Hi Alvin:
Basti is simple warm water enema with a gravity bag, hose with clamp, and an insert fitting at the end. Tap water can be used if it is free of bacteria. If not, use bottled water. Just fill up (a quart or so), either leaning over on the toilet or lying down, and wait for a few minutes before expelling. It is a good colon clean-out.
For spiritual purposes basti is done every morning before bathing and sitting practices, along with jala neti (nasal wash, discussed
here). However, as mentioned earlier, this is not a routine for beginning yogis/yoginis, nor needed for advanced practitioners with ecstatic conductivity well established. That is mainly what these practices are for, middle stage cultivation of ecstatic conductivity, done in conjunction with a full yoga routine.
However, basti will clean the colon for sure, which is a useful side effect for health.
Can basti become a habit that we cannot let go of, so we are bound to the bag forever to eliminate? Not in my experience. I used it for a solid 3 years in the 1980s and it was an important part of ecstatic awakenings back then. Then it dropped off and I have used it only occasionally since then. Elimination becomes part of the overall ecstatic neurobiology, but it takes a transition (with a full range of practices) to get there. The cleansing shatkarmas are part of that transitional phase.
So you can see why I am dragging my feet on basti and cleansing shatkarmas in general. If you start with daily basti now, when will you stop? How far off is middle stage? That is the question. But if you need it for health, it can work. Obviously, you don't want to become dependent on it for elimination forever. If it is used mainly for health purposes, then maybe once or twice per week will be plenty. When the inner energies are moving (kundalini), your rising bhakti will let you know to do more basti and other shatkarmas.
Dhauti is the intestinal wash -- drinking salted water for a full GI tract flush. Is that what "Laghoo Shankprakshalana" is? Dhauti should not be done often. It does deplete the system much more than basti. Weekly would be a lot. Monthly is even too often for some. I rarely used it. It is drinking 2-4 quarts of salted water (about the same salt concentration as used in comfortable jala neti) over 10-15 minutes, and then lying down on the
left side (best flow through intestines) for 20-30 minutes. Then run for the toilet. It's best to plan on at least a half hour of eliminating off and on, and then lie down and rest afterward. The salt causes the water to pass straight through the entire GI tract for a big flush out. Besides the cleansing, this can be very depleting. This is what hospitals have you do before major surgery -- complete emptying of the GI tract.
Basti is the more practical method, I think -- it can be done daily with relative ease (not a big operation like dhauti) and is not depleting. In fact, basti brings energy once ecstatic conductivity gets going.
Alvin -- As for all those cramps and difficulties in the colon, it sounds like stress. The cure for that is deep meditation and spinal breathing, and some consideration of lifestyle. Besides keeping up your spiritual practices as simple and relaxed as possible, you will be making choices as you move forward in life with education, career, living space, friends, lover, etc. How those choices are made will have a bearing on how you feel inside. Right now you are living a rather cramped and stressful life. Is it surprising that you feel cramped and stressed inside? Maybe you have not had a choice so far, but you will as time goes on. So choose wisely!
The guru is in you.