Dinacharya- Yoga

Dinacharya is basically just your daily routine. Dinacharya starts as soon as you wake up and continues until sleep. These routines help you create a balance in your day. The funny thing is that the balance and routine seem so anti-American to me. At least in my generation, we are loathe to do the same things over and over, to eat the same things over and over. Yet, I know that when I have a regular routine, my life is calmer and more enjoyable. So I am definitely willing to give this a try. Because I work from home for myself, I do not have a regular wake up and sleep time. Using this I will create a rhythm to my day that I believe will make me more productive and happier.

Most of the Ayurveda information I have seen has a list of the daily activities you should do when you wake up in the morning. The first is to wake up early- morning dinacharya can take an hour - so you need the extra time to complete it. Here are the steps, though not in order:

1) Early rising - at dawn or an hour before
2) Warm Water and elimination - drink a glass of warm water and eliminate in the morning. Starts your day off right!
3) Yoga and stretching - sun salutations and then yoga or stretching based on your dosha
4) Meditation- lots more on this in a later post
5) Abhyanga - oil massage - a separate post on this also
6) shower or bathe- every day
7) tongue scraping and mouth cleansing & nasal drain - so brush your teeth, use a tongue scraper and a neti pot or something similar. Massage sesame oil in your nostrils.
8) Pranayama- breathing exercises
9) Breakfast
10) Walk for 30 minutes
Then on to fulfill your karmic duties- work, housework, whatever those may be.

So, I usually get up before my husband and have some time to myself in the morning. I already start off the day with elimination- how can you wake up and not need to go to the bathroom- but this idea of a glass of warm water to help produce a bowel movement is new. What I have been doing for a couple of weeks is Sun Salutations and yoga outside on my deck. It's been so warm and I go downstairs to take the dog out for his dinacharya so why not do it myself? The peace that comes from being outside and doing a sun salutation is wonderful. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have gained some weight back and these last few months I've been hard on myself in true Pitta fashion. I need to practice compassion and gently remove this weight so that it doesn't come back. The morning yoga is helping me reconnect with my body. In fact all of these suggestions help me reconnect with and understand my body. In my head I am still a size 6. In reality, I am not. After yoga, I often will "work out", but I do it much more gently than I used to. I am getting re-acquainted with this body and trying to treat it well. I am over 40 now and my knees especially are not happy with the rough usage of the past. so, easy exercise on a bike, a stationary bike, an elliptical and pilates performer machine as well as some Wii Sports keep my mornings in line.

So three sets of sun salutations and then some stretching yoga poses. I also have started getting a Thai massage about once a month. In a later post I will tell you about the abhyanga and how it is related to the rediscovery of my body. If you don't know the sun salutations, any search can help you find them. A great way to greet the day.