Namaste – Bowing to the God within You
There is something about the early‐morning routine that cleans the senses, aligns the body with the forces of nature and realigns it with health. When the rituals have been adopted, they take about eleven minutes to do at a normal pace.
Namaste – Bowing to the God within You
Āyurveda advises us to finish our early-morning routine each day by looking at our own reflection. It ensures that we are conscious of our physical appearance, how we are presenting ourselves to the world. Though others see us with their own vision and senses, called indriyas, we should be in harmony with our own appearance and its reflection of our state of health and happiness. When we are beauty-full to ourselves, we have more confidence and live with our hearts more open to the bounty of the universe. It starts with cleaning our senses and body, so that we can be ready for the day and the world in harmony. This harmony and readiness reflects as beauty.
The practical reality of adopting a steady early-morning routine aligned with Āyurvedic principles requires that you first assess where you are. Do you already do five or six of the dozen rituals? Or are you woefully disorganized in the morning? The way to start is around the morning ablutions, as going to the bathroom is usually an act of nature. As you rise in the morning, adopt one ritual you have read that appeals to you and adopt it. Work on it every day until it becomes a loved and adherent part of your morning schedule. Then add another ritual, doing it as correctly as it seems to be prescribed. Make adjustments. Read. Alter your bathroom setup, your closet or night table.
Once you have adopted most of the rituals, you will find yourself changing. The neurobiology behind the profound changes to your thyroid function and energy level will perhaps be revealed one day, but Ayurveda used whole-systems observations thousands of years ago, like a good biologist, and documented that people shifting to good early morning routines become happier, healthier and avert disease, and they cure small health problems that were recurrent. Some cure their big health issues. There is something about the early-morning routine that cleans the senses, aligns the body with the forces of nature and realigns it with health.
When the rituals have been adopted, they take about eleven minutes to do at a normal pace. If one rises around an hour-and-a-half before dawn (1) and lies still, one will hear one’s belly (2) conveying how it is, what it wants and some other unexpected information from the gut instinct that is inside each of us. Then bend fully down, touch the ground (3) with the hands and say a prayer before stepping onto the earth. Take a small sip of water (4) from the right palm, as the practice of ācamana describes before cleaning anything. Why? The information from the bacteria in your mouth is conveyed to your belly, and microcalculations are done to change the saliva and antimicrobials that your inner pharmacy oozes into your mouth. Then head towards the toilet (5), perhaps putting water on to boil if there is time. If you are not feeling the urge to go, do some exercise to contract your abdominal muscles. Make your bed. Sweep your floor. Clean the bedroom area.
After clearing the bladder and bowels, wash the hands (6) well. Then wash the face, splash cold water on the eyes, inhale a bit of water into each nostril and expel it completely, and swish some water in the mouth (7). Clean the teeth (8) next, using an appropriate brush or stick and appropriate herbs, powders or dentrifice. Begin with the bottom teeth first; brush behind the teeth on top, and in the front, as well as along the gum line in front and the back. Rinse the mouth, then scrape the tongue (9) using 3–4 long movements from the back of the tongue towards the front and then rinse the mouth again. In the fall and winter, when the air is dry, swish the mouth with sesame oil (10), which lubricates the maxillary and trigeminal nerves and its branches, and keeps your face symmetric and functioning properly.
As you walk out of the washing area, fill your 5 senses with beauty and heart connection (11). Look at an auspicious object and some photos of loved ones that make your heart warm. Light a candle or look at the sun safely if it has come up. Light some incense or smell something pleasant. Say an inspiring prayer. Hum a mantra or tune. Touch a flower or soft cloth. Put a fresh leaf of tulsi on your tongue. Look in the mirror (12) and head for the kitchen to sip your first beverage of warm or hot water as you begin your day.
The ancient text Astānga Samgraha written by Vāgbhata about 2000 years ago says, in the morning after gods and elders are worshipped, the 108 auspicious names of god should be repeated while the person looks at his/her own image in a golden vessel filled with ghee (AS Sū3.23). Remember you have the power of God within you, as God is simply a term for the powers of the Universe that lie within the atoms of bounded energy within you, waiting to be unbound.
This column is dedicated to Anish, who is struggling with modern pressures of online high school, videogaming marathons, adolescence, and pressures of an online social life, but learning about vata aggravation and pitta aggravation caused by late nights, poor early morning routines, raging hormones and too much time online. He is learning how to take control of his doshas.
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Dr. Bhaswati Bhattacharya is a Fulbright Specialist 2018‐2023 in Public Health. She serves as Clinical Asst Professor of Family Medicine in the Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, NY. Her bestselling book Everyday Ayurveda is published by Penguin Random House. To order an autographed copy, write to bhaswati@post.harvard.edu.
www.drbhaswati.com