Ayurvedic Routines for Wellness: Tongue Scraping

With Winter and Kapha season upon us, what are some daily routines we can incorporate into our daily life to promote balance and health?

This post introduces a series of simple Ayurvedic rituals to add to your daily routines with notable benefits.

1. Tongue scraping

When done regularly, this simple Ayurvedic activity has a host of positive benefits: 

- Mitigates foul odor caused by an overgrowth of bacteria

- Improves overall dental health

- Reduces accumulated Ama (toxic residue in the mind-body, which can amass due to poor digestion, improper eating, or imbalances within the gastrointestinal system)

- Balances the heavy and dulling qualities of Kapha Dosha by removing the tongue coating and stimulating the tongue

- Increases digestion and other organ function

- Creates a better communication pathway through the tongue, which improves taste and reduces:

- Overeating

- Heavy salt/sugar/excessive spice usage to make food more flavorful

- Eating at inappropriate times

How:

The tongue should be gently scraped from back to front for 7 to 14 strokes, rinsing the scrapper as needed. 

What:

The Charaka Samhita states that “tongue scrapers should be made of gold, silver, copper, tin and brass and should be non-sharp and curved, so as not to injure the tongue”.  The ideal material for your scrapper is determined based on your Ayurvedic Constitution, but stainless steel is good for all types.

When:

Ideally this practice is done in the morning and the evening, but doing this practice any is better than never. 

Most importantly, doing any of these things even a few times will have benefit so don't get uptight about needing them to be part of your daily routine. Just begin the practices, ritualize the experience, and as you feel the benefits you will be more likely to continue.

Stay tuned for more Ayurvedic Rituals!