The Shakti School

Feminine Form Sacred Technology

holistic health

Kick off the New Year with Delicious Self-Care – The Ayurvedic Daily Ritual

Alright ladies and gentlemen, it’s the New Year. We are all a-buzz with that excitement of new vistas and catalytic potentialities. And, wanna’ know the best way to super-charge your dreams? Start taking care of your body. Your mind will thank you.

Here is my basic Daily Ritual, pulled straight from my soon-to-be-published book on living healthy, happy and sexy with ancient Ayurveda:

Morning Routine

Your morning routine begins the night before: Getting in bed by 10 or 10:30 PM (can be a little later in the summer) will help you start the morning off right.

  1. Wake up at sunrise: If you are exhausted, sick or elderly, please sleep as long as you like. Upon waking, do not get out of bed right away. Try to be aware of your body and feel grateful to be alive before your toes touch earth. Pray.
  2. Drink warm lemon water: This helps to wash the G.I. tract, flushes the kidneys and stimulates peristalsis. If your digestion is sluggish, add 1/2 tsp ginger root powder.
  3. Nature calls: Going to the bathroom upon waking will help clear your digestive system. A healthy “motion” will have a soft brown log quality, little odor and will be well-formed (like a banana). Undigested food, foul odor, mucous, excessive dryness or “pellet-like” quality suggests a digestive imbalance. Altering diet, lifestyle and using herbs will help better this.
  4. Gently scrape your tongue: Buy a silver tongue scraper. Scrape from back to front 5-8 times. The tongue is a mirror of your intestines. When there is a thick white coating on the tongue, it is indicative that ama (toxins) are present. Tongue scraping helps prevent diseases of the oral cavity, improves our ability to taste, gets rids of old food debris and prevents bad odor in the mouth.
  5. Wash the face, mouth, teeth and eyes: Splash your face with cool water. Wash the eyes with cool water or real-deal rose water. You can also buy an eye cup at most pharmacies and use for washing the eyes. Massage your gums with sesame oil. This improves oral hygiene, prevents bad breath, increases circulation to gums, heals bleeding gums and helps us maintain strong healthy teeth.
  6. Mouth detox: Take 1-2 tablespoons of pure sesame oil (not toasted) in the mouth. Gargle and swish until it creates a liquid texture (about 10-15 minutes), and then spit out into trash can. This strengthens teeth, gums and jaw. It also improves the voice, and is said to remove wrinkles from the cheeks! I know you may think 10-15 minutes is a long time – but, just swish it around while you do something else (like your self-massage).
  7. Use a neti pot: Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to warm water in the pot and drain through each nostril. Afterwards, put 3-5 drops of warm sesame oil or ghee in the nostrils to lubricate the nose. This keeps the sinuses cleans, improves voice, vision and mental clarity. Our nose is the door to the brain. Nose drops nourish our prana and enhance intelligence.
  8. Abhyanga (Self-massage): Massage is one of our greatest allies for total health. It nourishes and soothes the nervous systems, stimulates lymphatic flow and aids in detoxification. It also improves circulation, increases vitality, nourishes the skin and promotes body/mind balance.
  9. Exercise: One of greatest allies in moving towards balance, exercise boosts the immune system and is an excellent way to counteract depression. Exercise daily to half capacity. We want to get a little sweaty glow, but not burn out before our day begins.
  10. Bathe: Use natural products.
  11. Meditate: Begin your day with some form of breath-work and meditation. Start with five minutes and work up to at least 20 minutes daily. I sometimes do my meditation before exercise, which is also fine.
  12. Eat breakfast.

Lunch Routines

  1. Try to make lunch your biggest meal of the day. Eat in a pleasant, calm place without distraction.
  2. Take some time to bless the food prior to eating.
  3. After eating, if you can lay down on your left side for 5-20 minutes, this is ideal. Why? Because it helps the digestive organs to do their work to assimilate the meal. If you are at work, even just leaning to the left side in your chair will be helpful.

Afternoon/Early Evening routines

  1. One afternoon routine that helps you deeply relax into your evening is the practice of yoga nidra – a yogi nap. Its also nice to do this prior to dinner, just before sunset.
  2. Eat light at night: Having your last meal before sun-down, and at least 3 hours before bedtime will ensure better sleep. If you feel don’t feel hungry, drink one of my nighty-night tonics like my Golden Yogini Milk.

Nighty-Night Routines

There is no excuse, anymore, for us to not be sleeping. Women need sleep. Men need sleep. Bunnies need sleep. Everybody on the planet needs 6-8 hours of sleep on a regular basis. As Ayurveda expert and author, Dr. Claudia Welch says, “Every cell in the body needs stimulation, and every cell in the body needs nourishment.” Just as we need to exercise, we also need to surrender into rest.

It is also impossible to accomplish your goals if you are chronically sleep-deprived. Plus, your mind/body uses sleep as the washing machine for the subconscious mind. If we aren’t slipping into deep dream-time every night, much of our toxic, unprocessed emotions and experiences don’t get drained away. As Dr. Robert Svoboda says, “Sleep is the wet nurse of society.” Raise your hand if you feel like you need to be wet-nursed?

Ayurveda offers an ideal way for transitioning from the activity of the day into the sacred chamber of sleep. Following these routines will make sleep come effortlessly, and will help keep you asleep through the night:

  1. Set the mood: Depending on the season (in the winter it may be earlier), start turning off overhead lights after dinner. Avoid fluorescent lights always, but especially at night. Low lighting helps tell your body it is time to go to sleep. Lots of light confuses your circadian rhythms and messes with the natural hormones that pull you into the “sleepy feeling.” One of the first questions I people who suffer from insomnia is, “Are your overhead lights still on at 8 and 9 PM?” Switch to low level lighting, candles, or install dimmers on your overhead lights to set the mood for sleep.
  2. No more screen-time: Set an intention to turn off all screens (computers, cellphones, TVs) by 8 or 9 PM. Science now confirms that screens and lighting are also messing with our circadian rhythms.
  3. Be in bed by 10 PM: Have you ever noticed that you get a second wind around 10:30 PM? That’s because the metabolic energy your body normally uses for detoxing you while you sleep gets diverted to mental energy, and we get activated. Our body detoxifies and rejuvenates from 10 PM – 2 AM. When we stay up late, we truly do miss out on beauty sleep. If you currently go to bed at mid-night, use the fifteen-minute rule. Each night, trying going to bed a mere 15 minutes earlier. Within a few weeks, you will soundly sleeping at 10 PM.
  4. Take a warm bath: Taking a scented warm bath can help reset the nervous system towards sleep. Use oils such as frakenscense, myrrh, lavender, honeysuckle, jatamamsi, sandalwood, chamomile, neroli or pure rose for deep slumber.
  5. Avoid too much mental stimulation: Don’t watch evening news. It’s toxic for your dreams. Similarly, avoid planning your future, having intense conversations or any other activity that promotes mental movement before bed.
  6. Light a candle, read a sweet book that makes your heart melt. Say some prayers, and turn in.
  7. Unravel the day: There is a powerful meditative practice for unraveling the day. It actually builds your power of assimilation and boosts memory. Once in bed and laying down, mentally go backwards through your day in increments of 30 minutes. Try to simply register what was happening to you during the day without judgement. Notice your feelings, relax and let all events go. End with the point where you woke up in the morning. Gently drift into sleep.

~Katie

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Deep Listening – Balancing Your Weight With Ancient Ayurveda

The single most common complaint I hear from my students and clients? I don’t feel at home in my body. I want to offer you some simple Ayurveda-inspired, no-more-band-aid tips that will help you feel at home in your body again. And these techniques aren’t about imposing hard and fast rules – they are about deep listening.

It starts in your heart.

Many of us turn to the transient comfort of food, overeating in attempt to numb out the pain. We numb out fear, loneliness, dissatisfaction with our careers, sexual frustration, boredom in our marriage, resentment, anger, deep-seated insecurity and sadness. The crazy part is that after we numb-out, we feel depressed and/or anxious, and pick up the next activity to stuff down that emotion. And thus, the endless cycle of foggy vision and misplaced desire begins again.

What can heal us? Ayurveda says that knowing when we begin living unconsciously, dysfunctional behavior is the first step. Bringing loving awareness to these behaviors starts to unravel the pattern at the root.

The following tips will help you begin to balance your weight, while simultaneously addressing the deeper emotional hunger.

  • Be aware. Begin to bring consciousness to the way you eating. Breathe deeply into your belly. Are your standing up? Are you in the car, on the cell-phone? Slow down. Find a calm place to sit and eat lunch. Be with the food.
  • Eat slowly and chew the food well. Stop eating before you feel full, to allow the belly the space and time it needs to digest what you have eaten.
  • Don’t put out your fire. When we overeat, we weaken our digestive fire. Whatever we cannot digest will turn into accumulated pollution and toxins in the gut. This has a dramatic impact on how we feel, and is the primary reason why women who eat healthy food have excess weight. It is also the reason why women who eat lots of healthy food can remain thin, dry and brittle.
  • Observe why you eat. Are you emotional eating? No judgements, just be aware. Become aware of your habits, and what you use to cover up what you’re feeling. Do you pick up the chocolate when you feel overwhelmed or exhausted at work?
  • Give yourself loving attention and give yourself what you need. Before eating, take a moment to close your eyes. Bring your attention to your belly and breathe slowly. Ask yourself, “What do I really need?” Before eating, check in – Am I hungry, or am I just angry (tired, lonely, exhausted, bored, etc.)? This is the crucial moment where we have the capacity to move from the unconscious realm of compulsive and dysfunctional behaviors into the realm of awareness. This is healing.
  • Self massage. This is one of the single best ways to tell your body, “I love you.” Check out this post for a complete overview on how to oil your body machine.
  • Relax. Relaxation has been scientifically proven to help in weight balancing. When we are under stress, our body produces a hormone called cortisol. When we have too much stress, this hormone actually tells our body to store excess fat for some impending doom. Bringing your awareness to your bones is a great way to ease into the parasympathetic nervous system. Notice the space between your right jaw ans right collar bone, and then your left jaw and left collar bone. Map it. And check out the Lineage of Love for more Body Yantra and other tools to find more ease.

~Katie

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Curb Unhealthy Cravings

When I feel the chill of winter near, I start to dream of warm, foamy chocolate; hot toddies; and long, luscious sleep. And this is a good thing. Naturally, the fall and early winter season season beg for more heaviness and warmth in both the foods we eat and in our lifestyle routines. The downside of this season is that it is also a time for overindulgence and strong cravings, especially when we couple the cold weather with the stressors of the holiday rush.

One of my favorite Ayurvedic authors, Dr. Robert Svoboda, says, “If Ayurveda were a religion, Nature would be her god, and overindulgence would be her only sin.” And I’ve definitely experienced my fair share of “sinning.” But the good news is that in the world of Ayurveda, there is no need for guilt and atonement when it comes to working with overindulgence and taming our cravings. In fact, it requires a heavy dose of self-awareness and self-compassion. All of us, to a certain extent, use substances (particularly food) to effect our mood and mind. And according to Ayurveda, when we lack self-awareness, we will actually choose the very foods that will bring us into deeper states of imbalance. Oh my!

So, those of us with more vata will crave energy-boosting sweet tastes for that instant energetic high—and a subsequent energy crash. Similarly, fiery pitta types will typically crave meat and spicy foods that create more heat and intensity in the short-run, but can lead to more internal inflammation over time. Kapha types will lean toward heavy fried foods or sweets—comfort food—that lead to more lethargy and dullness.

So how can we turn our body’s cravings into body wisdom? The first step is awareness. Start to notice the foods that you crave when you feel awesome and balanced. When you feel good, you will probably be choosing foods that make you feel even better! Then, notice the foods you choose when you are sad, angry, exhausted, or just plain stressed out. These are usually the foods that will be more harmful for your constitution. Easy peasy. The foods you crave when  you feel great are the ones that fuel you in a good way. The ones you crave when you feel bad, they’re the harmful ones.

There is a really powerful moment in time when we can move from an old pattern (overindulgence with food, shopping, media, sex—anything!) to a new pattern. Once you have connected with self-awareness, notice what you are craving. Take the time to check in and ask yourself, “What do I really need? Would moving in a different direction than my habitual pattern actually allow me to feel better tomorrow?” When we can shift the pattern, we release ourselves from the pains of addiction, and we free up energy to move toward our life goals and our spiritual journey.

How? Well, you can start small. Give a little of the poison. If your body/mind is used to getting a few glasses of wine or a big bowl of ice cream each night, simply taking it away from yourself can be like ripping a bottle out of a baby’s mouth! Try reducing the amount of what you deem to be an addictive or unhealthy substance by one-third each week.

You can also replace the substance with something else. For example, instead of too much alcohol, try a hot ginger-spiced milk and a long, essential-oil infused bath. Your body/mind may not even notice the ol’ swaperoo! Be compassionate with yourself. No one, especially not you, is served through harsh self-judgement. Sometimes we all indulge our unhealthy cravings. If we can indulge with awareness and moderation, the effects are usually quite benign.

So, practice self-compassion when you overindulge in dark chocolate, Facebook, or pizza. Put your hand on your own heart and say silently or aloud, “Oh, look, my darling, you just overindulged in (fill-in-the-blank). You must be really tired (sad, angry, lonely, etc.).”

I have found that the more I connect to this process, the less I actually use substances to shift my moods and energy levels. I also experience tiny miracles popping up all throughout my daily life as self-awareness turns into self-compassion. And who doesn’t need a big ol’ oversized helping of that?

~Katie

This article was originally published on the Yoga Journal blog on November 7, 2013.

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10 Ways to Improve Your Sleep and Love Life Immediately

Whether you suffer from insomnia or sleep like a log, the ancient teachings of the Vedas tell us that the way we set up our bedroom can have a powerful impact on the depth and quality of our sleep. It can also boost the sensuality-factor for deeper connection with our loved one.

Vastu shastra (literally the ”science of construction or architecture”) is an ancient science that arranges dwellings in accordance with natural elements and directional alignments. Think Indian feng shui.

Here is my modern interpretation on a simple vastu bedroom wisdom. Use it to optimize your sacred sleep chamber. In general, these pointers will help you create an atmosphere that begs for sensual ritual and deep sleep:

  1. Keep the room light and airy. Open windows as much as the seasons allow.
  2. Keep the temperature mild and pleasant. I recommend avoiding overheating or over-air conditioning the room. Make sure your body feels comfortable. Sometimes just feeling cold is enough to cause insomnia.
  3. Get rid of the clutter. There should be nothing in the bedroom that reminds you of work. Move the stacks of papers you need to file at the office out of this sacred sleep chamber. Take the spare change and those piles of mail off the top of your dresser. (Go do it now, you know you have a stack like that!)
  4. Bring in harmony by keeping the room clean, well-painted and orderly.
  5. The room should be private.
  6. The room should be empty of machines or technologies. They kill the buzz of sensuality, and increase restlessness in the body and mind.
  7. Create some boundaries on your e-life. Life changes when we make the adult decision to turn off our electronic devices after 9pm. Seriously, the iphone may be one sexy technological wonder, but your significant other is sexier. If you are single, relish this time alone to read your favorite books.
  8. Avoid all forms of news media in the bedroom.
  9. The room should smell good, but not too scented. Avoid heavy incense. Use fresh romantic scents such as ylang ylang, sandalwood, jasmine, and rose.
  10. The bed should be comfortable, not sag in the middle, and made with sheets should be made of natural organic fibers.

This article was originally published on the Yoga Journal blog on September 13, 2013.

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The Real Fountain of Youth – Oil Your Machine

Despite the ancient Charaka’s beautiful promise of trimmed, strong, charming bodies, the western woman seems intent on buffing, exfoliating and dermabrasioning oil from her skin. As I work with women, I keep pleading with them, “Please mama, oil your body,” and yet it seems like one of the hardest premises to integrate into the daily routine. This may be because it seems hard to believe that by lovingly massaging a clean oil into the body, many diseases and imbalances can be both prevented and treated.

Our lack of love for our innate oiliness may also be partially to blame. Our current cultural paradigm sells us the myth that oily is gross. Anything unctuous or juicy is to be promptly waxed, astringed and exfoliated away, leaving no sign that we may be, underneath our expensive designer beauty products, a juice-producing, oil-secreting woman. Ladies of the land, may we let this idea die, and may our new mantra be, “Oily is Beautiful.” Repeat – “Oily is Beautiful.” In fact, oil is what keeps the skin young, taut and supple. Have I convinced you yet? If not, read on.

The simple truth is that the simple practice of oiling the physical machine is, quite possibly, the best thing we can do for the body, and the nervous system, on a daily basis. In fact, there is a phrase in traditional Indian healthcare that says, “Either pay the oil man today, or you will be paying the doctor tomorrow.” And as our skin is the largest organ of the body (in fact, it weighs anywhere from 6 to 10 pounds), we may do well in caring for this large biologically active organ.

Why do it? How about:

  • a boost in your skin’s ability to breathe
  • baby’s-ass smooth skin
  • less cellulite
  • a deep feeling of self-love – touch is ten times stronger than verbal or emotional contact. The skin is one of the primary seats of emotion, feelings, and desire.
  • a release of a feel-good-hormone cocktail – the skin is as rich in hormones as the hypothalamus in the brain. When we self-massage, we literally release a cascade of feel-good, life-enriching growth-factor chemicals into our bloodstream.
  • boosts vitality by preventing dehydration and providing deep nourishment
  • stimulates the immune system
  • cleanses the lymph – the rubbing and stroking actions dislodge accumulated toxins and impurities from the body and move them into the digestive system.

How to Oil Up – Ayurveda Style

  1. Choose an oil. If you tend to run hot, coconut oil is cooling. If you run cold, sesame oil is warming. Sunflower oil is a good oil to blend with either of these two as it lessens their smell and heaviness (if you find them too intense). If you run really oily already, you may try dry brushing your skin instead of using oil.
  2. Start by warming up your oil. When you warm the oil it “cures” it, allowing your skin to better absorb it. You can heat your oil in a small sauce span on the stove. I usually just put some boiling water in a glass measuring cup. Then, I put the smaller glass bottle of oil into the measuring cup and let the oil heat for about 15 minutes before applying it. You can also just simply place the glass bottle directly in your bathroom sink. Close the drain and fill with the hottest water possible. Allow to sit for at least 15 minutes before applying to the body. Truth be told, sometimes I don’t have time for curing it, so I just rub it strong in my palms to “heat it” before applying.
  3. Get naked. 
  4. For the full bliss treatment, you can start at the top of the head and pour the oil directly onto the crown. If you are doing this before work and do not want an oily head for the rest of the day, you can skip this part and save it for a day when you do not need to be “presentable.” That said, Ayurvedic tradition placed heavy emphasis on massage the head and neck. Of the 107 energetic points of the body (called marmas), 37 are located on the head and neck.
  5. Continue onto the face (gently) and the rest of the body.  On the long arms and legs, use back-and-forth strokes. On the joints, use circular strokes. If you are looking down at your belly, do circular strokes in a clock-wise motion, as this is direction in which our long intestine moves, and will stimulate proper digestion.
  6. How long should you spend massaging the body? Ideally, 15-20 minutes. If time is an issue, spend at least five minutes in total communion with your body vehicle. And by the way, notice the spots of the body you avoid. The thighs? The feet? Spend the most time there, as these are the bits that need the most love.
  7. Sit for some time. I recommend 20 minutes. Why not use this time to do some meditation?
  8. Rub off any excess oil with a towel and then take a shower. It may be a good idea to have a few towels designating for oiling, as they will not be of much use for drying the body after a few weeks. Showering causes the pores to open, allowing the herbal oil to penetrate even deeper into the skin. You do not need to soap-off the oil. The body will, most likely absorb it all, especially if you are quite dry.
  9. Make sure not to leave the oil on for more than 45 minutes as this can actually clog the channels we are trying to cleanse. Also, make sure to use chemical-free, organic, cold-pressed oils.
  10. Leave the house covered in a layer of L.O.V.E. (well-oiled).

~Katie

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Ayurveda Can Change Your Life – Ten Things You May Not Know About Yoga’s Sister

The yoga world has a lesser-known sister and her name is Ayurveda. For thousands of years, yoga and Ayurveda were seen as necessary compliments to one another. But somewhere along the way, we fell in love with yoga and yet forgot about Ayurveda.

And although some famous mamas like Madonna, Christy Turlington, and the Grand Priestess of Get-Your-Act-Together (Oprah) have touted its health-boosting benefits, Ayurveda remains largely an exotic Indian mystery.

I heard about Ayurveda in India. I was studying with a sweet old Brahmin man named A.G. Mohan. I remember thinking, wow, this is amazing and its never gonna’ be applicable to my life back in the U.S. But the more I studied it, the more I realized that it was all about developing deep self-awareness. It was also about humbling the ego (that tells you that you really deserve an entire bar of dark chocolate) to the laws of Nature.

I feel like its time for yoga’s powerhouse sister to come out of hiding and begin infusing our practices and lives with rich, time-tested wisdom.  I wanna’ help her, so here is my mini-Ayurveda primer, just for you.

Ayurveda – which means “Science of Life,” holds the following premises as true:

1.  If Ayurveda were a religion (it’s not), Nature is God and the only sin is not listening to your higher-knowing.

2.  Nature has cycles – daily and seasonal. When we learn them, we can ride them and glean some of their power. When we ignore them, we suffer. When we tune to natural rhythms, our body becomes more balanced naturally. (e.g. being in bed asleep by 10 p.m. instead of surfing Amazon is one example of tuning to natural rhythm).

3.  The body is a wise, Spirit-infused, breathing-animal, mind-matrix charged with an electro-intelligence called prana (energy).  When prana is flowing where it should, you GLOW. Plain and simple.

4.  You are a unique, special snowflake, just like everybody else. Because each individual is unique, you will have different needs. This holds true whether we are talking about what you eat, how many times a month you have sex, or how often and what you do for exercise.

5.  Disease can be caused by a number of things – but at its core, disease is caused by forgetting who we are  – A Timeless Spirit Being.

6.  There is one answer to any question in Ayurveda: It depends.

7.  Energy follows focus. Our experience of life, how we see the world “out there,” and whether we are happy or not, is largely determined by our energy. When we change our energy, our thoughts change. When we change our thoughts, energy shifts in that direction.

8.  Oil your machine – don’t wait for your body to start creaking and cracking before you oil it! Like any fine-tuned instrument, the body needs to be oiled. So go slap some coconut oil on your fine thighs. Now.

9.  Many people are fatigued and depressed/anxious because they aren’t living the life they want to live.

10.  You can’t stop constipation by eating more raw cauliflower. Okay, this one is a stretch, but raw food, if you are already constipated, ain’t gonna help. Ayurveda understands that anything can turn to poison in the body if your metabolism can’t digest it. Yes, even raw organic goji-berry-acai-kale smoothies. Lay off the cold beverages, cold sandwiches, carrots, raw nuts and raw veggies if you suffer from anxiety, insomnia or constipation. Drink some warm ginger tea, eat some soup and rub your body in oil.

I hope this list will get you started on at least becoming curious about what this philosophy and science has to offer your life.

Share it! Live it!

~Katie

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Recipe for Getting More Core Vitality

Here’s my go-to list for getting more core vitality – essential for being healthier, happier, and a whole lot sexier!

Go organic: Eat foods that are seasonally-aligned, organic and when possible, local.

Cleanse and purify, then rebuild and renew: If you are full of toxic gunk from over-indulging in meat, sugar, drugs, alcohol or processed/fried foods, don’t start eating a ton of ghee and dates. First, take a few days to eat super-simple and clean – mainly whole grains, lentils, vegetables and high-quality fats such as olive oil and avocado.

Stop eating out so much: Ojas lies in the love of home-made meals. By and large, restaurant cooks don’t pour their love into your dish.

Avoid overeating: This depletes the digestive fire.

Get rid of excess stimulation while eating: If you want to build core vitality, no more watching the evening news, or eating lunch in front of your computer at the office.

Sleep “your” hours: You know what your hours are. Some women need seven to feel perky, others thrive on nine.

Oil the body: Use an oil that is appropriate for the season and/or your body constitution. If you have alot of mucous or are extra toxic, start by dry brushing your body for a few days, while eating clean and simple foods. Then, begin to oil up.

Rest: Do deep, restorative yoga, yin yoga and yoga nidra (checkout our workshops page for yoga nidra)

Love the one you’re with – Any form of real love and devotion boosts our vitality and immune health.

~Katie

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A Morning Ayurvedic Routine for Lasting Change

It’s so easy to get excited about a new lifestyle change at the beginning of the year. But once February hits, that bright fire of desire may start to burn out, leaving our new life goals a bit cold.

Ayurveda understands this, and encourages us to work slowly and consistently with our life changes. Its better to throw a little stone into a pond daily than try to heft a huge rock once! With little daily-routine pebbles, waves of consistency will ripple out and create a new set point for your life choices.

This slow, steady path is achieved through daily routine (or dinacharya in Sanskrit), and it is essential for real, lasting change. Here are some of the steps in Ayurveda for a bright awakening, that can help set your day on course. Print this list up. Post it in your bathroom or refrigerator until it becomes second nature.

The night before  Try to be in bed by 10 or 10:30pm (it can be a little later in the summer). The body renews and detoxifies itself between the hours of 10pm and 2am.

Rise and shine!  Generally, waking around sunrise is ideal. People who need a little more sleep are children, pregnant women, folks who feel exhausted or burned out, the elderly, or anyone who is sick. Upon waking, try not get out of bed right away. Try to be aware of your body, your breath, and a connection to gratitude. Ayurveda understands everyday as a diamond opportunity inspiring thanksgiving.

Scrape your tongue  One of my favorite Ayurvedic health tools! Buy a silver tongue scraper and scrape from back to front 10-12 times. The tongue is a mirror of your intestines. If you notice a thick coating, it may mean you may want to eat a more cleansing diet, as toxins may be present. Tongue scraping has been shown to help prevent diseases of the oral cavity, improves our ability to taste, gets rids of old food debris and prevents bad odor in the mouth. Plus, if you dont get rid of that gunk first thing in the morning, it will end up back in the body.

Brush your teeth  Check out an herbal/Ayurvedic toothpaste at your local health food store. Look for ones containing neem, triphala and/or peelu.

Washing the face, mouth, teeth and eyes   Splash some cool water on your face, or cleanse with a nice Ayurvedic soap containing neem or sandalwood. If your eyes feel dry or red, you can splash them with a little rose water. Massage your gums with warm sesame oil. This improves oral hygiene, prevents bad breath, boosts circulation in the gums and helps us maintain strong healthy teeth.

Drink warm lemon water  Squeezing half a fresh lemon into some warm water will help to wash the GI tract, flush out the kidneys and stimulates good bowel health. If your digestion feels slow, add a splash of cayenne or 1/2 tsp. of ginger root powder.

Nature calls   Going to the bathroom upon waking will help clear your digestive system. A healthy “motion” will have a soft brown log quality, little odor, and will be well-formed (like a banana). Undigested food, foul smell, mucous, blood, excessive dryness or “pellet-like” quality, as well as “sinkage” indicates digestive imbalance. Altering diet, lifestyle and using herbs will help better this.

Get oily   Self-massage, or abhyanga, is one of our best allies for radiance. In fact, the old texts say its better to pay the “oil man” today than the doctor tomorrow. Massaging your skin daily nourishes and soothes the nervous system, stimulates lymphatic flow and aids in detoxification. It also improves circulation, boosts your vitality, and makes you feel more balanced emotionally and mentally. Use a high-quality organic oil such as sesame, sunflower, or coconut. Warm the oil in your hands, then rub down, making sure not to skip any parts. Let the oil soak in for at least 20 minutes and then shower.

Meditation, prayer, devotion   I like to meditate after I’m drenched out in my warm oil.

Get your body moving   Do some exercise that suits your mood and the season. When done regularly, exercise grounds us, boosts the digestive fire, and burns up any extra fat and toxicity. Adding yoga to your routine will open and clear your energy channels, as well as your physical body.

Bathe  Use non-toxic, all-natural soaps without chemicals. Look for soaps with sandalwood, neem, and other skin-friendly herbs.

Nourish your belly  Eat a healthy, seasonally appropriate breakfast. The best time? Eating around 8-8:30 in the morning will give your agni (metabolic fire) time to be strong for lunchtime.

~Katie

This article originally appeared on the Yoga Journal Blog on February 1, 2013.

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