DINACHARYA ROUTINES AND LIFESTYLE CHOICES FOR HEALTH AND VITALITY
with Maria E Garre Yoga Alchemy | Module 2, Session 5 www.mariagarre.com
D I NACH A RYA Our daily routine. Looking at what we do from the moment we open our eyes in the morning and close them at night. Understanding that routine is the most important activity for longevity and health.
D I NACH A RYA The key to a balanced life is to make the appropriate lifestyle choices and maintain a daily routine. Each day presents new challenges and opportunities. There are factors that are under your control and factors that are not. Regardless of the situation you can move through life with a sense of awareness of your body, the environment, and others around you to create a life that is in harmony with nature. Make appropriate choices in your diet, exercise, and activities through conscious evaluation of your current state and how the day presents itself. Follow the rule “like increases like and opposite heals� in accordance to the gunas.
D I NACH A RYA Though this represents the “ideal” daily routine from morning to night, the most important aspect is to be flexible with the suggested format and know that creating stress around completing each bullet point is not necessary. Do your best and follow the rhythm of the day. Dinacharya is about living consciously from the moment you awaken to when you fall asleep. To see all of life and it’s activities as rituals for the self.
Dosha and Time
6 to 10: Kapha 10 to 2:
Pitta
2 to 6:
Vata
daily routine • Rise with the sun • Drink a warm glass of water (can add lemon or lime) • Rinse face with cold water • Scrape tongue, clean teeth • Do abhyanga then shower • Do Neti, Nasya, Karana Purana • Oil Face • Yoga Asana, Pranayama, Meditation
• Breakfast • Make lunch the largest meal of the day • Sip warm water with your meals • Avoid snacking in between meals • Eat a light supper • Meditation – Relaxation prior to sleep • Go to sleep between 10 to 11 pm
daily routine Rise with the Sun Waking up between 4:30 and 6:00 am offers a good rhythm to start the day and allowing time to properly prepare for the day ahead.. Begin the day in a way that offers intention and conscious rituals for the body and mind will begin your day in a blessed way. From the way you awaken (alarm clock) to how you feel are important indicators as to your overall health and vitality. Generally one should awaken feeling rested and refreshed. If this is not the case and you are dragging yourself out of bed, then it is even more important to adhere to a daily routine to strengthen the body. Ayurveda recommends awakening before the sun rise (about one hour to 45 minutes prior). Drink a glass of warm water Warm water (warmer than room temperature) with optional lemon. This helps flush toxins from the tongue that accumulated during the evening and invites proper morning evacuation by stimulating peristalsis. Ayurveda also recommends the use of a copper cup or silver cup to drink precious metal water in the morning. Scrape tongue, Kavala and brush teeth Scrape the tongue first anywhere from 7 to 14 strokes. Brushing the tongue does not work ! This stimulates internal organs, helps digestion, and removes accumulated bacteria and ama on the tongue. Notice the color and consistency of what is scraped from the tongue. Also helpful to look at the tongue and notice any redness, cracks, lines and signs of congestion, etc. After scraping you can take 1 tablespoon of sesame or coconut oil and hold inside the mouth for several minutes. This bring vitality to the oral cavity and also tones the facial muscles, reducing wrinkles and brings youth to the face. Brush teeth between scraping of tongue and kavala.
daily routine Rinse Face with cold water Washing face with cold tap water is stimulating to the brain and face. If you have a hard time in the morning this can be stimulating and invigorating. Nasya and Karana Purana Nasya involves applying 3 to 5 drops of special nasya oil or sesame oil (ghee is also wonderful) into the nose to lubricate the nasal passages and throat. Karana Purana involves applying warm sesame oil to the ears, rubbing oil gently around the inside the ear and slightly around the inner edge of the ear. This helps with ringing in the ears and sensitive hearing issues. These two practices bring oils to the sensory organs of the nose and ears. Abhyanga and Shower Applying warm, herbalized oil to the body is one of the most nourishing, life enhancing activities that one can do. The skin is the largest organ in the body and hence the best way to treat the body and keep it balanced. See attached information for more on abhyanga. After abhyanga take a hot shower, do not soap oil off but rather keep the oil on in the shower and then towel dry without rubbing oil off. Please note that full abhyanga when done correctly can take a minimum of 20 minutes.
daily routine Oil the Face After cleansing the face, either use sesame or special ayurvedic herbalized face oil to rub on the face, massaging marma points can be nice also. Oil helps protects the face from the elements and decrease wrinkles. Using rose water toner is also recommended before face oil application to moisten and neutralize the skin. Pranayama – Asana – Meditation Once the body is clean and prepared, a regular morning practice can improve circulation, strength, digestion, and mental clarity. Ayurveda recommends a minimum of 20 minutes of exercise at half of your capacity. In most Ayurvedically-based Yoga programs we recommend: pranayama followed by Surya/ Chandra Namaskar and specific yoga asanas for your constitution followed by meditation. Breakfast Now you are ready to enjoy a wonderful breakfast. Allow time to eat breakfast – as this is the time you break fast from the night before. Avoid eating in the car. Eat a constitutionally and seasonally balanced breakfast. Lunch Best to make lunch the largest meal as your body is ready to digest food properly between 12 pm and 2 pm (when the sun’s energy is strongest). Eat lunch in a relaxed way, sit down and enjoy a quiet lunch. This does not mean to overeat but rather eat until you are full. Sipping warm water facilitates digestion. It is best to eat heavy proteins and starches during this meal.
daily routine Avoid snacking If you eat three meals a day, snacking is not necessary and actually overworks your digestive system. It takes 5 hours to properly digest food. Eating in between meals builds ama (toxins) and does not give time and space for your body to digest food properly. Eat a light supper A larger lunch allows you to eat a smaller supper, as the word implies it is a supplement to your daily food intake. A dinner lighter and smaller in quantity will allow the body to detoxify during the night and so you wake up feeling lighter, refreshed and well rested. Slow down and prepare to sleep Avoid over stimulating the nervous system in the evening. This is the best time to enjoy family time and other activities that are relaxing like reading, lunar yoga practice, writing, journaling, etc. Avoid watching TV, going through emails, surfing the Internet and/or heavy exercise at a time when the natural rhythm is to slow down and be receptive like the moon. As a general rule Vata needs the most rest, Pitta in the middle and Kapha the least amount of sleep.
Seasons - Ritucharya VATA PITTA KAPHA
RTU CHARYA Though the classical textbooks (Charaka Samhita) describe doshic variances within the seasons of winter, summer and rains; the western counterpart of 4 seasons (fall, winter, summer and spring) correlates perfectly. Within a one year cycle the earth completes it’s orbit around the sun causing shifts of hot, cold, light, dark, etc in our bodies and environment. This in turn reverberates into plant and animal life cycles of growth, hibernation, migration, procreation, etc. Looking at the two major cycles within the year between Summer and Winter Solstice there are 2 six-month cycles. The first six months starting with Winter Solstice is a time of slowly heating and drying as the Sun’s power and energy on the Earth is gets stronger until Summer Solstice. Then after the Summer peak, the sun’s energy wanes and the moon’s energy increases releasing water, juice and cooling energy back to the Earth.
RTU CHARYA Charaka clearly outlines seasonal regiments and recommendations to be followed so that proper health is maintained as the body adjusts to each turn of the Earth. Sun as the heating and drying principle captures rasa, soma from the Earth; but the moon gives and releases rasa, soma back to us. Understanding the general energetic and physical implications of each season according to doshic principles as well as Ayurvedic understanding can have a profound eect upon what we do each season.
Vata Sea s o n
c o ld , d r y, c lea r, ro u g h , m o b i le
Vata season of Fall is marked with erosion, dryness and decay as the anabolic representation of cycles of energetic transformations. This is a time where the heating energy absorbed in our bodies and the earth slowly begins to cool off. The final harvests of the year offer abundant and bright colors of red and orange and inside we cultivate warmth for the coolness that is to follow - red apples, red trees, orange pumpkins. Likewise in our bodies, the shifting and changing creates motion increasing the wind principle in our bodies.
K a ph a Season L i quid , d u l l , h eav y, m o i s t
This is a time of renewal and rebirth for all cycles. The great Spring awakening offers a time of warmth and growth. Kapha predominates during this time as the earth and water forces are strongest and exerting their influence upon the earth and our bodies.
Pi tta Seas o n h o t, s h ar p, o i ly, b ri gh t
Initiates the Pitta time of year bringing heat and dryness to the wetness and heaviness of Spring. The Pitta principle of fire is strongest during this time of year as the sun’s rays are strongest and hottest. So as the Earth is absorbing maximum energy so are our bodies.