7 Ayurvedic Morning Rituals to Super Charge Your Well-Being
Ayurveda is an ancient system of holistic healing, well-being and balance. If you’ve spent time at your local yoga studio you’ve likely become familiar with some of the disciplines recommended in Ayurveda to create a balanced body, mind and spirit.
I spent the first 10 years of my career working for an Ayurvedic beauty brand — it changed the way I approach food, exercise, and my general lifestyle. My morning routine (“dinacharya” in Ayurveda – dina = ‘day’ and charya = ‘to follow a routine’) allows my body to align with nature’s rhythms, while boosting my immune system and finding general sense of calm too.
My exact 7 step morning ritual is detailed below. I’ve taken what I’ve learned from Ayurveda and what I know from my Manifestation practice to create a super charged way to start the day.
My Morning Ritual
Sunrise Wake Up Call & Quiet Visualization
In Ayurvedic practice the rule is to wake before sunrise. Before climbing out of bed, spend 5 minutes focused on visualizing what you want to call in for the day. It’s a good way to start the manifestation process before your feet even touch the ground. Vata energy (the energy known for movement) fills the ether during the pre-dawn hours, so the goal is to finish that visualization and roll out of bed right before the sun comes up.
Mind Your Mouth
During sleep, bacteria and other toxins build up in the mouth, and it’s important that you get those out of your mouth first thing! Here’s how you’ll do that: brush your teeth, pull with oil for 5-10 minutes (to kill two birds with one stone I jump in the shower during this time) and then scrape your tongue with a copper scrapper.
The toxins are what creates that “morning breath” taste in your mouth. Go through this part of your morning ritual before even taking a sip of water (which will push those icky toxins down into your digestive track — you don’t want that!).
Wash Off the Night
Splash cool water on your face 7 times, one splash for each chakra. As you work through the process visualize each chakra clearing. The cool water will disperse heat and prepare the skin to fight stressors and pollution, while helping to rehydrate.
Dry Brush and Oil Up
The next step is to use a dry brush, working in an upward motion to slough dead skin cells off the surface of the skin. This process not only stimulates the nervous and lymphatic system but also exfoliates, increases blood flow and relaxes the muscles, helping to ward off signs of aging. Do this on your face and then follow with a larger brush over your body too.
Follow the brushing with an oil serum, here’s my absolute favorite from AVEDA. Choose aromatic oils according to your dosha. To balance vata use ginger, cardamom, or orange; for pitta try sandalwood or lavender; kaphas respond best to eucalyptus, rosemary, or sage.
Sip Warm Water in a Copper Bottle
This will flush your system and rehydrate your body. The water will also stimulate the gastrointestinal tract and the muscles along the intestinal walls to keep things moving.
Boost the water’s healing properties by drinking it from a copper bottle. Here’s my bottle of choice.
Copper is anti-bacterial, acts as an effective anti-oxidant, improves immunity, supports good health, prevents aging, eliminates toxins and free radicals, and stimulates the brain. You can read much more about the healing benefits of copper here.
Enjoy Your Coffee
You may be surprised to see this recommendation, however, in Ayurveda coffee can be a lovely part of the morning ritual. I personally have switched over to decaf and add quite a few superherbs into my blend.
Why is coffee good for us according to Ayurveda? It stimulates the body and the mind—partly due to the caffeine of course, but also because of the bitter and astringent taste (which is why decaf still does the trick). These tastes signal the body to wake up, giving you the feeling of being more alert. Add warm spiced milk (or a milk substitute) to make the coffee easier to digest. How to make the spiced milk? Warm the milk on a stove until it’s boiling gently. Add in freshly ground cinnamon and/or cardamom and stir.
Write Your Morning Pages
I use this book to guide me through the process. The goal here is take anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 to mind dump anything that’s swirling around in your head. Let whatever arises flow into your journal. Write down your dreams, thoughts, and feelings without any judgement or preconceived ideas of what you’ll do with this writing. When you’re finished you’ll be clear of any nagging thoughts or low vibe emotions. Leave those all on the page.
Voila! Now you’re off to the races. I hope these rituals help you to start your day feeling grounded and energized. Let me know how they work for you!
Wanderfully yours,
Andi
