The Importance of Timing in Ayurveda

     We have 24 hours, two hands. It’s something I’ve heard one of my Ayurvedic teachers say and boy did that hit home. Let me give you a little background on myself. I’ve always been an ambitious person. Goals and plans to help myself, family and the people in my community feel their best! Some of them are quite lofty, but I also think they are fully attainable. I’m a hairstylist, massage therapist, business owner and a few months away from completing my Ayurvedic Health Counselor certification. I spend time with a lot of people in my community. Seeing them leave my chair or office with confidence, relief from pain and tension, and knowing they’ve been heard brings me great joy. With the many things I enjoy doing, I’m also a very busy person. Like many of my clients, we all wear multiple hats to get things accomplished and have been ingrained into the hustle mentality. Family, taking care of your home, varying work schedules and tasks, people who need you fully present, children, activities, schooling, the list goes on and on. So when I learned that Ayurveda places great importance on timing, I slightly panicked. How am I supposed to add this into my days? But as I made small adjustments here and there, I was pleasantly surprised at how much it made an impact on my health. This is doable.

More than half of the deaths annually, worldwide, are attributed to lifestyle disorders [1]. At the top of the list is high blood pressure, high blood glucose, physical inactivity, overweight and obesity [1]. Due to deviation in the ideal lifestyle, people are spending more years living with illness and disability [1]. Lifestyles missing core elements to support their health have been associated with many life threatening diseases like cancer [1]. Shifting these lifestyle habits to put the focus on prevention and balance is a simple and ingenious way to increase health that most people ignore.  

Ayurveda uses simple and profound principles of nature to help us unlock the healing mechanisms inside us [3]. Imbalances and tendencies also happen within us, caused by lots of factors that influence us. Those factors can define whether we can be and stay healthy or be sick and let disease progress [3]. One of the biggest concepts to understand is Doshas. They support the body, but can easily become out of balance [4]. Everything is made up of these three doshas, Vata, Pitta and Kapha. They are based in nature and the five elements. Times of the day, seasons, and life stages also have these qualities. For example, Vata time of day is 2-6 am and pm. Kapha time of day is 6-10 am and pm. Pitta time of day is 10-2 am and pm [3].

The importance of timing in Ayurveda can be incorporated into our busy schedules for health benefits through setting appropriate wake and sleep times, making time for self care routines, and eating at proper times. 

What time do you wake up? What time do you go to sleep? Is it consistent? Do you take naps? All of these answers matter. One of the best things about Ayurveda is it meets you where you are, and finds a medium path to get you to your goal so it sticks. Being honest with yourself if the first lesson. Sleep at an improper time, in excess or not at all destroys happiness and health [5]. Sleep is also one of the three pillars of life. It’s viewed as an essential point in Ayurveda for health and prevention. An appropriate wake time is 6am or before sunrise [3]. Sleep time is 10pm with no napping during the day [3]. There are a few exceptions for napping - young children, the sick, elderly, and those working overnight [3]. 

Are you close or in those ranges? Don’t worry if you’re not! Another thing I love about Ayurveda is that is it person specific. We are all unique individuals, so treating any imbalances is done in specific ways for each person. Over the years my sleep patterns have changed. There have been seasons of my life where I was a night owl and seasons of being an early riser. To adjust your time schedules more easily, I would suggest altering your sleep and wake time by 30 minute increments. If you’re currently falling asleep at midnight, shoot for 1130pm. If you’re waking at 8am, set an alarm for 730am. Try this until it gets easier to sleep and wake. Then adjust again and again until your waking at 6am and sleeping at 10pm. Sleep is a Kapha, building role [3]. Lack of sleep is Vata aggravating [3]. Consistency is important and sleep is a natural urge that shouldn’t be ignored [3]. Metabolism is also an important function that you need rest for [3]. All of these things listed and more can have substantial impacts on your health. From my personal experience, I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to make this happen consistently. My evening schedules vary, which then can impact my mornings. Jumping in and making those adjustments is what helped get me started. I have found waking up earlier has given me more time to do things for myself, that benefit the day ahead and my health. I feel rested, calm, and ready to go. Once you start doing this consistently you notice the changes and the ease of waking and sleeping. Nature is cyclical. It’s what our bodies crave. You will intuitively begin to get up without your alarm, and become tired the closer it gets to 10pm. 

Making time for self care becomes easier when you’re getting up earlier. Following a routine daily is like swimming with the current of the river, an easy flow. Not following a routine is like swimming against the current, struggling to get through [3]. If I were to give you a long list of things that you should add into your day, how would that make you feel? Maybe overwhelmed, stressed? This is why we take the medium path and build from there. Baby steps. Each step is important and helps impact your health, especially if you can be consistent. 

We call these daily routines the Dinacharya. The time needed for this is about an hour, maybe two. But start out with small steps. The good news is you’re already doing some of these! You’ll find what order works best for you after you start implementing them into your morning. After waking is the best time to meditate. Our stress levels are low, it helps calm the mind, reduces anxiety and depression and can change your outlook on the day [3]. You can do meditation, breathing techniques, mantras, visualizations, and spiritual practices [3]. Going to the bathroom to eliminate wastes, splashing water on face to cleanse and cleansing the mouth are all staples in the morning routine. Using a copper tongue scraper is a great addition, along with an herbal mouth wash. Exercise is another key factor in the dinacharya. There are a lot of variables when it comes to this topic to be person specific, but one of the consistent points are to not overexert yourself, exercise to half your capacity. Some people can do a little more. The options can be a mix of gentle, moderate and vigorous exercises, like yoga, stretching, walking, swimming, biking, running, and strength training [3]. Next would be abhyanga or self massage. We use unique, warmed oils to apply over the whole body. There are lots of options like herbal oils, sesame oil, coconut oil and more depending on the person. This helps to prevent aging, strengthen the body, increase stamina, tone muscles, pacify vata, calms the mind, and helps heal the body faster [3]. Leave this on for 10-15 minutes for your body to absorb and use all the goodness that you just applied. What do you do during this time? I find it productive to do a little meditation there in the bathroom, brush my teeth and do the mouth cleanses, drink a glass of room temperature or warm water, wipe down the sink and toilet, lay out the things I’ll need to get ready after my shower, or start the shower for a little extra steam. Maybe throw some essential oils in there too! You can also do the abhyanga on certain days when you know you’ll have some extra time to let it soak in. A quick version on time crunch days can be to apply some warm oil to the top of your head, ears and feet. Jump in the shower to bathe and then the last step in the morning routine is to have breakfast. Something light and warm is the best option. All of this should be completed by 10am, which isn’t as hard to do as you get up earlier in the morning. The only time crunch would be when you have to leave for work. Start off with a 10 minute mediation or 10 minutes of stretching. Keep it simple. I find that having a routine puts me in a good mood and makes me feel confident about my day. I also go over my list of tasks for the day, prep lunch, and pack my things if I’ll be heading to work. 

Eating at proper times was a huge impact to my health. I was always a snacker, picking at meals in between clients and my tasks. In Ayurveda, three warm meals a day containing all the six tastes are beneficial to our health [3]. Eating only when you feel hungry is also important. When we begin to follow these times regularly, we begin to feel hungry at those times [3]. If we are giving our body food when our digestive system is not ready for it, it creates blockages, stagnation and imbalances. The ideal time for breakfast is between 7-730am, lunch between 11am-1pm, and dinner between 6-730pm [3]. There can be a little wiggle room. Our biggest meal should be at lunch, this is when our digestion is the strongest. The typical duration for digestion is 4 to 6 hours [3]. This varies depending on the person, but try to leave that gap between meals. So if your eating breakfast at 930am, have lunch around 130pm. This was my biggest challenge. My days vary quite often. This is what helped me tackle this challenge: in the morning when I look over my tasks and schedules for the day, I figure out when I’ll be able to eat. Blocking off time or even making a note that this is for lunch or dinner is helpful to me. At work I’ll have an assistant help with my clients at the salon while I eat or I’ll block off some time in between doing massages to eat. In some instances, it’s not always possible. But if you can make some small shifts to get you closer to three meals at consistent times, you’ll feel the difference. For me, I suffered quite often with nausea, bloating, and feeling heavy and uncomfortable for at least one of my meals if not more. Eating too often or not at all, and being inconsistent was creating all kinds of imbalances. Shifting my eating times has helped all of those issues. Working with an Ayurvedic Counselor can help you plan out your days a little better to achieve a healthier lifestyle, recommend specific options, and help you get your body functioning at its best! 

Even though our days are packed with things to do and tasks to complete, creating boundaries to have consistent wake and sleep times, making time for your daily routine, and scheduling your eating times can be the best preventative power that we can all tap into for a balanced, happy and healthy life. I believe the key is to be mindful and present in everything that we do. Take baby steps to not be overwhelmed. Making small changes can still make great impacts on our lives. Adjust your sleep schedules by 30 minute increments until your consistently going to sleep at 10pm and waking by 6am. Add in a few daily routines to your morning as you have more time to accomplish them. Maybe start with a 10 minute meditation, or using a copper tongue scraper and adding in some stretching. Plan out when you can eat your meals. Work in the time to your upcoming schedules to have the 4-6 hour window between meals so your food digests properly, and make your biggest meal at lunch. Most of us can get overwhelmed with so many options and how long our list of things to do has become. When we take time to make sure we’re at our best, getting the rest of the list accomplished seems smoother, easier. We have 24 hours, two hands. 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7272782/ [1]

Dinacharyia, Ashtanga Hrdayam Sustrasthana Chapter 2 [2]

104 & 105 KAA Manual & notes [3]

Ashtanga Hrdayam page 8 [4]

Astanga Hrdayam page 119-120 [5]