If getting up in mornings is a struggle, you feel exhausted by midday, or you feel restless all the time then, it is time to reset your daily habits and your body clock.
Ayurveda regards Dincharya (the daily routine) as the essence of your health and body. The way you look and feel is the outcome of your daily routine.
An imbalanced routine which involves getting up late, sleeping late or wrong meal times can shatter your health and body in the longer run.
So, to remain healthy from mind, body, and spirit a healthy daily routine is a must. It will not only ask you to eat healthily but there are a lot of things beyond this.
To know more about the Ayurvedic daily routine read the below article.
Table of Contents
Creating A Manageable Routine
The Ayurvedic aspects vary, a few of them are very easy and quick to adapt but a few of them need continuous effort, willpower, and commitment.
If you are going to adopt a daily routine for the first time or you are already doing it, it is important not to get too emotional. It is because taking it too much might stress you up.
Consider the daily routine as a part of your life and take it in a normal way to gain the maximum benefits.
A good way can be adding little new things daily, instead of doing all of them at once. Commit yourself to 2-4 things at the beginning and slowly increase your number of commitments.
Moreover, the practices sound appealing and make you eager to try all at once. However, the most important is consistency, commitment, and carrying it slowly and steadily.
An Ayurvedic daily routine can balance up your body from inside and outside but the key is the regularity. Suppose, if you follow the routine for a week and then again miss it for the other week then it will only harm you.
Remember the idea is to make this practice a habit. For example, if you don’t eat food you can’t do anything, the same way must be your daily routine.
No matter what happens, practice it until it becomes a habit for you. Beleive us, once you get this habit then nobody can stop you from being healthy, relaxed, and contended all the time.
Some aspects of an Ayurvedic daily routine are very quick and easy to incorporate into your day, regardless of your schedule. Other practices require some constant effort and a strong level of commitment.
A routine can have a soothing effect on your entire organism, but much of the benefit will be lost if you can’t do it regularly. In this respect, less truly is more.
With time and practice, you will feel effortless. So, it’s high time now start with a new healthy Ayurvedic daily routine to benefit your mind, body, and spirit.
The Traditional Ayurvedic Routine
Below is an introduction to an ayurvedic daily routine in detail. Remember this is ideal. Please make sure you don’t start doing all the things next morning, instead adapt them slowly in your life.
We have jotted down all the ideal practices and a description of how they will benefit you. As you go through the list, pay attention to the elements of existence and how your body responds to them.
1. Wake Up Early
You should wake up between 4-6 a.m. It is good to wake up before sunrise as there are qualities of nature that will bring peace and happiness to your life.
It is considered the most peaceful and sattvic time to get up. The sunrise varies according to the season.
However, on an average a predominant Vata person gets up by 6 am, a predominant Pitta person gets up by 5.30 am and a Kapha person gets up by 4.30 am.
Get up and sit straight. Look at your hands and move them from your face to chest, and waist. Gently take deep breaths and develop an attitude of gratitude.
If possible pray for two minutes. In your prayer thank god for the existence of nature and yourself. Thank him for the love and peace in your life and giving you a beautiful day ahead.
2. Clean Your Mouth, Face, And Eyes
Next thing, is to clean your entire face and mouth with cold water.
First, wash your eyes with water or if you wish you can go for ayurvedic eyewashes too. There is a tridoshic Triphala eye wash to cleanse your eyes.
Next, splash your face with cold water and rinse your mouth. Gently massage your eyelids and face with your hands for a minute.
Blink your eyes a few times and rotate your eyelids in all directions. At the last, wipe your face with a towel.
3. Drink Water
Drinking a glass of normal water is very crucial. If possible fill a pure copper cup with water a night before and drink the same in the morning.
The water will wash the gastrointestinal tract, flush the kidney, and stimulates the food movement for excretion.
Never start your day with a coffee or tea as it drains the energy from your kidney and stresses your adrenal gland causing constipation. If you have this habit of drinking caffeine try to stop it.
4. Eliminate
Elimination of the waste in the morning is a good habit as per the Ayurvedic principles. It is because the body structure is to act as per nature’s cycle. At night, your body calms and cools down and in the morning with the sunrise, your body goes in absorption mode.
If during the day you eliminate the waste material created at night then you might absorb a few of the waste materials which can weaken your immune system.
However, you can always pass bowels twice a day but passing in the morning is essential. Never wait or control your bowel urge.
If you feel difficulty in passing bowel in the morning or you are not used it then you can try some ayurvedic herbs. The herbs act as a laxative and help smoothen down the elimination process. The Triphala powder can be consumed for the same.
Mix a spoon of Triphala powder in a glass of water before going to bed. Next day you will see you can easily pass your motion. Triphala takes out all the toxins from your body and also helps in blood purification.
Lastly, prefer to sit or squat in the toilet and wash your anal orifice with hot water and hands with soap after washing the orifice.
5. Cleansing The Senses
Ayurvedic principles ask to cleanse your sense in the morning to keep them sharp and rich throughout the day.
The process to clean the senses is given below:
i) Ears: Wash your ears. Next, apply a thin coat of sesame oil with your pinkie finger inside the ear. This will remove excess earwax, and help to eliminate ear issues like poor hearing, TMJ, and lockjaw.
ii) Nose: To clean the nasal passages and sinus, prefer using a neti pot. Put a few drops of oil or ghee in each of your nostrils to clean them of any dirt or mucous. The process of putting oil in the nose is known as Nasya in Ayurveda.
iii) Teeth: Use a soft toothbrush and an astringent, pungent, and bitter toothpaste. The best is a neem stick to remove the fine particles from your teeth.
iv) Tongue: Scrape your tongue with a tongue cleaner to remove any coating. Alternatively gently scrape the tongue from the back forward, until you have scraped the whole surface for 7-14 strokes.
Notice your tongue in the morning a thick coating of toxins from the digestive tract go and sits there. Scraping it will purify your taste sense and also benefit indigestion.
6. Exercise
Daily exercise helps to increase the blood circulation and oxygenation of the tissues. It also provides you strength, tones up your body, remove fat, and keep you fit and energetic.
The best form of exercise is yoga. You can access your best time of exercise considering your Prakriti (your body type).
The yoga forms as per the predominant doshas are as follows:
- If you are a Vata body type: Do 12 sun salutation, leg lifting, camel pose, cobra pose, cow pose. Do all of them slowly and gently
- If you are a Pitta body type: Do 16 Moon salutation, Fish pose, Boat pose, Bow pose and Calming exercise.
- If you are a Kapha body type: Do 12 Sun salutations, Bridge pose, Peacock pose, Palm tree pose, lion pose, and other vigorous exercises.
7. Meditation
Meditation is important to cleanse your mind. Do it for at least 15 minutes. Meditate for around 15 minutes in a day. It can bring peace to your life and calm down your mind by removing any stress, anxiety, and nervousness.
8. Abhyanga Or Body Massage
Self-oil massage or abhyanga is essential to calm the mind and the nervous system. It is especially important for Vata as it can alleviate dry skin.
The oil massage practice nourishes and strengthens your body, provide a proper sleep pattern, stimulate internal organ, increases blood circulation, and reduces Vata imbalance.
Massage your body with herbal oil. Warm 1/4 cup of oil in a metal cup over a gas flame. Massage your body for good 5-15 minutes till the oil gets absorbed by the body.
Rub it towards the middle of the body. Use strong circular strokes on the limbs and circular strokes on the joints. Also, massage your abdomen and chest in clockwise and circular motions.
The act is all together self-loving and relaxing. Once you start with this practice, you will start enjoying it in few days itself.
9. Bathing
This is very important to remove the germs and dirt from your body. It brings energy, clarity, and makes you feel fresh. Ayurveda believes bathing is a kick start for a happy and nourishing day.
Take a warm bath or a shower using a minimal amount of mild soap.
10. Clothing
Wear clean cloth. Opt for natural fibers like cotton, wool, silk, or linen. Ayurveda does not prefer used clothing or other people shoe’s as it will transfer the germ from one person to other. In summers wear cotton clothes and in winter warm clothes.
11. Breakfast
Opt for a healthy breakfast before 8 a.m. Your meal should be nourishing and contended. Prefer eating on the same time every day.
Include fats, carbohydrates, proteins, nuts, and fibers. Breakfast should be nourishing, stimulating your regular bowel movement, and providing you energy for the day.
12. Work
Your work timings should be from 10 am to 6 pm. These are the most productive hours of work. This time is the best time to focus and do productive work.
13. Lunch
Midday is the time when your Agni is the strongest. Whatever you eat get digested quickly. So, your midday meal should be heaviest and nutritious. It should be the largest meal of your day.
It should have food from all the group carbohydrates, proteins, fat, minerals and vitamins. Your lunchtime should be between 12 pm to 2 pm. Always walk 100 steps after finishing your lunch.
14. Dinner
It is the lightest meal of the day. You should finish your dinner by 7 pm or there should be a gap of at least 3-4 hours before you go to bed.
You can always take a smaller portion of your lunch for dinner or you can opt for salads, soup, or a small portion of rice or roti along with daal or vegetables.
15. Relaxation
Once you finish your dinner, comes the relaxation time. Be with family friends, listen to music, socialize, or do something which you love to do. It is time to calm down your body and unwind it from the daily work routine.
16. Sleep
It is another important factor. It is must to have 6-8 hours of sleep daily. Your sleeping time should be between 9.30-10.30 pm.
If you are a late sleeper, try to change this habit as it is not good for the body clock and the functioning of various body systems.
Prefer applying oil to your scalp and the soles of the feet before going to bed. This will calm down your nervous system and help you get a quality sleep.
Sleep in a peaceful place, your bed should be clean, and prefer opening the windows of your bedroom for proper air circulation.
Final Talk
Following an ayurvedic daily routine is not that easy as it sounds in today’s life because everybody is surrounded by work and family pressure.
Often our work stops us from following the routine. But, if you keep putting efforts you can make this routine a habit in a few months.
Our body takes around 21 days to make a practice a habit. You will notice after 21 days, the daily routine becomes effortless. Your body clock automatically sends you signals to work according to the routine.
Dinachaya or ayurvedic daily routine is a way to follow healthy life choices and health fortifying habits. It will help you to bring awareness in your daily life which will help you to attain a healthy well-being.
Moreover, it will take you close to nature and bind you to the elements you were born with. Thus, an ayurvedic daily routine plan is not only for health but a path of true freedom.
