Ayurvedic Tounge Scraping
by Amalia May
Yoga | Massage & Bodywork | Ayurvedic Medicine
What is Tongue Scraping?
What's that on your tongue?!
Have you looked in the mirror and noticed gunk on the back of your tongue?
Your tongue is a collection of muscles that allows you to chew, swallow, talk, and taste. But, your tongue can be a living ground for bacteria as well. Some of the bacteria on your tongue is good, and some can attribute to bad breath, tooth decay, gum infections, and more.
Oral health is VERY important to your health as a whole. Sure, brushing your teeth is great. But, think about it this way. When you scrub a dirty carpet, the dirt gets embedded down there, but if you scrape it, it’s going to come right off the surface. So, in addition brushing, flossing, oil pulling, think about adding tongue scraping into your daily routine.
Because the tongue and oral cavity are connectors to the mind-body system & the outside world, this vital organ is seriously critical for overall well being!
Jihwa Prakshalana, or better known as tongue scraping, is an ancient practice of using a copper tool to scrape your tongue clean. But what are you even cleaning off? What is that gunk?!
While you are sleeping, the body is working to process everything you ingested the day prior. In turn, “ama” or toxins, become visible on your tongue. Pretty crazy. They say you can tell everything about a person by their oral health. If you go to an Ayurvedic Practitioner, tongue examinations are very common.
Imagine that your tongue is a road map of the whole body. Like reflexology, the tongue has different sections for different organs. So if you think about it, this method of scraping is like giving your internal body a gentle massage.
How To Tongue Scrape:
In the morning, brush your teeth and floss like normal. Then, while looking in the mirror, open your mouth and examine what your tongue looks like! Like I said, it is a great body awareness practice. In the next paragraph we’ll briefly go over what different colors and textures indicate.
Stick your tongue out and gently run the scraper across the entire surface of your tongue, from back to front. This should be light pressure and shouldn’t hurt. If it does hurt, use even lighter pressure.
Rinse the scraper (sometimes I scrub the scraper with my toothbrush for extra cleaning) & rinse your mouth.
Tongue scraping is a super quick and easy way to leave your mouth feeling fresh and clean!
Dosha Imbalances
This is a traditional practice of Ayurvedic self care and is a perfect way to check in with your body. Listening to your body will tell
you a lot about the internal self and how well it’s functioning. It’s a great way to reflect on your choices of the past few days.
If you don’t already know your dosha makeup, there are plenty of online dosha tests you can take that will give you better insight!
Kapha Imbalance -thick, white coating
Pitta Imbalance-yellow coloration
Vata Imbalance-brown coloration
Notice how different foods affect the color/coating of your tongue too! If you notice anything visual clues that your tongue is not healthy, (black discoloration, pain, sores) I highly recommend seeing your dentist!
Benefits of Tongue Scraping:
Removing this coating can improve your taste buds! Who doesn’t want to have their food to be more satisfying?!
Tongue scraping increases your taste reception. This means you might feel you’re eating less & eliminating the desire for more sugars and salts.
Remember that your body- the entire system as a whole is always in constant communication. In Ayurveda’s teachings, we clear the mind when we cleanse and open these communication systems, or “channels” of the body. I'll use chocolate as an example because I LOVE chocolate. Dark chocolate communicates to our brain that we are in a good mood! In short, Foods like chocolate contain phytochemicals that signal the release of feel-good molecules & send a signal from your taste buds to your brain to feel better. If those channels are clogged, that communication wouldn’t happen properly. So please, scrape that crap off so you can really enjoy that chocolate.
Other Benefits:
Prevent bad breath
Improve sense of taste
Clears toxins/ama, bacteria, dead cells
Gently stimulates organs
Body awareness
Promotes oral and digestive health
Ready to take a step to better health? Get your Tongue Scraper now!
Namaste, Amalia May
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