Oil what??? Yes, I typed ‘oil pulling’. It is a practice from Ayurveda that I learned five or six years ago. In simple terms, you swish oil around in your mouth and spit it out. You can google it for all sorts of information and stories and history. I do it for better oral health and have loved the results!
This is my process for oil-pulling:
1. Before eating or drinking, after waking up, I put about a tablespoon of unrefined, organic (not toasted!!!) sesame oil in my mouth. (I started with one teaspoon and worked up.)
2. Gently swish oil in my mouth for about 20 minutes. (I worked up from like 30 seconds. LOL) If I leave our master bedroom/bathroom when anyone is home, forget it. They’ll talk to me! I stay in the bathroom, usually, getting ready for the day…sometimes I shower, sometimes I ah sit on the toilet , sometimes I meditate, sometimes I put on a face mask and dry brush my body, it really depends. Bottom-line = I make time for it by multi-tasking.
3. I rotate where I spit out the ‘pulled’ oil. In the sink, in the toilet, in the shower, outside (not in garden!), in the trash, etc. Some sources say the oil is now toxic. I don’t doubt it can clog stuff if done daily in the same place, so I just don’t.
4. I swish with HOT water. If I am in the shower, then I swish with hot shower water for a minute and then use our water flosser that is attached to our shower to go over every single tooth along the gumline. If I am not in the shower, then I basically “pull” with warm salt water for a minute and then repeat more quickly until my small glass is empty. I rotate where I spit this out, too…bathroom sink, toilet, kitchen sink, outside (not in garden).
5. I brush my teeth with 1 single drop of liquid peppermint Dr. Bronner’s soap on my toothbrush. It sounds disgusting, and it is if I haven’t oil-pulled first (so I don’t do THAT!), but it is perfect after oil-pulling (for me).
–>5b. When I was actively working on ‘issues’ (especially gum disease), I used a Sulcabrush along the gumline with a special homeopathic toothpaste in place of a regular toothbrush and the Dr. B’s., as recommended by a holistic dentist.
6. I use a copper tongue scraper. Four passes: middle, one side, other side, middle. Rinse scraper with HOT water.
7. Rinse mouth one last time.
8. Smile in mirror! My eyes look clearer, my teeth are whiter, my skin looks fresher, my lips are moister, my gums are healthier, my sinuses are cleaner, my head feels less ‘full’, and the list goes on and on. I avoided a root canal that a dentist said was unavoidable with oil-pulling (and other things) and the ‘dry eye syndrome’ symptoms an optometrist told me was irreversible disappeared with oil-pulling (and rosewater). I also reversed my gum disease with oil-pulling and my entire regiment (from mostly 5s-6s to mostly 2s).
*~*YMMV (your mileage may vary)*~*
[Please note: Sometimes I hack up a whole lot of gunk immediately after spitting out the pulled oil. I spread that around, too. I’ve never had any problems and our plumbing is old.]
For more information, you can check out oilpulling.com .