According to the philosophy of Ayurveda, the choices you make about your daily life either make you resistant to diseases or destroy them. Ayurveda offers us amazing morning rituals that aim to balance the doshas, align the body with the rhythm of nature, improve our health, charge us with positive energy, and make us more disciplined and mindful.
In this post, I will share with you 8 amazing ways to perform your ayurvedic morning routine.
8 Rituals for Your Ayurvedic Morning Routine
#1: Greet the Sun
Get up in the morning 20 minutes before sunrise. At this time, the energy of Vata fills the atmosphere, so this is the perfect time to wake up. If you get up a little earlier you will get a wonderful opportunity to fill your body with vital energy.
With the rising of the sun comes the period of Kapha – it is time to move. During this time, enjoy the silence, perform pranayama, Surya Namaskar, or a short meditation.
Also Read: 25 Actionable Ayurvedic Lifestyle Tips To Live Ayurveda Life
#2 Wake Up Your Body
In Ayurveda, it is believed that the first thing you eat/drink in the morning creates the mood for the rest of the day. Remember this thought and drink a glass of warm water with a slice of lemon or lime. Warm water stimulates the digestive tract, and citrus fruits rich in minerals and vitamins will help to cleanse your body of toxins.
#3: Wash Your Face
Rinse your face with cool water exactly seven times after waking up – this is an easy way to dispel the heat accumulated during the night and prepare your skin for the adverse effects it may face during the day: whether it’s heat, stress, or polluted air. Why seven? Well, seven is the auspicious number in Ayurveda, symbolizing the seven chakras.
Also Read: Top 21 Ayurvedic Resorts In Kerala, India To Visit In 2020
#4: Clean Your Mouth
Use a tongue scraper to get rid of plaque on the tongue. Using a scraper not only frees the tongue from contamination but also affects the taste buds, which improves appetite.
To clean your teeth, use toothpaste that does not contain synthetic or aggressive substances. You can get a special Ayurvedic toothpaste that contains various ayurvedic herbs for the health of the entire oral cavity.
At night, the heat in the body dries the mouth. Therefore it’s important to rinse your mouth with cool water and spit it out as soon as it warms up in your mouth. Repeat the procedure two or three times.
Another very beneficial technique you can use for your ayurvedic morning routine is rinsing your mouth with olive or sesame oil for 2-3 minutes. This procedure will strengthen your teeth and keep your gums healthy. After rinsing, massage your gums with your index finger to rub the remaining oil into them. Finger movements should be counterclockwise.
#5: Take Care of Your Eyes
According to Ayurveda, the eyes inherently radiate Pitta and therefore easily overheat. It is very important to lightly rinse your open eyes with cool water – this will help balance the doshas.
Morning eye exercises also should become a part of your ayurvedic morning routine. These exercises aim to strengthen the eye muscles and stimulate the eye nerve:
- Look up and down, then right and left, and diagonally.
- Rotate your eyes clockwise, then counterclockwise.
- Close your eyes and repeat 2 more times.
#6: Give Yourself a Massage
Before you start performing self-massage you need to choose an essential oil that suits your dosha. To balance the Vata dosha, use ginger, cardamom or orange essential oil. For Pitta dosha, it is recommended to use sandalwood or lavender essential oil. And eucalyptus, rosemary, and sage essential oils best suit Kapha dosha.
Drop a little oil on the ring finger of your right hand and start rubbing it into the point between your eyebrows, making small circles clockwise. Gradually deepen and slow down your breathing. If you feel weakness, place four fingers on your temples and press with a little pressure, but not with your fingertips, but with the entire surface of your fingers.
Ear massage has a beneficial effect on the whole body. Start at the top of the ear, then slowly massage the edge of the ear to the lobe with your thumb and index finger. After that, apply a few drops of sesame oil to the outer edge of the ear canal.
In Ayurveda, it is believed that the nose is a pathway to the brain. Therefore it is so important to regularly clear your sinuses! In order to clear your sinuses, rub four drops of sesame or olive oil into each nostril every morning. Very soon you sill notice that this simple procedure boosts your clarity of mind.
Also Read: Ayurveda Massage 101: Everything You Need To Know
#7: Take a Shower
Make sure you don’t skip morning showers! It’s very important to start your day by cleaning your entire body. The water temperature should be selected based on your dosha. For Pitta dosha, water should be cool. Warm water is ideal for Vata dosha. Kapha dosha will benefit from a hot shower.
According to Ayurveda, any substance that gets on the skin is absorbed and assimilated by the body. Therefore it is very important to avoid soaps and body wash products that contain a lot of artificial additives and harmful ingredients.
#8: Have a Healthy Breakfast
Make sure you have a healthy breakfast. It should be light and easy to digest. Do not overload your stomach.
The best breakfast for Vata dosha is cooked grains with sliced walnuts, chia seeds, bananas, and cinnamon. Avoid smoothies in the morning! Keep in mind that smoothies are too cooling for your body type. They can make you bloated and anxious throughout the day.
The best breakfast for Pitta dosha is overnight oats in coconut milk, goji berries, almonds, apples, cinnamon or a green smoothie. Avoid coffee, bacon, and eggs!
The best breakfast for Kapha dosha is fresh fruit, berries or a green smoothie. Avoid bananas, avocados, and pastries!
The Bottom Line
If you think that performing all these ayurvedic morning rituals is too much for you due to lack of time then you can start with choosing with just one or two practices and turn it into a morning habit. Then you can add another one. And so on. But even if you choose just one practice as your ayurvedic morning routine you will surely see a big difference. You will definitely start looking at your morning routine from a different angle.
The post Ayurvedic Morning Routine: 8 Amazing Ways to Start Your Day appeared first on Retreat Kula.
By: Katya Ki
Title: Ayurvedic Morning Routine: 8 Amazing Ways to Start Your Day
Sourced From: retreatkula.com/blog/ayurvedic-morning-routine/
Published Date: Sat, 22 Feb 2020 06:24:05 +0000
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