 Ayurvedic Tongue Cleaning, or Tongue Scraping, How and Why to Perform this Amazing Daily Practice
Meghan Hays Ayurveda Salt Lake City Ayurvedic Tongue Cleaning - How and Why - Tongue scraping/cleaning is an integral part of an Ayurvedic morning and hygiene routine. The tongue is the first and most visible part of the digestive system. Cleaning the tongue first thing in the morning not only improves oral hygiene and freshens breath, but it also stimulates the digestive system, promoting a healthy appetite and morning bowel movement. The tongue communicates to the stomach and small intestine that food is on its way. A healthy tongue improves the ability of the stomach and intestine to do their job of digesting food. Cleaning the tongue improves agni, which means “fire” in Sanskrit and which is the force of digestion that we are seeking to balance for complete harmony and perfect health in Ayurvedic medicine. The tongue is also considered an important site for reflexes to the organs (see map of the tongue handout). By massaging the tongue, the organs are also massaged and stimulated. This removes toxins from the organs and helps keep them healthy as well. Tongue cleaning is different from “brushing” the tongue with your toothbrush: while a tongue scraper removes coating and toxins from the tongue, a toothbrush pushes them back in. The coating on our tongues, from an Ayurvedic perspective, indicates the presence of ama. Ama is toxicity from poorly or improperly digested food. As the body processes the toxins and puts them back into the gastrointestinal tract for elimination, it also spits them out onto the tongue.
The coating on our tongue can change daily, based on what and when we ate the day before, so it’s important to check yours each morning, before scraping, to note any changes. You might see more coating after a heavy meal, after consumption of certain foods, or even during illness. You might notice less coating when you are feeling more in balance. The tongue cleaner is the most superior method of cleaning your tongue. One study compared a traditional tongue cleaner (which they called a tongue scraper) with a toothbrush. They found that the tongue scraper decreased volatile sulfur compounds by 75% as opposed to 45% with the toothbrush. But again, bad breath is only one benefit of scraping your tongue with a tongue cleaner. Doing so will support your entire body by helping maintain a healthy bacteria amount in the mouth and by stimulating the cleansing of the entire gastrointestinal tract. It is also a great way to stay in touch with your overall health. Here is a link to the tongue cleaner from Banyan Botanicals (affiliate link) that I give all of my Ayurvedic health counseling clients at their first visit so that they can begin this practice right away. To properly clean the tongue, gently scrape from back to front 6-10 times, first thing in the AM, before even brushing your teeth. Rinse the scraper between each pass. Finally, rinse your mouth out with warm water and then drink 8-16 oz water to further stimulate digestion and regular elimination patterns. I recommend a stainless steel or copper tongue scraper for their naturally anti-microbial qualities. Allow your scraper to air dry between each use. Summary: Ayurvedic Tongue Cleaning - How and Why How to: first thing each morning, before eating, drinking, or brushing your teeth, scrape gently 6-10 times from back to front. (Don’t go too far back if you have a sensitive gag reflex.) Then you can brush your teeth, etc. (note, brushing the tongue just pushes crap further into your tissues…just stop.) Why tongue clean??? 1) Tongue cleaning improves oral health, removing sulfuric compounds, dead skin cells, mucous, excess saliva, and all the crap your digestive system purges and “detoxes” overnight. BONUS: this WIPES out morning breath in a jiffy! 2) Tongue cleaning stimulates your digestion/metabolism first thing in the morning. Your tongue is the first part of your alimentary canal (digestive tract). 3) The tongue is a microcosm of the whole body (think: reflexology, etc), so you massage all organs of the body by scraping the tongue (see video for more on this). 4) You can check the coating on your tongue (or lack of coating…yay!) to see if your digestive system is running efficiently (no coating), or things need assistance (coating that doesn’t come off when you scrape the tongue). Coating on the tongue that doesn’t come off with cleaning tells us that there is toxicity (called “ama” in Ayurveda), formed from inefficient/incomplete digestion. Do you tongue scrape??? Inquiring minds want to know! Let me know if you have any questions or if you'd like to book an Ayurvedic Consultation with me! Reach out to me via email [email protected] or book here! Meghan Hays Ayurveda Salt Lake City
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