Now that we know how does an ideal week of a wise woman look like, let’s take a moment to talk about the ideal day. Dinacharya – Vedic term for daily routine. According to Vedas, if we live each day in proper daily routine, this will maintain our health on a very high level, decrease aging and increase beauty. And isn’t it exactly what we need, ladies?
Time in Vedic literature is an aspect of God that uses it to rule the world. Time influences us and the whole material world like nothing else. It heals, it destroys, in connects and transforms. While doing so, time itself always remains untouched by the material world.
Time has its cycles and the whole universe exists according to these cycles and rhythms. A word “rhythm” is derived from Sanskrit term “Rita” that means the law. As we all know, ignorance of the law does not release us from responsibility. By living in harmony with universal rhythms, we would praise and respect this aspect of God, and in return will get its blessings: absolute health, long life, radiant beauty and unleashing our full potential.
Dinacharya is basically a list of things we should be doing everyday if we want to be all of that and more. And as all things, it takes time and patience, and requires a regular practice. However you will notice difference already after a month or two of this daily routine. Let’s look at some main points of proper day of a wise woman.
Waking Up
Generally, the perfect time to get up is right before the sunrise. In Ayurveda, this time is considered the most sattvic, or favorable time. It is the period of happiness and optimism. This is when the Nature wakes up and if you catch the moment, you may feel how your body is filled with extremely strong and profound experience of the union with the universe. More than that, it was scientifically proven that about 20 minutes before the sun rises, the whole chemistry of our body changes in an instant, including the blood. According to Vedas, this happens because the sun is sort of sending us an impulse that it is time to wake up. And if we stay asleep, we will get tired much quicker throughout the day.
Intention
Right before rising up and continue on, set up an intention for the day. It may be a quick gratitude that you simply awoke for another day. Or it can be a quick visualization or meditation. Also, it is very beneficial for us, women, to remember our dreams and think of them a little. Just give yourself a few minutes to set up the mood of your day. I promise, if you do that, the whole day will follow it.
Elimination
This is a very important step as we need to get our body rid of all the toxins accumulated during the day. Right before doing it, you may drink a glass of warm water, with lemon or ginger. This will help the body to start all the processes, including the elimination. And it will also hydrate us, as we have not been drinking the whole entire night. There is really nothing better than clean warm water in the mornings.
Hygiene
Mouth: When you are clean from the inside, it is time to clean yourself from the outside. Starting with your mouth is probably the best and most natural for most of us. Brush your teeth and if you can, do some oil pulling. This is an excellent, easy and very effective technique to cleanse your mouth and teeth and gums, while destroying bacteria in places where you really cannot get to it. Additionally, through saliva, it actually drains out the toxins from the whole body, in a very subtle way.
Face: Wash your face, eyes and nose. Spritz it with cold water and then rosewater. You may use some natural supplements for your eyes now as well.
Nose: Now is also a good time for nose cleansing, using neti pot. Neti pot is a little tool that looks like a tiny teapot. You would need to use clean or boiled water, slightly warm, and a pinch of salt with it. Preferably, a special kind of salt, but any salt would do as long as it dissolves completely. This method will cleanse the whole entire nasopharynx area – space between nasal and mouth soft palates.
Tongue: Tongue scraping is also an effective way to clean your mouth even more, as we normally have a layer of white substance on the tongue. This is actually a sign of ama, or toxins, in our intestines. And we don’t need no toxins in the mouth 😉 Now is a good time to brush your hair and put some natural perfume, or an essential oil of your choice.
Massage and Dry Brushing
The most pleasant part of the morning is oleation or abhyanga of your body, and dry skin brushing. Start with dry skin brushing, using a brush with natural bristles. This will remove dead skin and stimulate lymph drainage in the body, win-win! Then, take sesame oil and apply it all over your body. This is called abhyanga, or self-massage, that truly is a miracle for us, women. It makes your skin glow naturally, if you do it regularly for an extended period of time. Putting some oil before taking the shower will actually also protects your skin’s natural oils.
Shower
Now jump in the shower and enjoy the sensation of the water on your skin. If you can, do contrast shower. If not, at least splash your breasts with cold water in the end, to tone them up.
Exercise
It is better to not skip it, whether it is a whole yoga complex or just a few movements. Your body will love you even more, trust me. At least, do some basic stretching and warm up your joints by moving with hands and feet in a circular motion. You may also take the shower after exercising, if you feel like it.
Meditation
Sit down and meditate. Follow your breath, or do breathing exercises. Anything that sets your mind to peace and calm works.
Breakfast
We finally got to this part! Believe it or not, but ideally, we can start eating only now. General rule here is to have more substantial breakfast in colder months, and something lighter in the hot months. Size wise, it should not be something too large, as we are only at the beginning of the day.
Lunch
Best time for lunch is from noon until about 1 p.m. This is the when the sun is at its highest peak, and our digestion is too. So this is the biggest meal of the day. Take some time after lunch and sit quietly. No need to run do your things right away. It is not good for your digestion. Short walk afterwards would be very beneficial as well, if you have time.
Dinner
According to Ayurveda, the best dinner time is around 6 p.m. This should be the smallest meal of the day. Another walk after dinner and before sleep would benefit us tremendously as well.
Going to bed
It is best to avoid any activity right before going to sleep. Now is the time for something calm and soothing.
It may look like it is too much to do. In fact, even if we follow this routine completely, we will find having more free time than usual. Simply because our body will operate in a more energy efficient way. If you are still overwhelmed, try to pick just a few things to start with. Whatever you do, do it with great love and patience to yourself. It will all count 😉
Blessings!
Hey, can you write a blog about how a woman can stay regular with her periods or can sync her cycle with the moon?
Good day to you, Himanshi! Lovely suggestion, I will be happy to write about it <3
This was lovely, as always! My question is: how frequently should one use the neti pot?
Hi Marigold! It really depends on the purpose of using it. If it is just as hygiene, every other day in the morning or evenings is fine. I prefer it in the mornings. If you are trying to address some issues like cold or allergy, do it daily, up to 2-3 times a day until symptoms are gone.