Let’s talk oil. Have you tried oil pulling yet? It’s simple, easy and clean. A lot of people ask me about my daily ritual of this very old Ayurvedic practice, so I thought I’d share about my love for it. It is an excellent way to boost your overall oral health. By placing just a teaspoon of oil in your mouth and swishing for 20 minutes, you are: 1. Killing bacteria that may cause bad breath
2. Whitening and brightening teeth
3. Relieving sinus congestion
4. Detoxifying the body
5. Increasing energy levels
6. Aiding hormonal changes
7. Reducing headaches and migraines
8. Keeping the skin clear That’s a lot of benefits! Try starting with 5-10 minutes the first few times you practice this and it will seem less intimidating. I prefer raw organic coconut oil for the sweetness and the fatty acids, but you can also use sesame. For BEST results, do this first thing in the morning upon waking up – before you brush your teeth and eat or drink anything. First, let the oil melt in your mouth and then begin swishing back and forth. Do not swallow the oil! All of the toxins in the body will come to the tongue, so be sure to keep it in your mouth. When your time is up, spit the oil in the trash and THEN you must SCRAPE your tongue in order to feel all the benefits I listed. (A tongue scrapper can be purchased at your local heath foods store or online.) Scrape the oil from the tongue with a few gentle strokes and then rinse the scraper. Adding the tongue scraper into my practice was life changing. I didn’t feel the results were the same without it! I honestly look forward to this each morning, and always feel amazing afterwards. Give it a try and see what you think.
Noelle Ashland is a multi-award winning Organic Esthetician and Nutritional Lifestyle Coach passionate about inspiring others to achieve health through the foods they consume and the products they use. She specializes in Esthetics, as well as Nutrition, in order to achieve whole body awareness. Noelle currently works in Laguna Niguel, CA.
