"Open your mouth and say aah!"
Our tongue can reveal many things about our health. The human tongue has thousands of taste buds that detect different tastes in the food we eat. The tongue pushes the food towards the pharynx that goes through the rest of digestion. Keeping it clean has benefits that go beyond your oral cavity.
Tongue scraping/Jihvanirlekhana is a gentle practice to cleanse your tongue. It is one of the simple daily rituals recommended for the general health and well-being of a person.
Apart from brushing your teeth, tongue scraping is a great way to protect and maintain your oral hygiene. Ayurveda considers the tongue as an indicator of gut imbalances or digestive problems. Having a white coating on the tongue indicates the presence of Ama/ digestive toxins inside your body. Tongue scraping can help remove these digestive toxins and improves the functioning of the tongue.
Benefits of tongue scraping
*Removes the Ama and any toxins on the tongue.
*Prevents foul smell of oral cavity by removing bacteria.
*Enhances the sense of taste.
*Maintains oral hygiene and softness of the mouth.
*Aids in digestion & gut health.
*Induces Salivary secretions.
As it is said, our tongue says a lot about gut health, hence having a clean mouth allows you to start your day fresh, and good oral hygiene is the first step towards better health.
Tongue scrapers
A tongue scraper made of either steel, copper, silver, or gold is ideal for use. The tongue scraper should not have sharp edges and should be curved to suit the shape of our tongue.
How to practice tongue scraping
*Ideally, use it every day after brushing your teeth.
*Hold the two ends of the scraper in both hands.
*Stretch out your tongue completely, place the curved part of the scraper on the back of your tongue.
*Now gently scrape the surface of your tongue in a long stroke from back to front, and wash the scraper and repeat the process until all the residue is removed and being careful not to gag yourself (Preferably 4-5 gentle strokes)
*Now, Rinse the scraper with water and store it in a clean place.
Precautions
*Wash it after every use, and keep it in a clean and dry place.
*Do not share your tongue scraper with others.
*Apply gentle pressure while scraping to avoid bleeding.
*Avoid scraping your tongue if you have a mouth sore or wound.
If you are not yet doing this practice, you are surely missing some amazing benefits.
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