TONGUE CLEANING

My grandma is a traditional Chinese herbalists and growing up we were always given herbal teas and medicines when we were ill. There was always some herbal tea brewing on her stove in her kitchen. When we were ill the first things she would say is show me your tongue, from there she could tell which herbal tea or medicine to give you. I was fascinated as a child how she could diagnose and prescribe by simply looking at the tongue and our symptoms. It transpires that many systems of medicine including traditional Chinese medicine use the tongue diagnosis as a window into the internal workings of the body. Because the tongue reflects the health of so many vital organs, systemic imbalances and improvements are reflected on the surface of the tongue.

It was during my yoga teacher training course last summer that I was introduced to tongue cleaning and was gifted a tongue scraper by my teacher. Tongue cleaning is one of the daily purification actions performed early in the morning immediately after getting up. Adding the use of a tongue scraper to our daily routine assists the body in eliminating toxins that have accumulated in the mouth over night, massages and awakens the internal organ, stimulates the digestive capacity and ensures that you start your day feeling as fresh as possible.

I currently use a copper tongue scraper, these are now readily available in health stores, pharmacies and online. Its a very easy process, simply hold the two ends of the tongue scraper in both hands, extend your tongue and place the scraper on the surface of the tongue as far back as possible and scrape from the inside to out. Repeat this action a few times until it removes the unwanted whitish / yellow coating and only plain saliva comes of the tongue. Care needs to taken that yo do not swallow any of the unwanted sticky layer, and the action is not performed with too much force so that the tongue does not get sore or injured. Afterwards rinse your mouth with clean water. Repeat every morning.

Since I have started tongue scraping daily I have found an overall improvement in my oral health and hygiene. My tongue is less "furry", my tastebuds have improved and have the general feeling of freshness. I highly recommend adding tongue cleaning into your daily routine and many of my friends and family have been converted and agree with me.

I recently visited Grandma Chung over the festive period and I wanted to show her my tongue just to see her reaction, thankfully I didn't need any herbal tea or medicine on this occasion.

100% Copper Tongue Scraper