Fill the pot with warm water (about blood heat) and stir in a half to one teaspoon of salt, making it similar to your tears. If the solution stings there is too much salt, test for temperature and salinity by taking a little into the mouth as if to gargle. Tip your head sideways over a sink, put the spout in one nostril and pour steadily. The salty solution should run out the other nostril (it may take some practice to get it right), use the full pot. Refill the pot and repeat on the other nostril, then blow your nose freely through both nostrils.

Some practitioners use more rigorous drying after using the NETI pot. For this you stand with feet together, hands clasped behind the back. Bend forward from the waist until your head is upside down, hold for 30 seconds then blow vigorously through the nose 5 times. Stand up, close one nostril and breathe in and out 30 times in quick succession, using the exhalation to expel as much moisture as possible. Repeat on the other nostril, and then with both nostrils open. NETI can be done once or twice a day to keep your air passages clear.