Regular Dry Brushing and Oil Massage:
► Quickly brush your whole body with a dry body brush made of natural bristles or a good natural
loofah. This will improve circulation, strengthen and rejuvenate the skin, and help with lymph
drainage. The brushing of the skin also opens the pores and increases the effectiveness of the oil
massage, if applied afterward. Start with the extremities, and always brush in the direction of the heart.
► Abyanga or oil massage: Massage yourself with either sesame oil or coconut, sunflower or olive oil
(all expeller or cold-pressed and unrefined, available from natural health food stores). Abyanga helps
draw out toxins and improves circulation. Conclude the massage with a warm bath or shower. (See
directions for oil massage below.) Sesame oil, in particular, quickly penetrates all the layers of the
skin, binds to and removes toxins of various kinds (including harmful fatty acids) and helps rid the
blood vessels of plaque and cellular debris. This supports the body in preventing and reversing the
hardening of the arteries. Abyanga also stimulates growth hormone production and improves immunity
because nearly one third of the immune system is located in the skin. Do the massage as often as is
convenient for you. Some do it daily. (See more details about Abyanga below.)
Breakfast
► If you are not hungry, skip breakfast. (Kapha types rarely need breakfast.)
► If you are hungry, eat a light breakfast. Food choices may consist of nutritious wholesome foods,
such as oatmeal (porridge) or any other hot cereal. (but check for a wheat or gluten allergy) Eat your
cereal with expeller-pressed coconut oil or unsalted butter; unrefined sea salt; rice, hemp, oat or
almond milk; and perhaps a little maple syrup, stevia, agave syrup, raw honey or xylitol sugar for
sweetening. This makes a nourishing breakfast. Wetabix or toasted whole-wheat bread (finely ground)
with butter, is a good choice, too. Other hot cereals include cream of buckwheat, cream of rice, millet,
grits, quinoa and other such grains. By soaking oats or other grains overnight and adding 1 tbsp. or
more of wheat germ (available from most grocery stores), the grains are being predigested. This may
increase digestibility from 30 percent to about 90 percent.
Note: Soy milk should be avoided due to its natural food toxins (enzyme inhibitors), possible gene-
manipulation, and its potentially harmful effects on hormonal balance. (Soy mimics estrogens in the
body and thus sincreases the risk of cause breast cancer.) If in doubt, use the muscle testing procedure
of Chapter 1. Also, do not add fruit to your cereals, as this leads to fermentation and toxicity, which
will be explained further below.
► Avoid animal proteins such as cheese, meat, ham or eggs as well as sour foods, including yogurt
and citrus fruit. All of these quickly subdue AGNI, which is naturally low in the morning. A breakfast
consisting of only fruit (other than citrus) is fine.
Lunch Meal
► Make lunch the main meal of the day.
► Avoid drinking beverages with the meal since this dilutes the concentrated digestive juices and
become a cause of indigestion and weight gain. Sipping a small cup of hot water during the meal,
however, can help to increase the digestive power. To maintain thinness of blood and normal
secretions of bile, it is best to drink a glass of water about ½ hour before lunch and again 2-2½ hours
after lunch.
► If salad is part of your meal, eat it at the beginning, before eating any cooked food. Since raw foods
require different digestive enzymes than those needed for digesting cooked foods, eating these food