Ayurveda's Dinacharya (daily practices).
Incorporate just one new practice a week, if it was successful then add another the next week:
Get up early in the morning: rise before the sun, this will help reset your inner clock, will help tune up your natural self-healing abilities. Your immune system can get challenged or tired when the seasons change, and you may find that you are ready to go to sleep earlier. Listen to your body. If rising early in the morning doesn’t give you enough rest then adjust your bedtime a little earlier each night. Get in the habit of no computer or cell phones so no blue light exposure after sunset. This might be difficult at first but it's best for your brain. At night only allow a red light on if any at all. The closer to sunrise you wake the less kapha will settle in your tissues in the morning, allowing more alertness and movement of the channels and body functions.
Set your intention for your day: visualize your day as you desire, visualize it as if it is already so, and add a little gratitude into this morning grace and manifestation time. What are you thankful for?
Scrap your tongue with a tongue scrapper: 7 times, rinse it well for the next day.
Begin your morning with a cup of warm water! Plain or with a slice of lemon and touch of ginger. (I put 2 TBSP sliced fresh ginger in boiling water for 15 minutes and let it sit for an hour or more, I strain it and put it in a mason jar in the refrigerator to add to hot water in the morning, after 2-3 days I'll make another batch, but by all means make ginger tea daily if you can). Warm water will jump start our digestion, and wake up the body after a night of fasting. Ginger balances digestion even more, and lemon is alkalizing, cleansing and boost the immune system.
Triphala is a wonderful mix for balancing the entire digestive system, helps to absorb nutrients and form bowel movements well, keeps elimination regular and smooth, it tones the organs, it gently detoxes and heals the digestive lining.
Take ½ tsp of triphala powder in a cup of water, let it sit overnight, add a little warm water to it in the morning. drink and leave the sediment in the bottom, fill with water again and drink in 1 hour before bed at night. Start fresh with triphala and water to soak overnight….
Triphala will taste slightly different to everyone depending on what tastes are not in balance or what tastes are needed by an individual. Over time triphala may taste different to you and it has been said that once triphala tastes sweet (not with the honey added) then the six tastes and digestive system are balanced.
Nasya and Neti pot: oil the nasals with sesame oil or olive oil or a medicated oil, I have some for sale or order from Banyon Botanicals.
Neti pot is a wonderful practice using a neti pot and 1 cup boiled water cooled to just a tad warmer than room temperature and 1/4 tsp of sea salt added. Tilt head to one side, and slightly forward, tip of the neti pot in the up nostril and gently let the water go through one nostril and out the opposite side. You'll need to make a silent k sound in your throat to close the throat and lean forward slightly. Very gently blow out any left over dripping water, repeat to the other side. Never blow hard, and don't lie down for at least 30 minutes after. This is an ideal spring practice, but can be helpful for this prone to sinus infections throughout the year. Always follow with nasya or oil nostrils as a practice in itself without neti pot.
Dry brush your skin for lymphatic stimulation and to sloth of dead skin cells (especially in the winter and spring, but not as much in the fall) before your shower with dry skin and a dry bath brush, brush limbs toward the heart, then from the center of the chest out, and around the abdomen clockwise as if a clock was facing out from you.
Abhyanga--apply oil topically to the whole body preferably before you bathe (since it brings toxins to the surface), or before bed which can calm the nervous system and ready the body and mind for sleep. At the least, apply oil to the bottoms of your feet before bed. It can help you sleep more soundly.
Sesame oil is ideal in the winter, but if you have warm skin or are usually warm sunflower oil could be better.
Kapha oil: sunflower oil, safflower, mustard, almond oil will be fine or if you are quite kapha in nature you may prefer no oil, so possibly just the bottoms of the feet and the crown of the head with an essential oil.
Pitta oil: sunflower oil, or sesame if it's not too oily of a sensation for the pitta
Vata oil: sesame oil, sunflower oil, avocado oil
Stretch, do yoga, go on a brisk walk move your body in the morning.
Reduce ama, waste matter, in your body:
-scrape your tongue a few times with a stainless steel tongue scrapper in the AM
-dry brush your skin as mentioned above
Guidance for Optimal Digestion and Assimilation for overall health:
-eat three meals a day, try to avoid snacking unless needed
-ancient texts say that we are truly hungry when we have extra saliva and we can feel our belly hungry, with that being said sometimes in our busy modern life we aren't always connected with our hunger needs, we over indulge we under indulge, the practices of yoga and ayurveda can help to bring awareness to this piece for us
-take three deep breaths before your first bite
-eat slowly and eat only while seated
-eat only until 75% full
-rest for 10 minutes (on your left side) after a meal
-go for a 10 minute walk
Regularly process emotions and the stresses of life, take into your senses only that which you can process easily, so that is have a balance of what you hear, see, feel, taste, etc... not too rajasic which would mean not too over stimulating, and not too tamasic which would mean not too dense, static and dull. It goes back to the wisdom that all things in moderation can create the ultimate balance in life.
Kitcharee: a yummy dish of mung (moong dal) and rice, enjoy it at least three times a week, see recipe page for one version, there are so many, just look kitcharee up for ideas, I have a recipe under recipes, check it out.
Food Sadhana: how we eat are food is of the utmost importance, look at the Food Sadhana section.
Have your biggest meal at lunch.
Lunch is the easiest meal to digest when eaten between 11 and 2. Metabolism and energy are increased by eating your largest meal at lunch; eat a smaller dinner, aka supper, that is supplemental meal. If you’re starving at night for dinner, you didn’t have enough for lunch. Take a break in your day to rekindle your energy and rest for 5-10 minutes after lunch, not sleeping but resting before going about the rest of your day. You’ll find sustained energy after a few days or maybe even right away when beginning this practice and your biorhythms will begin to balance out allowing for easier waking in the morning, better sleep at night, and you’ll help your metabolism and weight management be at it’s optimum state.