Ayurveda & Balance: Morning Routine

To live a balanced lifestyle, practicing a consistent morning routine is a key to success. As Ayurvedic physician Vasant Lad suggests, "Routine helps to establish balance in one's constitution. It also regularizes a person's biological clock, aids digestion, absorption and assimilation, and generates self-esteem, discipline, peace, happiness, and longevity." For this reason, routine is important for overall health. Starting off your day with a consistent morning routine helps set the tone for the remainder of the day. We conferred with Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar, best-selling author, Ayurvedic practitioner and motivational speaker. Here are a few Ayurvedic 'rituals' that we suggest: 1. Wake with the sun. Rising first thing in the morning with the sun sets our internal clock and initiates a calm mindset as we begin our day. 2. Drink a glass of water. Drink a glass of warm water. This helps cleanse the GI tract and flush kidneys. 3. Scrape your tongue. The oral cavity is the major gateway to the human body, and the mouth harbors a whole range of bacterial species. While we sleep, undigested food and toxic bacteria accumulate on our tongues. Tongue scraping first thing in the morning is key to removing this bio-burden and toxic buildup, and stimulates our internal organs. It ignites our digestion for the day. 4. Brush & floss. Use your Ionic Toothbrush to remove plaque quickly and efficiently to reveal a cleaner, whiter smile. Get comfortably between your teeth with Smart Floss®, leaving a nice, refreshing cardamom taste in your mouth. 5. Oil pull. Oil pulling is the Ayurvedic practice of swishing or ‘pulling’ oil in your mouth for a period of time in order to pull toxins from the body. For full instructions and a visual on how to oil pull, check out this link. 6. Meditate. Find a comfortable seat on the floor or sit in a chair that you can routinely visit each morning around the same time. This routine will help encourage consistency in your meditation practice. 10 minutes or more of meditation each morning will help you de-stress, focus, and energize for whatever the day may bring. What do you do during your morning routine? We'd love to hear from you in the comments!