01 Feb The Benefits of Ushapan
A very common Ayurvedic practice in India, is the daily ritual of ushapan, (drinking one litre of water first thing in the morning). The ideal time to do ushapan is before sunrise, immediately after waking up and before brushing your teeth. Yes, before brushing your teeth is considered very beneficial according to Ayurveda, as the stored up saliva in the mouth has strong medicinal properties.
Ayurvedic Guidelines on Ushapan:
Heat approximately 5 cups of water on a stovetop, not a microwave. Feel free to also store one litre of water in advance (overnight) in a copper vessel to make the water more recharged and easily absorbed by the body.
Depending on your body dosha it’s important to drink the water – hot, lukewarm, or room temperature. Ayurveda never recommends drinking cold water. This ritual is giving a steam-clean to our body cells when we do this first thing in the morning and also kindles the digestive fire to keep us energetic and alert throughout out the day.
During these winter months, feel free to drink hot water, (even if you are pitta), and switch to room temperature water during hot summer months. Vata body types can drink it warm and kapha body types can drink to the water at a hot temperature.
If you are pitta dominant dosha and notice that as you are drinking hot water, you begin to see any imbalance in pitta like breakouts or rashes switch to lukewarm water.
Be sure not to season the water with anything. This is stressed in Ayurveda, as water has a subtle genetic pattern that has the power to detox, hydrate, regulate, eliminate and bring our bodies back to nature’s rhythm. So to make this process work efficiently it is important we drink plain water with nothing added to it.
The wisdom of Ayurveda also tells us more about the right way to drink water. Taking small sips and enjoying the taste of water in the mouth is the right way to drink it. To make it more beneficial drink your morning water sitting in a sukhasana (cross legged seated position).
For best results, be sure not to eat anything until at least 30- 40 minutes later, as this is the time the body takes to steam-clean our body cells, hydrate and energize the cells, and start removing all the ama (toxins) accumulated in the body.
The top Ayurvedic benefits of drinking one litre of water daily:
1) Removes Toxins
2) Aids Digestion
3) Helps Weight Loss
4) Increases Life-span
5) Preserves Hydration
6) Counteracts Fatigue
7) Radiant Skin
8) Immune Booster
9) Sense of Calmness
If you start to incorporate this ayurvedic practice into your daily routine, you will begin to notice the benefits. Just be patient and consistent.
