Ayurvedic Morning Routine – The Ultimate Guide

How you start your morning is a reflection of how the rest of your day will go. If you are rolling out of bed after snoozing your alarm, grabbing a coffee and jumping right into the day’s tasks, something needs to change.

Why You Need an Ayurvedic Morning Routine

Creating a morning routine is one the best and most effective ways to get the most from your days, and in turn, your life! Feeling overwhelmed, chasing your tail, trying to get things done but never achieving anything? You need a morning routine!

An Ayurvedic morning routine can benefit absolutely everyone. It’s flexible so you can make it work for you and your life. You don’t have to follow each and every one of the steps set out below, and you do not have to follow them in exact order either. In fact, the opposite is true!

A Morning Routine That Will Work For You

The most successful morning routines are the ones that will work for you! Use the following guidelines as a list to pick and choose from – I can’t stress it enough if your morning routine is too elaborate, too long or just boring for you, you will give up within a few days. Keep reading until the end for samples to help you shape your morning routine depending on your circumstances.

So let’s get started!

Wake Up (Reasonably) Early

Ayurveda recommends waking up early, but let’s be realistic here! ‘Early’ can mean very different things to different people. I generally suggest somewhere between 6am-7.30am depending on your circumstances. The general rule of thumb is to wake up at a time that allows you to have at least some time to yourself before starting your day!

If you are a new mom, you might be lucky to even get 10 minutes to yourself at the start of the day. It’s likely your schedule is dictated by baby and you don’t have much flexibility. Don’t stress! We can still work with just 10-20 minutes I promise, and you can always move your morning routine to a little later during nap times! If you work from home, you might be about to have 2 full hours, or if you commute, you might only be able to spare 30 minutes.

Estimated time: >5 minutes (if you don’t hit snooze!)

Drink Hot Water

Start your day with a cup of hot water (boiled water is known as ushno udaka in Sanskrit). This is one of the easiest aspects of an Ayurvedic morning routine you can start implementing right away, with minimal effort and no cost. Despite how simple this step is, it actually hosts a range of benefits.

Drinking hot water in the morning may help:

• Stimulate digestion
• Regulate bowel movements
• Weight management
• Balances Vata & Kapha dosha

In summer, or if you have a signs of high Pitta, room temperature water is fine (but no ice!). You can read more about the benefits of drinking hot water here.

Estimated time: >5 minutes

Empty Bladder & Bowels

Digestion is pretty much the central cog in Ayurveda and an enormous amount of emphasis is put on supporting digestive health. Why? When digestion works well, it feeds into every other organ and system in the body. When digestion is poor, even a perfect diet won’t be able to provide adequate nutrition for your body to work at it’s best.

The gold standard in Ayurveda is to empty your bowels regularly, each morning, before breakfast. Now that might be right where you are at right now, or it could seem impossible. Maybe you are only eliminating 2-3 times per week.

Hot water stimulates digestion, so after a week or so you might feel more ‘regular’. Also, just go to the bathroom and sit for a minute each morning even if you don’t need to pass a stool, but don’t strain. It takes time to regulate digestion. It could be a few weeks or a few months or even a year. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but try to aim for this once per day morning elimination.

Estimated time: 5-10 minutes

Wash Face

Fairly self explanatory! Ayurveda recommends a number of basic cleansing practices each morning to start the day with a fresh slate, starting with washing your face and a few minutes TLC for your skin.

Estimated time: >5 minutes

Scrape Tongue

Before I lose you, hear me out! Yes, scraping your tongue sounds weird. I also didn’t know what was going on the first time I heard about it! But scraping your tongue is not only really easy, it actually leaves your mouth feeling so clean and fresh in the mornings!

See, a coating tends to develop on our tongues. In Ayurveda, this is known as ama and is a sign of digestive distress. Tongue scraping helps remove this coating, keep a healthy bacterial balance in the mouth and also works to stimulate digestion in the morning.

Traditionally, a copper tongue scraper is used which you can buy inexpensively online. However, if you can’t access one or just want to give it a try, you can also just use a spoon! Gently scrape your tongue from back to front around 7-10 times each morning, rinsing your scraper and spoon after each turn.

Estimated time: 2 minutes

Oil Pulling & Clean Teeth

As well as scraping your tongue, Ayurveda recommends oil pulling for optimal oral hygiene. Oil pulling involves taking around a tablespoon of oil and swishing it around your mouth, or “pulling” it through your teeth, for anywhere between 5-20 minutes. Personally, if I can make it to 5 I feel like it’s a success! Make sure to discard the oil in the bin, not down the drain, as overtime it could wreak havoc on your plumbing.

As for what oil is best, there are generally two I recommend depending on the person and time of year:

• Sesame oil (cold pressed, not toasted): This is idea for Vata & Kapha type constitutions, in fall or winter, or if you have receding gums
• Coconut oil: The preferred option for Pitta types, for the summer months and if you experience inflamed or bleeding gums
• You can also buy herbalized options online but I like to keep it simple!

Estimated time: 5 minutes

Nasya Oil

Nasya means nose in Sanskrit. The practice of nasya oil is to add a couple of drops of oil into each nostril. For daily use, simply add 3-4 drops of nasya oil to each nostril and gently massage in. Our well loved sesame oil is perfect to use again for nasya, but herbalized options are available.

I recommend herbalized options if you suffer with sinus congestion, excess mucus or difficulty breathing through your nose. The reason is that most herbalized nasya oils contain ‘expectorant’ herbs that help you expel any blockages. Trust me, they work! So if you try one, keep a tissue with you!

Nasya oil is particularly important if you live in a dry climate, and during fall and winter. It helps lubricate the nostrils and nourish the mucus membranes, helping your nose do its job of keeping dirt and bacteria at bay!

Estimated time: 2 minutes

Abhyanga

Abhyanga is one of the most important parts of an Ayurvedic morning routine. It is a self-massage with oil that is best practiced daily. This is one area that I find people struggle with the most but don’t stress, there are ways to make it easier!

In an ideal world, you take 20 minutes for abhyanga. I’m not sure about you, but I definitely don’t have time for that each day! Instead, just 5 minutes will be perfect and far superior than nothing at all.

Another way to make it more flexible is that if you don’t have the time in the morning, you can do this in the evening when you are having a shower and get ready for bed. In the morning, it is generally best to shower after to protect your clothes, but in the evening, you can feel free to sleep with the oil still on your skin.

There are waaaaay too many benefits of abhyanga to go into them all here, so I encourage you to find out all about this ultimate self-care practice in more detail.

Estimated time: 5-10 minutes

Shower

In Ayurveda, using harsh soaps or supermarket body washes are not recommended. Instead, opt for using a natural soap, sparingly. Your skin, much like your gut and your mouth, is thriving with bacteria that is essential to keep you healthy so you don’t want to strip all that away each day. So unless you have been working outside, have done a heavy gym session or are washing your fake tan off, go easy and just soap the necessary areas (usually “pits and bits” as they say!).

If you have applied oil in the previous step, just gently pat yourself dry after the shower. A little bit of oil still left on the skin is ideal to keep it soft and protected all day!

Estimated time: 10 minutes

Exercise

Everyone’s exercise needs and requirements are going to be different. Maybe you hate the idea of a morning workout and only want to do so in the evening and that’s ok too. If you do opt for a heavier workout in the morning, you can swap it to go before your shower.

Whether you like a morning workout or not, everyone is encouraged to still get a little movement first thing to encourage circulation and lymphatic flow after lying down for eight hours. Try a gentle at home yoga or a short walk – whatever works for you! If you don’t have time, dry brushing is a quick and easy alternative to get your circulation flowing in the morning.

Estimated time: 15-20 minutes

Pranayama/Meditation

After your short walk or yoga, take just 5 minutes or less to do some breathing techniques, known as pranayama, and a little quiet moment for meditation. For getting started with breathing techniques, make sure to check out this post on belly breathing. As for meditation, I love using the Insight Timer app which is free, and I’ve also used Headspace and Calm at different points too. Guided meditations make it much easier and if you are a beginner. They can also be really nice to do right before going to bed too.

Estimated time: 5 minutes

Journalling

If sitting still and meditating isn’t for you, I highly recommend journaling. I use a couple of specific journaling techniques including morning pages and keeping a gratitude journal. My advice, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it! Many people feel uncomfortable or embarrassed writing out their thoughts, but better in your notebook that swirling in your head all day! You’ll feel calm and clear and ready for your day ahead after just 10 minutes.

Estimated time: 10 minutes

Start your day!

Ready now to get breakfast and start your day

Worth the Extra Effort!

So all in all, if you were to do the ENTIRE morning routine (which remember, is not compulsory!) including about 15 minutes for breakfast, it would take you around 1.5 hours. Maybe you have this much time and maybe you don’t – the thing is it really doesn’t matter. What is key is that your routine works for YOU! You feel good after doing it, and don’t feel like it’s just another thing to check off your to-do list.

Sample Morning Routines

Knowing that everyone and every schedule is unique, I’ve shared a few examples below of what might work for you (maybe make up in some sort of a graphic)

New Mom (15 minutes)

• Hot Water
• Wash Face
• Belly Breathing
• If you have time a little later in the day when little one is ready, take the buggy out for a 15-20 minute walk

Entrepreneur/Work from Home (1 hour)

• Hot Water
• Wash Face
• Scrape Tongue
• Exercise
• Abhyanga
• Journalling

Working/Commuting (40 minutes)

• Hot Water
• Scrape Tongue
• Nasya Oil
• Shower
• Belly Breathing (in the car on the way to work)

My Typical Routine (1 hour)

• Hot Water
• Journalling/read a few pages
• Short breathing/meditation
• Exercise
• Abhyanga (but I do this in the evening before bed)