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ancestral skills

100% natural way to eliminate yourself

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posted 14 years ago

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A few words on the problems of sitting elimination and the benefits of squatting, and how to do it on the regular toilet. (Witty) instructions on using the toilet -- by squatting down! Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4Cdrdc0TSA

More info: On harmfulness of sitting evacuation

Gary Park

Posts: 147

Location: St. Louis, MO

posted 13 years ago

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Very informative. I've always suffered from bowel problems, and now my 2 1/2 year old has a really hard time pooping too. We're both going to try this method.

Posts: 106

posted 13 years ago

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of course the higher raised toilet is more convenient for older people, who have problems with their knees and getting up from a squatting position.

Aljaz Plankl

Posts: 386

posted 13 years ago

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Elfriede B wrote:
of course the higher raised toilet is more convenient for older people, who have problems with their knees and getting up from a squatting position.

True, but we should ask ourselves where those knee problems come from. And eliminate the causes. Taking a shit is connected to what we put in our mouth also, so i will point out one of my favorite quotes that goeas along all natural habits we've lost:
"Unless people can become natural people, there can be neither natural farming nor natural food." - Masanobu Fukuoka

Aljaz Plankl

Posts: 386

posted 13 years ago

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GPtech, i hope it works for you. If you will need more time at first, i advise you to squat on floor and breath in, wait, breath out for a minute or two. When you feel something is going on, squat on a toilet and enjoy.

orto del sole

Posts: 47

Location: Italy-Slovenia Border Karst

posted 13 years ago

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...in a way its important to add 2 important aspects before the squatting!

1. Eating with hands without the use of forks, spoons ecc. Since the liver directly starts making the right gastric juices when fingers feel the food, liver is very sensible, and

2. After the meal sitting in the 'vajrasana' position for 10min helps to direct the food in mixing the juices produced, then finally squatting the next morning to finish the cycle! wow, natural complete cycle!

Rob Seagrist

Posts: 717

Location: NC-Zone 7

posted 13 years ago

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OK, this sounds logical. Im a little concerned on how to do this since it would seem the distance above the water would make for a rather large splash I would think. And what do you do in public? There is no way Im putting any part of my body on a filthy toilet! LOL, I always put down toilet paper. I think the only way to do this would be to have your pants off and shoes off correct? Loved the video and the write up though.

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Tyler Ludens

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posted 13 years ago

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Rob S. aka Blitz wrote:
And what do you do in public? There is no way Im putting any part of my body on a filthy toilet! LOL, I always put down toilet paper.

I don't know about guys pooping, but women often squat or "hover" over the seat of a public toilet for either peeing or pooping. This may result in splashing, which some ladies wipe up and some women do not.

Idle dreamer

Gary Park

Posts: 147

Location: St. Louis, MO

posted 13 years ago

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I've tried the squatting and it was near impossible, even though I squat all the time while I work on cars and in the yard. Balancing on the seat is hard and the splashing is not good either. Also if you have shoes and jeans with thermals underneath then good luck trying to climb up there. I think I'll continue to just lean forward and/or put my feet up. Good luck everyone else.

Posts: 11

posted 13 years ago

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Ha! From the title, I thought it was about committing suicide.

Haru Yasumi

Posts: 102

posted 13 years ago

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If you go to Japan or other Asian countries there are often still squatting toilets that are sunken into the ground. You squat over them and do your business. It's usually a bit tricky for me since I'm not used to it but unavoidable when visiting the countryside.

They're like this:

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Tyler Ludens

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posted 13 years ago

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Nathan Johns wrote:
If you go to Japan or other Asian countries there are often still squatting toilets that are sunken into the ground. You squat over them and do your business. It's usually a bit tricky for me since I'm not used to it but unavoidable when visiting the countryside.

They're like this:

I encountered the "hole in the floor" women's toilet in Italy decades ago. Much more rudimentary than the lovely white porcelain depicted above.

Idle dreamer

travis laduke

Posts: 163

posted 13 years ago

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I convinced a bunch of people on another forum to try this. Some were pleased with the results.

I had concluded it was impossible to get up on the terlit while wearing pants, but was soon corrected: just go into the handicap stall and hold the railing and bunny hop up there.

I think I broke the hinge on my home terlit seat. I mean, it's broken; I just don't know if I'm the one broke it.

Jorja Hernandez

Posts: 78

posted 13 years ago

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Am I the only one who thought this thread was addressing suicide? What a relief, pun intended, to find it's just about pooping.

ronie dean

Posts: 631

Location: NW MO

posted 13 years ago

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LJH wrote:
Am I the only one who thought this thread was addressing suicide? What a relief, pun intended, to find it's just about pooping.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHA
HAHAHA
HAHA
HA

Well, he said - picking himself up off the floor, When i first saw the title of the thread, i thought that maybe it was going to be a suggestion that true permaculture would be achieved when we cut out the biggest predator to the ecosystem.

Sometimes the answer is not to cross an old bridge, nor to burn it, but to build a better bridge.

Posts: 107

posted 13 years ago

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by the way.. if you're using a composting toilet- i used burdock leaves for about three months in a row last year (i think i used TP once or twice during that stint) with no issues whatsoever! The underside of the leaves are soft and fuzzy, with veins that can "scrape", the topside is soft and smooth. I was told that mullein is even softer, though I never found any to try this out with. I highly suggest these "100% natural" ways to clean yourself after using this "100% natural" way to poop!

edit: unless you're limited to one or two burdock plants... you will not have any shortage of good-sized leaves during the height of summer.

Loretta Thompson

Posts: 2

Location: Montana

posted 13 years ago

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oh this is good stuff

Don't fault a pig for having a shorter neck than a giraffe.

Andreas Brevitz

Posts: 38

Location: Sweden, Stockholm

posted 13 years ago

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Another bonus to pooping this way is that the need for wiping is reduced drastically since you don't shit through clinched cheeks.
Splashing is adressed by aiming for the side of the bowl. I personally don't think balancing on the toilet is hard, but if you do try practising.
Public toilets suck though... I do the "hover" thing there. Not satisfactory...

Jared Gardener

Posts: 40

posted 13 years ago

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For those who cannot maneuver to put their feet on the seat, you can put a trash can or bench under your feet to lift your knees to your chest.

Casey Halone

Posts: 194

posted 13 years ago

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I read this thread this summer and thought I would give it a go. pleased with results, A +++ in ebay ratings.

Warren David

Posts: 187

posted 13 years ago

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The seat is not designed to be squatted on and squatting on it is just an accident waiting to happen.
There is no need to squat on the toilet seat. There is no gravity involved in elimination. Muscular action pushes the feces out of the body. Simply sit on the seat and then lean forward so your knuckles touch your feet or the floor. Your torso and legs will now be in the same position as if you were squatting and you wont be risking breaking the seat or your neck.

richard valley

Posts: 247

Location: Sierra Nevada mountain valley CA, & Nevada high desert

posted 13 years ago

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I think that pritty well hoovers it!

William Adams

Posts: 13

Location: West Virginia

posted 12 years ago

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Given that some people thought this thread was about suicide and the balancing act contained within the thread conjoined with the design of western toilet seats it is probable that you actually can "eliminate" yourself while eliminating!

"Mankind has far passed the day that the day was met in wonderment and not expectation." - Me

Jay Green

Posts: 587

posted 12 years ago

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Why not just build a squatting platform around your commode to aid in this process so it won't have to be so dangerous? It could swing away and fold down or up to the wall when you are done. A little plywood and ingenuity goes a long way.

William Adams

Posts: 13

Location: West Virginia

posted 12 years ago

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If one were so keen on squatting to poop they were going to go through all the thought, planning and investment to make a platform for a toilet not designed to be squatted on it seems to me the more rapid and surefire approach to safely squat would be to just install a squat toilet that was designed for the purpose I suppose. That is unless people like doing things the hard, convoluted way.

"Mankind has far passed the day that the day was met in wonderment and not expectation." - Me

Jay Green

Posts: 587

posted 12 years ago

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Yeah...they only cost $440 a piece and would require a completely different setup to attach to your existing pipes, but, hey, why not? We can wipe on some of the money we like to flush down the toilet!

Jonathan Fuller

Posts: 29

posted 12 years ago

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Speaking of a platform for pooping, I had a professor back in College who designed and attempted to market a movable stand to allow for this on standard western toilets. I doubt they are still available though. This was back in the 80's that he was trying to sell them. He eventually added a magazine stand so you could read while performing your necesaries and managed to sell some of them by not mentioning the original purpose too much.

The one benefit to having a small bathroom is when the toilet is positioned faceing the tub. Then you can put yoru feet up and relax

Devon Olsen

Posts: 1273

Location: Central Wyoming -zone 4

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posted 12 years ago

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the squatting toilet was an interesting thought but takes up a LOT more space and comes with added risk of lil kids falling in or throwing in trash to clog your pipes and destroy your septic system(yes kids do this sorta thing occassionally)

but interesting thought, i had heard this before from permies related stuff but this provided a link to explaining it a lot better

i also thought this was a suicide thread lol

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N. Singh

Posts: 1

Location: Punjab, India

posted 12 years ago

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There is this http://www.squattypotty.com/ a platform that you put in front of the toilet. I am in India and they do make a sitting/squatting combo toilet. I will have to go out to the bathroom and take a picture of it to post, it is too late to go outside for this now so I will post it next time I'm on.

Devon Olsen

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Location: Central Wyoming -zone 4

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posted 12 years ago

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^definately a good idea, but i suppose one could also just keep a stool nearby when on the toilet

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Alex Freedman

Posts: 275

posted 12 years ago

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As someone mentioned earlier, you can balance your feet on a small bathroom size waste basket. This is how I've been "squatting over the toilet for years. Sit on the seat, put the wastebasket in front of you so that you can place your feet on each of the sides. And Voila! instant squatting support!

Daniel Morse

Posts: 295

Location: SW Michigan

posted 12 years ago

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Really? Ok, my two cents.

I am lazy. I sit. Spreadem and push. Period. I do not linger and often need not much wipe. Your diet if right should help you. Exercise is everything. Hydration is key also. I am not too fond of the leaf thing, but most toilet paper is a joke. I use nose tissue. It works well and you need lots less.

Now, please wash your hands!

I have never met a stranger, I have met some strange ones.

Greta Fields

Posts: 218

posted 11 years ago

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Oh. I thought this thread was about suicide, haha.
Try grapes.

Chris Kott

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Location: Marmora, Ontario

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posted 11 years ago

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Is everyone familiar with the outhouses that feature a seat-level bench with a hole in it, and maybe a toilet seat on that? That's what we're talking about in form, right? Why not just box in a standard toilet? Build a storage space into it, tile it to match the floor, route your RMH bench through it, whatever. One post already mentioned that.

-CK

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein

Greta Fields

Posts: 218

posted 11 years ago

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If you box in a standard toilet bowl, the poop will clog the drain hole, which is curved. You must have water to make poop go down a standard toilet. Sometimes kids stop toilets up throwing toy airplanes down them etc. No...you must cut out a hole with a straight drop down into the poop receptable. Now, I AM the expert here, since I have been a plumber most of my life, and plumbed 20-30 houses and trailers. And cleaned out LOTS of stupid stopped up water toilets.
The WORST stoppage I ever saw was lard down a six inch sewer. I had to go down a ladder in a manhole, and giant plaques of LARD was floating around on pools of water. It's this sort of thing that turns you against conventional lifestyles.

Chris Kott

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posted 11 years ago

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I'm sorry, Greta, I must have been unclear. I meant to suggest that it might be possible to build a cabinet around a conventionally installed toilet, with access left to switch out hardware/do plumbing, etc, just like most bathroom sinks have a cabinet hiding the plumbing underneath, how the bathtubs that aren't free-standing are set into walls and tiled in.

-CK

Greta Fields

Posts: 218

posted 11 years ago

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oh. I misunderstood you! But yes, I am actually about to do that. My house is split level, and the bathroom is about 5 or 6 feet off the ground, so there is plenty room underneath it for a composting chamber. There is already a bathtub and commode etc. in this bathroom. I plan to leave it all installed, and put the composting commode in a clothes closet on one end of the bathroom.
I plan to do SOLAR COMPOSTING TOILETS also, to make humanure compost fast. It will have a grid that poop falls on, dries out and falls through. I will put glass over the grid, and sun will dry it out fast. Do you think that will work? I am afraid the poop will stick to the grid instead of falling through like it is supposed to. Or maybe I could just skip the grid and let it fall on a surface.
\ The Nearings used a grid, and they put a light bulb underneath it to make poop dry out.
I have oversized septic tanks right now, but they are not good for the soil, and you can't tell what people put down them. I clean with vinegar and soda a lot, but other people put chemicals down the tanks, and trees near the line died.

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