Instructions for Daily Regimen
Tongue Scraping
Use your tongue scraper at the beginning of your morning toilet to gently remove any debris or coating from the tongue, scraping from back to front about three times. Use both hands, holding the ends of the scraper. When you are finished thoroughly clean your tongue scraper.
Record the amount, consistency and color of any coating that comes off onto your tongue scraper. Note if any coating remains. Note if your tongue is pink, red or white; if it is dry, if it shakes, if there are any cracks, red spots on the tongue surface, or scallops at the edges. In general, (though not usually while we cleanse!) a healthy tongue is pink and moist without bubbles
Daily tongue scraping removes ama (digestive impurities) that build up on the tongue if digestion is incomplete. The gentle scraping action massages the tongue, stimulating digestion. The clean tongue supports the sense of taste. A healthy sense of taste is said to be the key to weight management.
Floss and brush teeth
Floss between teeth gently, then brush your teeth using a soft bristle toothbrush. Make up and down strokes in an oval shape over all the teeth, upper and lower. Gently massage gums with the ends of the bristles. Rinse your mouth at least three times. Clean your toothbrush thoroughly, soaking it in grain alcohol (vodka) if possible. Your toothpaste should not contain sorbitol, fluoride (unless being used medicinally), or sodium lauryl sulphate. Please read the label on your toothpaste tube. Do not swallow your toothpaste. Brush your teeth after each meal.
Garshana: Lymph Drainage and Exfoliation
Use your silk glove to rub your body from feet to navel, from your naval to your heart, from your fingers to heart and from the back of your ears to your heart . Use soft strokes. Light strokes support the movement of lymph and open the ducts. Pay special attention to the areas of behind the knees, at the hip creases, elbow creases, under the arms and along the sides of the neck.
Garshana very gently exfoliates the skin. If you desire stronger friction, use a soft, natural bristle brush or terry washcloth. Your glove, however, was chosen because its material collects a positive charge, leaving a negative charge on your skin. Where this contacts the skin, it calms the nervous system. Where this contacts the blood vessels close to the skin's surface, it leaves a negative charge in the blood. Over time, this begins to alkalinize the blood (or de-acidify it) and debris precipitates from the circulation. Some of this "debris" is in the form of minerals such as calcium, which then is available to be reabsorbed by the bones.
Abhyanga: Warm oil application
Warm about two ounces (1/4 cup) of your abhyanga oil in a hot water bath until it becomes comfortably warm, about five minutes.
Sesame oil is recommended, but if it makes you feel hot (pitta constitutions), use coconut oil or if it seems to heavy and thick (kapha constitutions) use sunflower oil.
Stand on an old cotton towel or nonskid mat and apply the oil to your body from bottom to top and from outside to inside. Rub the oil into your skin, beginning at the bottoms of your feet, again moving from bottom to top, outside to inside.
Make long up and down strokes over the places of your long bones such as shins and thighs, and use counter clockwise circles over your joints, abdomen and chest. This process will take about ten minutes. Enjoy. Pat off any excess, especially from your feet (to avoid slipping). Allow the oil to stay on your skin for about five minutes, while sitting quietly or engaging in a relaxing activity. This is a good time to begin gandusa.
Note: Your towel and mat may become stained with oil. To clean, add Citra solve to your laundry detergent. Periodically, pour a mixture of ¼ cup baking soda and 1 cup white vinegar down your drain to keep plumbing unclogged. Never put oily towels in your dryer on hot - the can combust. Eventually they simply must be replaced.
Nasya
Place two to three drops of oil in the nose prior to sleep. Nasya nourishes the linings of the sinuses, provides a physical protective barrier against bacteria and viruses. The nasal passages connect directly to the brain. They are the entrance for prana, the life force, which comes into the body through the breath. Full, unrestricted breathing is important to ensure proper flow of prana throughout the head and body. Using herbally infused nasya oil, helps cleansing the passages and maintains the unrestricted flow of air. Daily nasal lubrication can relieve tension in the head. Other benefits are improvement of the ability to smell, improving memory, mental clarity and the quality of the voice and strengthening vision.
Showering
Use soap only under your arms and on your genital areas. Your oil is an effective cleanser for the rest of your skin. Lightly pat your body dry after your shower.
Jala Neti
Place a box of tissues next to your sink basin. Mix ½ teaspoon of your neti salt into body temperature purified spring water in your neti pot. Bend over the basin, tilt you head to one side and insert the spout of the pot into your nostril. Allow the water to flow into your upper nostril and out your lower one. You may breath through your mouth when you do this, taking care that you do not take water into your lungs. When you have emptied the salted water from the pot, take several tissues and blow your nose in short bursts about fifty times. Repeat on the other side. After you do jala neti, take some sesame oil onto your little finger and massage it gently into your nostrils.
Gandusa: Oil Pulling Take 1 tablespoon of your gandusa oil (sesame) into your mouth. Do not swallow. Without speed or great effort, swish the oil around the inside of your mouth. Suck it through your teeth, chew it, gargle it, move your chin and thoroughly wash the inside of the oral cavity for at least five and up to fifteen minutes. Spit the oil into the toilet. It will be white and milky, perhaps even wooly. The oil draws a large quantity of saliva into the mouth, bringing with it toxins from the salivary channels. These interlace with the lymph ducts. Regular practice of gandusa cleanses the lymph ducts, which supports healthy breast tissue. Some of the other benefits of gandusa are reported to be nourishing and protecting the tissues of the throat and vocal cords, decreasing oral bacterial populations (by up to 85%) supporting gum health and reducing tooth decay. strengthening of the jaw, beautifying the voice, decreasing facial flabbiness, improving the sense of taste (see tongue scraping) Gandusa relieves throat dryness, dental caries, is a toothache deterrent, strengthens teeth, and strengthens their roots. It also can help heal diseases of ear and eye, headache, throat and facial dryness. It is said it relieves nausea, drowsiness, and anorexia. Signs and symptoms of proper oil pulling:
Alleviation of disease process
Cheerfulness and clean face
Lightness in mouth
Sensory organs well functioning
Relief of facial inflammation, dryness, thirst, anorexia, exhaustion