Here is the link to the beautiful article fully explaining the art of Dinacharya, by Dr. Claudia Welch: Dinacharya: Changing Lives through Daily Living
Dinacharya – Your Daily Cleansing Routine:
“Your daily life is your temple and your religion. When you enter into it take with you your all.” – Kahlil Gibran
During the entire cleanse:
No or little TV, lots of resting, reading – limiting computer and phone time, especially in the evenings after 7 p.m. Remember that this is a time of rejuvenation, and in order to allow our body to detox and remove toxins successfully, we must interfere as little as possible with its function. This is also a time to relax the mind, so taking in sattvic impressions is important. You may consider taking a day of silence as part of your cleanse. This includes a complete break from TV, phone, computer and even radio.
1. Wake up with (or before!) the sun. Aligning your rhythms with that of the sun is another way to help correct imbalance. The sun is rising before 6 a.m. in Spring and Summer, and closer to 6:30 or 7 a.m. in the winter. Say a small prayer or intention before leaving your bed. This means you should also get to bed early, by 10 p.m. is ideal.
2. Cleanse the senses and jumpstart digestion: Brush your teeth, scrape your tongue and perhaps rinse your eyes and face with cool water or rose water. You may also decide to do a neti pot nasal rinse or nasya oil. Here is a quick link to reference your neti pot instruction video.
3. Start each morning of your cleanse by drinking eight to sixteen ounces of warm to hot water. You may add a squirt of fresh lime juice, and/or a ½ tsp of raw, local honey. You may also start to sip on ginger tea or agni tea. (See recipes).
4. Meditate – even if this is a new practice for you, set a timer and sit still, breathing comfortably for 10 minutes (even outside of a cleanse I recommend doing this before opening your computer or checking your email, or otherwise getting caught up in your day.) You may watch the pranayama videos and follow this practice if me, ditation is totally new to you. Meditation is just a natural deepening of concentration – so learning and following along with the pranayama video is an excellent first step. Or, again, you could simply set a timer, and sit in quiet for 5 or 10 minutes. If you have a solid meditation practice, follow your usual practice.
5. Abhyanga (Ayurvedic oil massage) – Before you bathe apply warmed or room temperature organic sesame oil over your entire body. Softly and getlye rub the oil in, from head to toe for at least 10 minutes. Do not be afraid to apply to oil liberally – use 2-6 oz! Be sure to rub the ears, perhaps even put a few drops of oil in each ear, then allow it to drain out. Use long strokes on your limbs and circular strokes on your joints followed by a warm bath. You may also choose to shower, though a path is luxurious and better allows the heat/steam to penetrate the body. Plus, it’s very relaxing! Do not try to wash the oil off with soap, sesame oil is a natural skin cleanser and the hot water will wash most of it away leaving your skin with a smooth, soft feeling. When you dry off, pat yourself with your towel rather than wiping the water away to prevent the abhyanga oil from being wiped off.
6. A bit of exercise before breakfast is highly recommended. Practice 15-30 minutes of gentle yoga and pranayama, tai chi, or go for a 20 minute walk. Be sure to stay warm if you go outside, wear a hat and do not go out with wet hair. If you prefer to bathe after you exercise you can do the abhyanga then.
7. Breakfast – Prepare a pot of kitchari for breakfast, or for one full day. If you just can’t stand kitchari in the morning, a warm, whole grain cereal like oatmeal would be ok for most people. Do not save leftovers for the next day – leftovers are considered tamasic. Have some Coriander, Cumin, Fennel tea after breakfast. If you are truly not hungry, do not eat. This means toxins are coming to the digestive tract to be burned up or eliminated. Eat when true hunger returns.
*If you find yourself fasting, and not feeling hungry, this means your agni, or digestive fire, is low. Sip on Agni tea throughout the day to help support your metabolism to function properly.
8. Kitchari – For lunch and dinner you will be eating kitchari as well. Eat slowly and quietly, without distraction of a book or tv. Eat until you are satisfied, but not overly full. Sip warm water or tea while you eat.
9. Avoid snacking between meals, this allows for full, proper digestion of your food. If you are hypoglycemic or feel like you need to have something to eat you can try a half of an avocado, or 15-30 soaked almonds. Do not mix the avocado with your kitchari, it is considered a bad food combination, and can create toxins. Leave 1 or 2 hours on either side of eating the avocado or nuts before your next meal. Make sure you are eating enough, remember it’s not a fast, just a challenge for the senses.
10. *Optional* – Triphala (Ayurvedic herbal detoxifying formula) – Approximately one half hour before bed take 2 capsules/caplets of triphala. This formula contains three of the most important Ayurvedic herbs for detoxification and rejuvenation of the whole body. If you find that your bowels slow down during your cleanse you can take up to 4 capsules of triphala each evening to gently remedy this.
*Common Sense Precaution: Triphala, which means “three fruits”, is very gentle, but if you are taking any prescription drugs be sure to check with your physician about whether it is inappropriate for you to take. You are not required to take this herb, you may use digestive teas throughout the day to keep things moving and boost agni. I can not safely recommend this herbal formula to you unless I am working with you one-on-one. If you have taken it in the past successfully, you may guide yourself.
- This information is attached as a document here, so you may download it and print it out to easily reference every day of your cleanse.
- You may purchase a tongue scraper, a neti pot, as well as pre-packaged cleanse kits from Banyan Botanicals with the information in the following lesson, Kitchari Recipes and Shopping List.
- Before you begin your cleanse, be sure to read and watch the lesson, Some Important Notes about Cleansing.