The
early morning routine in Ayurveda is a sacred opening act of its treatise
called DINacharya (din=daily, charya=routine, that which walks forward).
As I prepare my digestive fire and try desperately to rekindle it through the
winds of change that are blowing heavily on me this spring, I decided to engage
more actively in my daily early morning routine.
The Early Morning Routine
rise
before dawn: 96 - 48 min prior to sunrise (use
lay still in bed & assess digestion
thank Mother Earth before placing feet down to walk on her all
day
morning ablutions: go to the toilet & check for your "daily
news"
wash hands
wash face with water
wash eyes with COLD water
rinse nostrils with cool water
swish & spit water from mouth
brush teeth (tooth powder is ideal)/ (floss)
scrape tongue (elongated Silver spoon optional) then
rinse mouth
look at face in mirror, present self to self
go to sacred or auspicious object, look with
intent
chant or listen to sacred sound
go to kitchen space, prepare and drink first glass of
freshly boiled water
This routine has been written in two
classic texts, the Caraka Samhita (circa 1000 BCE) and furthered by Vagbhata’s
Astanga Hrdyam (circa 800 BCE). My dog-eared copies have been read
intellectually, and now it is time to make it work in this body, this mind.
The first couple of days I re-assess what I
am already doing each morning, moving around a couple of rituals to get them
into the order given. Then each day, I add in one or two new things until
the 15 steps are on auto-pilot.
The hardest ones to remember are the
symbolic blocks in our lives. Sometimes, I have forgotten to look intently at
the sacred object, activity being more comfortable than Being-in-the-moment-with-Auspiciousness.
This is my clue that I need to be perceptive of the auspiciousness I have in my
life now. Santosha, the art of being consciously content, learning to
want what we have over having what we want manifests more and more each day.
Other days, the hardest one is looking in
the mirror and presenting myself to my Self. Why is that so hard? I just
forget. So, do I appreciate who I am? When I stop to look, I
usually find a girl and have to search for the woman. The girl is easier to
see: she has made less mistakes. But the woman has compassion and victory over
years that have worn over her.
Each day I step out of the bathroom and as
I boil my water, I realize how much this Routine is truly a cornerstone of
building Trust in my physical world: taking care of me, cleaning my senses and
getting into my body. Why was this not taught in medical school, I wonder, as I
sip my hot boiled water and step into my day.