Ayurveda Today & Every Day!

Ayurveda anchors itself in alignment with the cycles of nature, both literally and energetically. By practicing daily routines, or dinacharya, that center around these cycles, you find balance and a sense of grounding. You can also cultivate a calm, sustainable energy to support you throughout the day and avoid energy crashes come early afternoon. Ayurvedic routines for the morning are cleansing and energizing. Nighttime routines help to calm the mind and wind down after a bustling day.

Practices to Incorporate in the Morning

Be Early to Rise

By rising with the sun (around 6-7am), you’ll be able to take full advantage of the silence of the morning. The early hours of the day carry the elements of the vata dosha, bringing with them stillness in which you can center yourself. This is the ideal time to meditate and prepare for your day. When you awaken after sunrise, you allow yourself to become susceptible to sluggishness–ward off low energy by rising early.

Clear Your Airways

While we sleep, our airways can become congested and blocked–mucus builds up and allergens can get caught. In the morning, flush your sinuses with a neti pot. By clearing the airways, the flow of breath as well as the ida and pingala nadis–two energy channels that allow for inner exploration–become equalized while ridding your body of toxins.

Tongue Scraping

Another means of clearing toxins from the system is tongue scraping. By doing this daily, you remove dead cells and other unwanted substances, and allow your taste buds to have the space to function naturally.

Drink Warm Water

Flush your kidneys and gastrointestinal tract, as well as stimulate the agni (metabolic fire). Add in lemon for excess kapha & vata or lime for pitta. This prepares your system for food so that you can reap its benefits to the fullest.

Practice Abhyanga

Ayurveda recommends massaging with warm, pure oils to detoxify and moisturize your skin. This also helps to stimulate the circulatory system and warm the muscles to gently prepare you for all the movement of the day.

Warm a small amount of sesame oil and, beginning with the scalp, followed by the face and the neck, massage in circular motions. Apply oil to your palms as needed and work your way down one shoulder, arm, and wrist, using long, up-and-down strokes along your limbs and circular motions on your joints. Repeat this on the other side. Afterwards, shower, dry off, and apply a small amount to the skin to hold in moisture for the rest of the day.

Practices for Nighttime

Dim the lights

Lower the lights in your environment and limit screen time at least an hour before going to sleep. This will help ease the mind and slow thoughts so you’re prepared to fall asleep.

Aromatherapy

Light some incense, a candle, or use essential oils to bring a sense of calm, grounding, and balance.

Prepare a Warm, Soothing Beverage

Unwind with a hot drink before bed. Chamomile, valerian, and lemon balm teas are all natural remedies for insomnia. They soothe and condition the nervous system for sleep.

Breathing Techniques

To prepare for sleep and calm the mind, engage in Nadi Shodhana, or alternate nostril breathing. This technique calms the nervous system while opening and balancing the sushumna nadi (the energy channel responsible for steadying the mind).

Begin by placing your thumb on your right nostril. With this nostril covered, close your eyes and exhale fully and slowly through your left nostril. Once you've exhaled completely, release your right nostril and put your ring finger on the left nostril. Breathe in deeply and slowly from the right side.

Try a couple out! Start small–just one or two–and after a week, assess your mood and energy levels. Then you can add a couple more and repeat the process. Before you know it, these practices will become an indispensable part of your daily routine.

Creating a Sacred Space

These are rituals best practiced in a sacred space–a space that includes both our physical environment and the internal space we cultivate within ourselves.

This doesn’t mean you need a specific room in your home that you carry out your practices. A sacred space can be created anywhere, immediately before performing your routine. This is simply to leave space for mindfulness so you are ready to receive the benefits of your practices to their fullest.

Creating a sacred physical environment looks like dusting, smudging, and using aromatherapy to help calm the energy of the space.

Create a sacred internal space by chanting, using visualization, or mantra prayer to calm the fluctuations of the mind and center yourself.

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Yours in Health.