Let It Go!

Introducing Our New Open-System Colon Hydrotherapy at Manna House

Have you ever experienced constipation? You know you need to go. You can feel that something is there, waiting to be released, but no matter how hard you try, nothing seems to happen.

Perhaps you have drunk more water, increased the fibre in your diet, taken herbs, raised your knees towards your chest or tried squatting on the toilet........and still, you cannot go. It can be uncomfortable and frustrating, leaving you wondering: “Is there anything else I can do?”

The answer is yes! There is another natural approach that can help.

At Manna House Health Education & Wellness, we are continually exploring safe and practical ways to improve the care we offer our health guests. We do not invest in new equipment simply because it is the latest thing on the market. We consider carefully whether it can provide genuine benefits, improve our guests’ experience and complement the natural therapies we already offer.

One of our latest investments is our new open-system colon hydrotherapy machine, an upgrade from the closed colon hydrotherapy system that we have successfully used with our health guests for a number of years.

Colon hydrotherapy isn't new to Manna House, and it certainly isn't new to me. I trained in colon hydrotherapy many years ago and have carried out the therapy for many years. It is actually one of the therapies I particularly enjoy because the bowel can tell us so much about what has been happening within the digestive system and, more importantly, it opens the door to conversations about diet, hydration, chewing, exercise, bowel habits and lifestyle.

Of Course, I Tried It First!

Those who know me will know that if we're going to introduce a new therapy or piece of equipment at Manna House, I generally want to experience it myself first. I want to know what it actually feels like before I ask one of our health guests to experience it.

So, naturally, one of the first people on our new open system was me!

I can genuinely say that I found it a pleasant and relaxing experience. In fact, I was comfortable enough to use my phone while I was having my colonic. More importantly, we have now had returning health guests who previously experienced colon hydrotherapy using our closed system and have subsequently used our new open system. Their feedback has been very encouraging: they much prefer the new open system.

Why We Prefer the Open System

Having worked with both closed and open colon hydrotherapy systems, I have found that the open system offers some very practical advantages for both the health guest and the practitioner.

One of the main differences is privacy and independence. With our previous closed system, the practitioner inserts the obturator into the rectum and then needs to keep it correctly positioned throughout much of the treatment. With the open system, the health guest can, if they prefer, insert the small rectal nozzle themselves. Once correctly positioned, it remains naturally in place, giving the guest a greater sense of privacy and control over their treatment.

This also changes the experience considerably for the practitioner. Because I no longer need to keep one hand underneath the health guest to maintain the position of the obturator, both of my hands are free to work with the guest. I can provide gentle abdominal massage, use an external oscillator on the abdomen where appropriate, pause the water flow to work on a particular area and then resume the flow. It gives me much more freedom to respond to the individual during the treatment.

This is something I particularly appreciate from my experience of working with people who have paralysis or significantly reduced mobility. Bowel management can be more challenging for some of these individuals, and positioning and comfort are especially important. Not having the practitioner's hand underneath the guest makes the treatment easier to manage, while the open design provides more space and flexibility for supporting someone who may need additional assistance.

Another significant difference is how the waste leaves the system. With a closed system, the waste has to pass through tubing. Where there is a considerable amount of faecal matter, particularly more solid material, some can bypass the obturator. With the open system, the waste is released directly into the basin beneath the health guest and carried straight into the waste system rather than having to travel through a narrow tube. From my experience, this is a particularly useful feature when working with guests who may have more difficulty with bowel elimination.

The open system also makes the process much easier to observe. Waste can be seen as it passes through the viewing area, and our health guests are often fascinated by what they see. As a practitioner, I find this particularly useful because it naturally opens conversations about bowel habits, hydration, fibre, chewing, diet and lifestyle. It turns the treatment into an educational experience as well as a therapy.

Alongside these practical advantages, our new machine has a five-stage water filtration system, rapidly warms the water to the required temperature and allows us to monitor the amount of water being introduced during the session.

Having now experienced the machine myself, used it as a practitioner and received feedback from returning health guests who have experienced both our old closed system and the new open system, I can understand why the new system is proving so popular. It offers greater privacy and independence for the guest, greater freedom for the practitioner and, overall, a more comfortable and flexible colon hydrotherapy experience.

The open design also means that the practitioner isn't required to keep a hand underneath the health guest to hold the obturator in position. For someone with paralysis, reduced mobility, a larger body size, or who needs more assistance with positioning, this can make the whole experience much more manageable and dignified. It also leaves the practitioner with both hands available to support the guest, gently massage the abdomen or use other external techniques as appropriate.

Clean, Filtered and Temperature-Controlled Water

Another feature of our new system is its five-stage water filtration process. The incoming water passes through five stages of filtration before being used during the treatment.

The machine also warms the water relatively quickly and allows us to control and monitor the water being used throughout the session. One feature I particularly appreciate is the ability to measure the amount of water being introduced during the treatment. We can monitor how much water has actually been used during the session.

For me, these practical improvements are important. Good equipment should support the practitioner rather than get in the way of the therapy, and our experience so far has been that the new open system gives us considerably more flexibility.

And Yes, You Can See What's Coming Out!

One of the features that creates perhaps the most conversation is being able to see what is being eliminated. The waste passes through a viewing area where it can be observed as it leaves the body.

Our health guests are often fascinated by what they can see. In fact, some are absolutely enthralled by the amount and appearance of the waste being eliminated!

For me as a practitioner, that visual aspect also provides an excellent opportunity for education. It gets people talking about their bowel habits, what they have been eating, how much water they are drinking, whether they are chewing their food sufficiently and how regularly they are eliminating. Rather than bowel health being something hidden away and never discussed, people suddenly become interested in what their body is doing. And sometimes the reaction is simply amazement:

"Did all of that really come out of me?"

It certainly makes my Let It Go! presentation come to life!

"Let It Go!"

Those of you who have attended one of our retreats may remember that I have a presentation called "Let It Go!" We usually have a few laughs during that presentation because bowel movements aren't something most of us particularly enjoy discussing. But behind the humour is a very serious message: our bowels matter.

I share some quite sobering stories during that presentation, including those of Emily Titterington, Sally Lewis and Richard Handley. These were very different individuals, but in each case constipation became extremely serious. They remind us why we shouldn't simply dismiss prolonged constipation as a trivial inconvenience.

The financial cost is also significant. Figures for England for 2018/19 estimated that there were 76,929 hospital admissions associated with constipation — approximately 211 admissions every day. The associated hospital cost was estimated at approximately £81 million, with a further £87 million spent on prescribed laxatives, giving an estimated total of around £168 million in a single year.

So although we might laugh when somebody starts talking about bowels, constipation itself is no laughing matter.

Shouldn't Our Bowels Work Naturally?

Of course they should, and this is where our approach at Manna House is important. As a naturopath, I don't want to begin with the question, "What can I give you for constipation?" I want to begin with, "Why are you constipated?"

We work from cause to effect.

Are you drinking sufficient water? Are you eating enough fibre? Are you eating predominantly whole plant foods or is your diet dominated by refined, fibre-depleted foods? Are you exercising sufficiently? Are you chewing your food properly? Are you responding to the body's natural urge to empty the bowel? Are you sitting in a position that facilitates elimination? Has your routine changed? Have you been travelling? What is happening emotionally? What is happening in your lifestyle?

These things matter because constipation is the effect. We want to understand what may be contributing to it. Diet is particularly important. Fibre comes from plant foods: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, peas, lentils, nuts and seeds. Animal flesh contains no dietary fibre. If we expect the bowel to function properly, we need to provide it with the materials that support normal elimination.

Sometimes We Need a Little Assistance

There are people who argue that because the bowel is designed to work naturally, nobody should ever need any assistance with elimination. Ideally, yes, our bowels should function normally as a result of good food, adequate water, physical activity and healthy bowel habits. But life doesn't always work perfectly.

We travel. We become stressed. Our routines change. Sometimes we don't drink enough. Sometimes we don't eat as we normally would. Sometimes we ignore the body's signals because we're busy. Sometimes our usual measures simply don't seem to get things moving.

For me, therefore, it doesn't have to be an either/or argument. We continue to find and address the cause, because that is fundamental to naturopathy, while recognising that sometimes a person may also want some assistance with elimination. Colon hydrotherapy is one of the therapies we can use at Manna House for appropriately screened health guests.

What I Find Fascinating About Colon Hydrotherapy

One of the reasons I have always enjoyed colon hydrotherapy as a practitioner is that it can provide an opportunity to observe and to educate. You begin to ask questions about what is happening with digestion and elimination. How well is this person chewing? What are they eating? How much are they drinking? How regularly are they opening their bowels? What has changed in their lifestyle?

That is where the therapy becomes much more than simply putting someone on a machine. The real value is in helping people understand their bodies.

This is very much in keeping with the naturopathic approach we use throughout Manna House. Listen to the body, identify what may be interfering with normal function, address the cause and support the body's natural processes.

A Long-Standing Interest in Colon Health

Concern about bowel health certainly isn't something we've invented at Manna House. More than a century ago, Dr John Harvey Kellogg devoted an extensive book to the subject, Colon Hygiene, published in 1916. Kellogg placed considerable emphasis on diet, exercise, bowel habits and maintaining normal intestinal function.

More than a hundred years later, many of those basic lifestyle questions remain remarkably relevant. Are we eating enough natural plant foods? Are we drinking enough water? Are we moving our bodies? Are we listening when our bodies tell us that it is time to eliminate?

Technology may have moved forward considerably, but the basic principles of healthy living haven't changed.

Ready to Experience It for Yourself?

We are really pleased with this latest investment at Manna House. Our closed system served us well for many years, but having now experienced the new open system myself, used it with our health guests and received such positive feedback from those who have experienced both systems, I believe this is a significant improvement to the colon hydrotherapy experience we are able to offer.

Of course, colon hydrotherapy is only one part of the picture. At Manna House, we always come back to the same principle: find the cause. We want you to understand what may be contributing to poor bowel function and what you can do through your diet, water intake, exercise and lifestyle to support healthy, regular elimination.

But sometimes we all need a little assistance.

So, whether you've experienced colon hydrotherapy with us before and would like to try our new open system, or you've been curious about colon hydrotherapy but never quite taken that first step, we would love to welcome you to Manna House and let you experience the difference for yourself.

Come and experience our new open-system colon hydrotherapy.

Colon hydrotherapy is available to our health guests as part of selected Manna House programmes and, where appropriate, by individual appointment following a suitability assessment.

Want to know whether colon hydrotherapy may be suitable for you? Get in touch to find out more or to enquire about booking a session.

And if you've attended one of my Let It Go! presentations, you already know what I'm going to say next…

It's Time to Let It Go!

Manna House Health Education & Wellness

Living well naturally.

NOTE: Colon hydrotherapy is offered following individual screening and is not suitable for everyone.