Addicted to pot.

Lately I've been doing hits. Up my nose. Specifically in one nostril and out the other. Once, sometimes twice a day. The high? Unbelievable. It takes me to another place, that place being the land of breathing freely again. Yes, I, like so many others, have become addicted to the practice of jala neti.
Back in March, I had a terrible upper respiratory cold that lingered for weeks...and weeks...and weeks. Spring is a difficult time in Korea, due to the arrival of yellow dust from the Gobi Desert in China. The first year we were here, it wasn't too bad, and I certainly didn't suffer anything healthwise because of it. This year, however, the yellow dust pollution was awful, so awful that on many sunny days it was impossible to view the mountains behind us as a result. And somehow all the pollen and dust caught up with me. And after five subsequent visits to the doctor and trying several different remedies (antibiotics, nasal spray, gargle, etc.), we finally determined that it was allergy-related. My physician gave me some German antihistamines and sent me on my way. After about a week with these, the medication failed to help. My dear mother included a bottle of Zyrtec with Paul's birthday package, and for a while, I was very hopeful that this was the answer. It did seem to be working fairly well, afterall. However, when the rains returned to Sokcho (we have a short rainy season here in the summer), so did the symptoms: the congestion, the mucous, the itchy eyes, and the sneezing. I'd wake up exhausted and I could feel the goo building up in the back of my throat after being horizontal for the night.
At the party yesterday (and also from some friends and my mother), I heard about something called neti pots. I did some research to find out what was involved, and it made absolute sense to me. Cleaning out the nasal passages in order to flush out the junk. Cool.
I knew it'd take a long while to actually get one sent here if I ordered it online, and I was eager to try, so I researched how to make my own homemade neti pot (until I can get a real one next month). I added some salt to some warm water and put it into a cleaned out mouthwash container and gave it a try. The first cleansing felt good, but didn't keep me from blowing my nose pretty soon afterwards. However, with the following flushes, I have noticed improvement. And I definitely noticed a difference this morning when I woke up!
So, sorry to be gross or revealing, but when you haven't been able to breathe normally in a looooooong time, it's pretty dang exciting when a solution has been found. I HIGHLY recommend this practice. I know I'm gonna be doing it often!