you on your toes), which means preventative medicine 🙂

You can do karnapoorna as needed or once a week as part of your routine to stay healthy.

Karnapoorna is best for vata imbalances including:

• Insomnia
• Ringing in the ears
• Headaches
• TMJ
• Anxiety or worry
• Jet-lag and ears popping/crackling in airplanes

Other benefits are:

• Improves hearing
• Loosens ear wax (who doesn’t want that?!)
• Strengthens the bones in the ear
• Prevents neck stiffness

Intrigued yet? Give it a try.

It might tickle at first, but stick with it for about 30 seconds, then you should feel calm and happy.

***Do not do karnapoorna after a shower or swimming. Oil and water do not mix and it could do bad things. Mmkay?!***

Here’s what to do:

1. Warm some sesame oil or ghee and put in shallow bowl
2. Use a cotton ball to soak up the oil
3. Lay on one side and squeeze the oil out of the cotton ball into your ear (it will tickle)
4. Massage your ear lobe and bones gently for a couple minutes
5. Lay for 20 minutes (even 10 minutes does some good), bonus points if you so hum
6. Put a towel over your ear, tilt your head so the oil drizzles out
7. Repeat other side

Aaaannnnd, goodnight 😉 You will probably want to sleep.