An ayurvedic routine to balance the imbalance of the doshas is the best practice for you to carry out. The precise daily routine is a potent medicine.
The article will tell you about a Vata-Kapha ayurvedic daily routine. This daily ayurvedic routine offers stability and grounding effect which is generally absent in the modern day lives.
It will work on the deep tissues to make your body healthy from inside.
So, let’s start with the Vata-Kapha daily routine.
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Vata Kapha Daily Routine
An Ayurvedic daily routine gives you the most important things in life like proper rest, a spiritual practice, and time to calm down your nervous system.
Adopting a routine is very purposeful practice for everybody’s life as it gives an improved sense of wellness in no time. Daily routine helps you manage Vata Kapha dosha in a systematic manner.
What follows is a brief description of the traditional Ayurvedic Vata-Kapha daily routine. This is the ideal form.
However, don’t try to include all the practices the next morning. Instead, take some time give your body the time to adopt changes.
To get the deepest response, carry out the practices slowly and steadily with self-love and self-care.
1. Wake Up Time
Ayurveda considers waking up before the sunrise as the best wake-up time. Waking up anytime between 3 am to 6 am is good for the Vata-Kapha body constitution.
It is because during this time the atmosphere is infused with lightness and clarity which will let you get up easily. This time can create a connection with nature and your self-consciousness.
If you are elderly, ill, children, or a pregnant mother you can get up a little later. Regardless, of what time you will get up, your daily routine would be fruitful if you wake up at a consistent time daily.
2. Eliminate
The practice of eliminating the bladder and the bowels in the early morning is essential in Ayurveda practices. Elimination in the morning is the natural detoxifying habit for hygiene and health.
If you are someone who does not have a habit of eliminating in the morning then, you can develop this habit with time. Drinking warm water and taking Triphala powder daily would help you to eliminate regularly.
3. Scraping Your Tongue
Scraping helps to remove bacteria and toxins that have accumulated on the tongue overnight. Not only this, this habit will also help you to clean the digestive system and the other vital organs of the body.
So, scraping your tongue is a necessary practice of natural detoxification. For scraping use a metal scraper, avoid any fancy plastic scraper.
Daily scrape your tongue from the top of the throat to tip of the tongue in 5-7 strokes. Next, rinse your mouth with water.
4. Brushing Your Teeth
You must be doing this already. So, you don’t need to put any extra efforts for it. However, one single thing that you should be careful is the toothpaste.
Don’t use toothpaste filled with chemical preservative instead go for the herbal toothpaste. For the same check the mark on the toothpaste, a green mark suggest that the toothpaste is made from natural sources.
Nevertheless, if possible use neem toothpaste which a sour, bitter, and has an astringent taste to maintain oral hygiene.
5. Drink A Glass Of Warm Water
A glass of warm water awakens the digestive tract, hydrates the body tissues, and promotes easy bowel movement.
It is a good practice especially if you have difficulty in passing bowels or you are frequently constipated. This small habit can drastically improve your metabolic rate.
It is best to drink water after washing your mouth so as to not swallow any toxins or bacterial build up in the mouth overnight.
6. Oil Pulling And Massaging Gums
Swishing and gargling with a warm oil is good for teeth, gums, voice, jaw, and also for the taste sense. For this, take a mouthful of coconut oil and swish it for good 2 minutes. If you practice appeals you, you can do this for good 15 minutes.
Once you finish swishing comes massaging gums. Take the same oil that you used for oil pulling and massage your gums with your index finger for good 1 minutes.
This increases the circulation into the nearby tissues and prevents gum diseases. It also helps the mouth to absorb the oil.
7. Splash Cold Water In Eyes
Your eyes are the most used organ for the entire day in your body. Eyes work hard all day and tend to absorb a lot of heat. Splashing cold water in each eye helps to cool, soothe, and relax them.
8. Mediation Or Prayer
The purpose of this is to calm down your nervous system and ground yourself before the start of the day. You can go for meditation, pranayama, prayer, or simply sit quietly in a peaceful place watching your breath.
These few minutes can tremendously benefit you. It will calm your restless mind and give clarity to your thoughts.
9. Exercise
Moving your body in the morning is the best way to ground, stabilize, and motivate yourself. It will naturally detoxify your body by enhancing the blood circulation and moving each and every joint of the body.
Early morning is a good time for almost everyone as it is the time to strengthen your Kapha. However, if you can’t exercise in the early morning do it in the evening anytime between 6 pm to 10 pm before dinner.
You can do Yoga also. The different form of yoga is beneficial for different body type. For the Vata-Kapha individuals balance the active approach with slow gentle movements.
Slow active movements are good for both Vata and Kapha. You can also adjust your routine seasonally.
Go for Vata-pacifying yoga in the fall and early winter and, Kapha-pacifying yoga in the late winter and spring. Regardless of what you are doing, you need to listen to your body and adopt practices at your pace.
If you feel you are not someone who can do yoga well then, you can go for different type of exercises as per your body constitution.
Ayurveda recommends practicing 50% of the body capacity until the sweat starts from the forehead, under the arms, and along the spine.
For the Vata-Kapha type, it is best to adopt a well-balanced mixture of calming and fast-paced exercises like walking, chi gong, or tai chi.
For example, if you feel tired go for a brisk walk or opt for running with slow firm movements. Regardless of what you are doing be careful don’t get chilled out as it aggravates both the Vata and Kapha Dosha.
10. Abhyanga
This is a self-massage which calms your nervous system, rejuvenates the body tissues, and enhances the blood circulation of the body.
Abhyanga is a self-love practice that benefits the physical body and an act of self-awareness and self-consciousness. Every morning take 1/4 cup of warm oil (organic sesame oil, coconut oil, or olive oil) and massage it all over your body.
Take 10-15 minutes and massage in gentle circular moves. Moreover, be careful the oil you are choosing should be season appropriate.
12. Apply warm oil on forehead, scalp, and foot
The ears are related to Vata Dosha. Greasing your ears with warm untoasted sesame oil can help you pacify your Vata Dosha.
Oiling ear also improves hearing, prevent stiffness in the neck, and give a healthy TMJ. Take a dropper and put few drops of oil in both the ears.
Let it sit for a few minutes before you repeat the process on the other side. You can even use your pinkie finger to lubricate each ear.
Oiling your head and scalp with oil is a good practice. It prevents a headache, hair loss, hair greying and aid in hair growth.
Similarly, also massage your foot with oil daily. Massaging the foot focussing on the sole. Your feet are connected to various organs and tissues in the body.
Massaging them will support other organ and tissues and also improves eyesight, relieve stress, and provide other systematic benefits.
13. Nasal Passage
For nasal passages, there are two Ayurvedic practices that support clean, clear nasal passages and mental clarity. Both the practices are done empty stomach usually in the morning.
You don’t have to do both the practices together, but you have to carry them separately on alternate days.
The first practice is nasal rinse. You have to pour warm salt water in both your nasal passages to wet the mucous membrane and clean it off from any dirt, dust, mucus and extra pollen.
If after rinsing you feel dryness in your nose apply a sesame oil or ghee after the practice.
The second practice is Nasya. It is very effective in many ways. Nasya uses a medicated oil to soothe the nasal passage, delicate tissues, promote breathing, relieve stress, and give mental clarity.
It is also believed it can improve your eyesight tremendously. You shouldn’t carry out this practice if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.
For carrying out Nasya, lie down on a bed hang your head from the corner of the bed. Next, put 3-5 drops of oil in both the nostrils.
After putting the oil, sniff the oil inward and massage your face, forehead, and scalp. This will help the oil to move up to your sinuses, nasal passage, and head. Remain in the same position for five minutes to allow the oil to go deep inside your tissues.
14. Bath
You must be doing it daily but, as per the Ayurvedic principles taking bath early in the morning is most desirable. It is meant to clean your body, bring a boost of energy, purify your blood, and make you ready for the day.
Use a mild soap to wash your body. Don’t rub your body too much otherwise, it will remove all the oil from your body.
15. Vata-Kapha Breakfast
Establishing a consistent breakfast time is very important. It is the first meal of your day so it should be nourishing, stabilizing, and grounding.
Your meal should have all the necessary nutrients that keep you charge for the day and it should also be seasonally appropriate.
Regardless, of what you are eating for breakfast the other important fact is taking at the consistent time daily. You can follow the complete list of food and diet plan for Vata Kapha Dosha.
16. Work Pace
For Vata-Kapha type maintaining a constant work-pace is challenging. The Vata has the habit to overextend and Kapha can make you feel less motivated.
So, the key is to listen to your inner conscious and your body. If during the day you feel ungrounded and anxious slow down your speed. And if you feel lethargic you need a motivation to pass the heaviness.
So, pace yourself moderately neither overextend nor act lazy. A moderate pace will keep you going throughout the day and make decisions for life which support your health and mind. This way you can manage both the Vata and the Kapha well.
17. Lunch
This should be the heaviest meal of the day. Your digestive fire or Agni is the strongest between 10 am to 2 pm. For the Vata and Kapha body type anything eaten during this period can be easily digested.
The Vata and Kapha body type find it difficult to digest meal towards the end of the day as during that time their digestion is not that strong. Regardless, of what you are having stick to a habit of having your meals at a constant time daily.
18. Evening Rest
This is difficult to manage time for the Vata and Kapha body type. Rest is important for any body type and you have to be honest to take it.
Once you finish your work take some rest. Spend time with your family, friends, listen to music or spend some time with the environment.
19. Dinner
During this time the digestive fire is less and your metabolic rate is sluggish so your dinner should be smaller than your lunch. A light evening meal supports sleep, and help the body rejuvenate every night.
Moreover, you should have your dinner 3 hours before your bedtime to let the body digest your food appropriately. Try to maintain a constant dinner time every day.
20. Bedtime
It is the time for your body to rejuvenate and replenish. You should sleep for 6-8 hours daily. However, if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, ill or elderly you can sleep for a few more hours.
Before going to the bed, there are some practices that you should do for balancing the dual dosha and naturally detoxifying your body.
These practices help you to surrender yourself to sleep. make sure these practices are consistent.
Before going to bed do the following activities:
- Brushing your teeth
- Wash your face
- Applying oil to the feet and scalp
Note: if you have a reading in bed habit then you should avoid it. Reading at bed disrupts the sleep as it stimulates the eyes and brain.
However, if you wish to read designate a place apart from your bed to read. Read in that particular place for good 15-20 minutes.
If possible try to finish your reading time away before going to bed. it is because for most people reading just before bed disrupts sleep and often lead to insomnia.
Final Talk
The Vata Kapha daily routine requires consistent effort and practice.
You can balance them if you carry out the practices daily and make the diet and lifestyle a habit. A healthy nourishing lifestyle can benefit your health tremendously.
The routine mentioned above is ideal for the Vata and Kapha body type. However, you can always make slight changes in emergencies or due to personal reasons.
The key is also to focus on your diet and lifestyle both, anyone thing won’t give you the benefits but, both the things together can benefit your health.
