By Setareh Kiumarsi
What are the morning rituals in Ayurveda, and what does someone who wants to follow this path actually do to honor them?
Let’s walk through it together:
Step One: Oral Cleansing
When we wake up in the morning, our mouth often tastes bad and smells unpleasant. Why?
Because during the night, part of the toxins produced in the digestive system—usually from overeating or poor food combinations—accumulate on the tongue. The mouth fills with odor-causing bacteria.
What’s the best way to eliminate them?
First, use a tongue scraper or the back of a spoon to clean the coating off your tongue. Do this 7 to 14 times until it’s clean.
(We’ve explained tongue cleaning in more detail in a separate article.)
Next, do oil pulling to remove deeper bacteria in the oral cavity. Use sesame oil, or a 1:1 mix of coconut oil and sweet almond oil.
Swish 1–2 tablespoons in your mouth for a few minutes, then spit it out.
Important: Do not swallow or gargle the oil.
Oil binds to toxins and bacteria, removing them from the mouth. It also seeps into micro-cracks in the teeth, supporting oral health.
After oil pulling, rinse with saltwater or cooled clove tea and gargle thoroughly.
Step Two: Nasal Cleansing
After cleaning your mouth, it’s time to care for your nose.
Do you often wake up with phlegm in your throat or a stuffy nose?
Use a neti pot or nasal saline rinse 2–3 times a week to wash out built-up mucus from your nasal passages and sinuses.
(See our Neti Pot post for instructions.)
This not only clears physical congestion, but also cleanses the third eye chakra, removing toxins around the eyes.
If your nose tends to be dry, apply a small amount of sweet almond oil inside your nostrils in the morning.
If you have a hot temperament, use coconut or olive oil instead.
Step Three: Eye Care
After oral and nasal care, turn to your eyes.
In 1/4 cup of boiled, cooled water, dissolve a pinch of pink Himalayan salt and add 1–2 drops of pure honey. Pour this solution into a small bowl, and blink your eyes in the water to cleanse them.
(Yes, it will sting a little—don’t worry.)
Then soak a cotton pad in rosewater and apply it to your eyelids.
Next, do eye exercises:
- Sit comfortably and look left, then right — 3 times.
- Look up, then down — 3 times.
- Roll your eyes clockwise 3 times, then counterclockwise 3 times.
- Focus on the farthest point in the room, then on the tip of your nose.
- Rub your palms together to generate warmth and place them gently over your eyes.
Keep your eyes open and gaze into the darkness behind your hands for 30 seconds.
- Finally, press your index, middle, and ring fingers together and massage around your eyes and sinuses in small, circular, clockwise motions.
Step Four: Morning Bowel Movement
Now that you’ve done the initial cleansing steps:
Start with a glass of warm water mixed with a few drops of lemon juice and a pinch of salt.
This activates downward movement in the digestive tract, encouraging natural elimination.
Then go to the toilet.
If you have a squat toilet, great.
If not, place a small stool under your feet while using a Western-style toilet to mimic the natural squatting posture — this position makes elimination easier.
Sit quietly, breathe deeply, and focus on the rectum.
With each inhale, gently relax the anal muscles; with each exhale, contract them.
Simultaneously, massage your belly around the navel in a clockwise circle.
Avoid distractions like phones, books, or social media during this time.
Give your body time and space to do what it needs. In time, your body will develop the habit of regular morning detox.
(If you struggle with constipation, check out this article on natural home remedies.)
Step Five: Full-Body Morning Oil Massage
After elimination, it’s time for oil massage. But which oil should you use?
- Cold, thin body types: use sweet almond oil or sesame oil.
- Cold, heavy-set bodies: use black seed oil or mustard oil.
- Hot body types: use coconut oil or olive oil.
- Chronic skin issues (eczema, hives, rashes): use castor oil.
Massage your entire body, focusing on:
- Joints: in circular, clockwise motions
- Limbs: with long, back-and-forth strokes (e.g., from wrist to elbow)
If you have chronic phlegm, frequent colds, or respiratory issues, don’t over-oil your chest or face — just massage lightly without applying much oil.
After massage, take a warm shower or bath. Re-massage your body under the water if you’d like. The steam opens your pores, helping the oil penetrate deeper — even to the bone tissue.
If your skin is already clean, skip soap. Let warm water remove excess oil but leave a little moisture behind.
If your skin isn’t clean, exfoliate with a scrub or loofah, then apply a little more oil after your bath.
Especially in autumn, the driest season, your skin will appreciate a little oil and moisture.
Step Six: Morning Yoga
For the final step of your morning routine, do gentle yoga.
Why?
Because many yoga asanas, especially twists, activate your digestive fire by compressing and releasing the muscles around the digestive tract.
They help organs like the liver, stomach, pancreas, and intestines secrete bile, enzymes, and acids— priming your body to receive food.
If you work with a yoga instructor, great! ask them to create a morning sequence tailored to your constitution.
If not, you can:
- Practice 6 to 12 rounds of Sun Salutation (Surya Namaskara) and
- 6 to 12 rounds of Cat-Cow (Marjariasana).
If you tend to run hot, replace Sun Salutation with Moon Salutation (Chandra Namaskara) instead.
(These practices are best learned from a yoga teacher, but if you don’t have access to one, plenty of video tutorials are available online.)
With these six steps, you can start your day feeling balanced, refreshed, and full of health. Over time, you’ll be able to fit each of these practices into your morning at the right time. Once you build the habit, this daily routine won’t feel difficult — and it won’t take much time either.
Please be sure to credit the author, Setareh Kiumarsi, when sharing or republishing this article, which was written with love and the hope of well-being for all.
