AYURVEDIC TIME CYCLES
Before launching ourselves into this week’s lesson it’s important to lay the foundation. The human body is constantly changing according to what you ingest, digest, your environment, the activities of the day and even the times of the day. Indeed it makes complete sense that your body is not the same and doesn’t feel the same on waking up say or in the middle of the afternoon or otherwise the late evening. In one of his books Deepak Chopra drives this point further saying that “this is true at the quantum level, but it’s also something you experience directly through your perceptions”. Science supports the awareness of the “cyclical character” of nature all around us and ineed at the level of human experience (I’m quoting Deepak again here).
There is no denying that we are affected physically by the cycles of the earth rotating around the sun daily as well as the cycles of the moon and its tidal rhythms around the year. The biochemistry of our bodies is influenced and changed by those planetary movements. Circadian rhythms have been widely observed in plants, animals, fungi and cyanobacteria and as a biological clock in mammals of course. The process called entrainment occurs when rhythmic physiological or behavioural events match their period and phase to that of an environmental change. This is what happens in the entrainment of circadian rhythms to daily light-dark cycles determined by the earth’s rotation. The term entrainment is justified because the biological rhythms are endogenous: they persist when the organism is isolated from periodic environmental signals. The activity vs rest cycle in animals is a primary circadian rhythm which will dig into further in the next chapter covering sleep but it is interesting to know that science has proved that circadian changes occur even in the cells of isolated organs. We can’t deny the effects of daily cycles on the body.
And if we acknowledge that modern living has veered away from those cycles we must also recognise that re-aligning ourselves physically with natural rhythms supports the innate intelligence of the body and the flow of “biological information”; whilst going against these cycles brings disharmony at the molecular level and unease and discomfort in the body and in daily life. Harmony is inherent in nature and escaping the “artificial imperatives of modern life” helps “re-establish balance on the level of the quantum mechanical body” improving the quality of ones energy levels and wellbeing. In simple terms, modern life has created a range of synthetic or false requirements for us to follow or live by on a day to day basis but if we can look at them consciously and allow ourselves to see where they are inessential and dispensable and re-design our lives around natural rhythms we free large amounts of energy and align with existing boundless flows of energy, riding the waves.
Ayurveda describes our 24 hours daily cycles as split into smaller cycles of Vata, Kapha and Pitta energies – those same energies that make-up your constitutional nature. What this means is that one of those primordial energies will be dominant at any given time during the day. The ancient sages perceived those cycles as follows:
Vata from 2am to 6am and from 2pm to 6pm
Kapha from 6am to 10am and from 6pm to 10pm
Pitta from 10am to 2pm and from 10pm to 2am
In each of the time bands the qualities of the predominant doshic energy prevails. They have a direct effect on how you feel and influence the body-mind system. To illustrate, Vata is the primary energy between 2am and 6am which is a lighter, more alert energy making this a good cycle to wake up in, exercise and have breakfast, whilst Kapha is stronger between 6am and 10am bringing a slower, heavier energy explaining why sometime you can have a long night sleep, wake up during Kapha cycle and still feel sluggish and tired rather than bright and awake.
Based on those timeline Ayurveda has a strong case to suggest that certain activities are best done at certain specific times of the day for more effective results. In fact it has designed a full programme of activities around these energy cycles to allow optimum energy to be released and avoid disturbances in biological rhythms. This schedule is called dinacharya in Sanskrit and equates to your ideal 24 hour agenda to bring maximum wellbeing and energy.
MORNINGS
In short, mornings are precious. If you have any familiarity with yoga texts or Ayurveda already then you’ll be aware that a huge importance is accorded to the early hours of the morning. This is because the quality of that time is such that we are in a different space of awareness and consciousness. “The veil between the worlds is thin”. It is also of course because that time at dawn before you start your normal activities is the best period to prepare mentally, emotionally and physically for your day in a way that is positive and constructive and that will set you up solidly for a “good” day. It is therefore crucial that the first moments of your day and the first couple of hours are planned around positive, nourishing, nurturing, propitious activities.
This week we are very practical. First we’ll review what makes a good start of the day, then we’ll send you off to try out some of those activities as soon as possible to experience out and get a feel for the results and benefits to be gained.
MORNING DINACHARYA
Wake early
Eliminate
Meditate
Dedicate your day
Scrape your tongue + brush your teeth
Oil pull
Drink lemon water
Move
Massage your body all over with oil
WAKE EARLY
Before or around 6am. Timing is everything. Our days are sliced into cycles of energy. Wake before 6am to benefit from the Vata cycle and rise refreshed, energetic and light. You’ll be more alert than if you wake later and you hit the Kapha cycle risking feeling weighed down and sluggish. You’ll also gain the time you need for your self-care practise.
ELIMINATE
Early morning is the time of Apana Vayu, a downward flowing energy in the body which supports the body’s clearing functions. If you need support to create efficient evacuation, moving and drinking lemon water, as we’ll cover today also, are excellent tools. Elimination is a subject that Europeans particularly do not like tackling out aloud, however it is a very important part of healthy living. If you have suffered some issues in the past i.e. constipation then the likelihood is that stress on gastrointestinal functions is the culprit. For a clear head and energy-full body it is crucial to retrieve regular bowel movements and cleansing of impurities. The good news is that problems in that area can be tackled. Following most of the ideas on this course will create a very strong positive support to bring back natural and healthy elimination cycles. Drinking one or two glasses of water on waking up and allowing enough space and time for the body to slowly move into elimination by setting your clock earlier are very good tips to start with. Also going through the motion of going to the toilet every morning to try, and allowing an attitude of non-attachment to the result is good too. If it happens it happens. The body clock will reset itself when you mentally engage it into regular healthy habits of living.
MEDITATE
Start with just 5 minutes, more if you can and build up slowly. Or stick to your 5 minutes. Whatever you can fit in is better than nothing.
Make the best of the early hours’ peaceful environment to cleanse your senses and center your mind. You needn’t meditate for hours on end but regularity is what will bring a real difference to how grounded you feel in your days. Try to keep a loving attitude to balance the airy energy of vata prevalent in dawn and to create a relaxed energy, helping prana – the life force – flow.
What is meditation? It is not an effort to control and repress thoughts. On the other end it is a one point focus of awareness on an object or technique of your choice. If you have never meditated before I would advise to simply bring your full attention to your breath, and keep bring it back again and again. Thoughts will come but don’t attach yourself to them, just let them go. Whenever you become aware of your mind wandering, just bring it back to the breath. Taking your full attention to the breath. Meditation is an applied focus on a single point. It’s a continued concentration either on the breath or a mantra (a phrase) or a candle flame. We are keeping the mind fully occupied on one thing. Like a laser the mind is fully focussed on one point and it becomes quiet. There are many techniques or objects of concentration you could chose from to support your meditation. Again if this is new practice you could take a class and practise with a teacher or a group first. Once you’re comfortable the idea is to practise every day at least once, twice if available. Starting with 5 minutes and building up if you have the time.
In meditation if practiced correctly you reach an inner space of peace and unlimited potential and when you go into meditation regularly that awareness and feeling will start showing up at other times of the day, giving you not only clarity and serenity but as Deepak Chopra explains opening “new circuits, new areas of the brain (…) available to you for the first time for your thoughts, perceptions, and actions”, in other words expanding your energy, awareness, intuition and creativity.
DEDICATE YOUR DAY
Set an intention, bring purpose into your awareness. What is it you want to achieve today? How do you want to feel? Is there something that drives you that you want to keep at the forefront of your thoughts? Make it positive, constructive. Think about today but align with your lifelong intentions. Or otherwise simply read from an inspiring book. None of this needs to take long, just a moment, perhaps even an instant of you clocking in with your highest vision of where you’re going or what matters most to you in life. It could be a feeling like love or joy, or an intention like finishing a project you have been working on. Keeping it in front of you by consciously taking time to acknowledge your goal/aim/core feeling will help you re-structure your day around it.
SCRAPE YOUR TONGUE (+ brush your teeth)
Cleaning your tongue first thing in the morning is like brushing your teeth only it is even more important. Ayurveda makes it an essential practice. The body uses the tongue as a tool for detoxification, hence the morning coating. During sleep our digestive system continues to remove toxins from our body which will regularly show up on the tongue. Using a tongue scraper to cleanse the depot (ama) on your tongue will give you a fresh feeling and protect teeth from bacteria, removing both the bacteria and gunky phlegm that coats your tongue on waking – preventing them being re-absorbed. This supports your immune system. Scraping helps prevent bad breath and a side-effect is to improve the taste of foods when eaten by increasing your sense of taste. In “Ayurvedic tongue diagnosis” Walter Kacera D.N. Ph.D explains that using tongue scraping allows to use less toothpaste “which simply kills the mouth and throat flora, allowing those substances to reach the stomach and intestine”. So tongue scraping = taking in less nasties from your toothpaste.
Brushing your tongue with your toothbrush does not do the job as it will only move the bacteria and gunk around and you risk being too harsh. It is best to use a stain-steel tongue scraper which you can easily buy online. Holding each side of the scraper start at the back of the tongue and scrape gently towards the front 7 times to activate the tissue layers. The procedure is said to boost your digestion also by improving your tastebuds & causing saliva production. It decreases plaque, dead cells and oral debris.
Finally tongue scraping will also stimulate all the pranic nadis (energy channels) that terminate in the tongue and massage the internal organs that are linked to different parts of the tongue. A pretty punchy benefit for such an easy, quick practice.
OIL PULL
Oil pulling is an ancient practise for deep mouth cleansing. It works on the basis that a tea spoon or too of either sesame oil – if you can take to the taste – or coconut oil taken in the mouth and swished around for a few minutes will absorb debris and unwanted matter from the mouth cavity. You then spit the oil away into the bin (rather than the sink which will eventually clog). The effect is profoundly neat hygiene of the mouth and tongue. Coconut is very powerful in this process though sesame oil is also a winner in Ayurveda. Within days your mouth will feel fresher than it ever has.
DRINK LEMON WATER
Start your day with a glass of warm water & a dash of lemon with perhaps even some grated ginger and/or honey. Lemon water is a kitchen staple in Ayurveda. Make it fresh every day. It is cleansing upon waking and prepares your digestive system for breakfast. It helps flush toxins out and you’ll feel much more energetic once your digestion is back on track, which this simple technique will help with.
Although lemons are a citrus fruit and acidic in nature they actually have an alkaline effect on the constitution when metabolised, after the minerals dissociate, and so help counteract acidity in the body and over-acidity in diet which is a well-spread issue nowadays. Long term acidic environments are damaging to the cells structure & function and to the human tissues which causes health problems.
Some of the benefits of lemon water first thing in the morning are:
– fighting bad cholesterol
– relieving abdominal colic pain & gastritis pain due to indigestion
– reducing mucus
– helping with weight loss
– detoxifying (reducing ama) and alkalising
– boosting immunity
– glowing skin
– generally supporting to the digestive system, it improves digestive enzymes
Lime is a very potent alternative to lemon too which very beneficial qualities in Ayurveda too.
Lots packed in a simple new habit.
MOVE
Do a few yoga sequences, jump on a trampoline, go for an early morning walk in the light of dawn, run. Follow an exercise routine you enjoy and which makes you feel strong and together. This will set you up for the day feeling powerful and centered. Early morning exercise is also excellent for rearring the lymphatic system into gear, as well as supporting circulation.
Look at exercise from the angle of how you want to feel. There is a strong tendency to over-exercise or go for hardcore workouts in a ply to shape and sculpt the body towards certain unrealistic modern standards however if you listen to the body and chose exercise based on your dominant dosha and aim for wellbeing then you may find that a regular softer yoga class or less demanding practise of any sort would in fact leave you more energised, connected and rested in the long term. Be mindful and conscious during exercise
MASSAGE YOUR BODY WITH OIL
Daily morning oil massage in Ayurveda is called Abhyanga.
Full explanation and choice of oil.
Snehana is the Sanskrit word for oleation or lubrication – and Sneha expresses a feeling of “stupendous love and immense tenderness” (Maya Tiwari).
For years now I had been meaning to introduce daily Abhyanga (warm oil self-massage) but life taking over as it does it is only when I started my Ayurvedic studies with my teacher in the US – Cate Stillman – and listened to her strategy video for the course that I was totally sold on the idea that I must make it an absolute necessity in my daily routine. And I did! A few words from her and I was hooked. From one day to the next I started oil massage as a morning bathroom ritual and continued without fail. And I’m very glad I did too.
Here are some of the benefits it claims:
– radiant skin
– better circulation
– better sleep
– tones the muscles
– improves elimination of toxins from the skin, blood, plasma and lymph system
– regulates the digestive system
– feeds the inner tissues of the body (dathus)
– boosts the immune system
– calms the nervous system, reduces anxiety
– nurtures body and soul, grounds & gives you that feeling of connection
The list goes on…
And here is how to do it:
Allow between 5 and 20 minutes depending on how much time you are able to give yourself.
Use sesame oil especially in the autumn and winter and all year around if you are of a vata constitution, coconut is best for pittas in the summer time. Kaphas may like olive or mustard oil but will be fine with sesame all year around too. The benefits of sesame oil, and coconut oil for that matter, would require a full course of their own. Always buy food grade oils, organic from a health food store – if good enough to eat then it’s good enough on your skin, after all you are feeding your skin as well as the deeper tissues.
Warm the oil by placing the bottle in hot water for 5 minutes, or if possible to higher than body temperature.
Ideally you would want to start with your head but I for one understand the logistic & time-management restrictions with a 2 year old in toe. If you do then take a small amount of oil then use fingertips to work the scalp deeply, slightly pulling the roots of your hair.
Next massage your face using circular movements all over not forgetting important points like the third-eye, temples, around the eyes by circling along the eyebrow line then along the lower lid area, laugh lines (a face lift tip right there) and also the chin.
Be especially intent when massaging the ears, placing a few drops inside the ear and applying pressure all around the outer ear.
Move on to the neck, front and back, in long strokes then the shoulders with circular movements, the top of your chest including the collarbone in strokes. Next are the arms.
The rule is generally massage in firm long strokes with the palm of your hands on long bones and circular movement on joints, shoulders, elbows, hips, wrists and ankles – and you are massaging from top to bottom and always towards the heart.
Continue moving through the body, one arm then the other, paying extra attention to the hands (palms, knuckles & small joints of each fingers). Abhyanga will help keep breast tissue healthy. The abdomen should be massaged circularly, be gentle though. Massage the liver, pancreas & spleen by reaching under the ribcage. Proceed on to the side of the body then your back, hips, bottom and legs. Again pay extra attention to the feet including sole and toes.
If time allows keep the oil on a few minutes then have a warm bath or shower to both wash the oil off and deepen the benefits of the massage.
If it makes it easier just find a video instruction on the Internet, there are a few.
I do believe that the massage helps activate the marma points (vital pressure points) and even though I have been a bit shy about owning up to it in public to start with, I truly believe that daily massage has contributed to my weight loss and with feeling and looking better than I have in years. So here you go, now you know my secret!
So now you’re all set for the day, go and grab it with both hands and see how the changes in your morning change the way you feel throughout the rest of the day. It’s now a trial and error period. Let’s all give it a go and start recording how you feel in body, mind and spirit over the next week experimenting with adding new rituals in your morning and observing the effects during the day. How’s when you should take notes and reflect on the results of your efforts too.
Namaste,
Anne
Evidence-based + Holistic 