There's a tendency for dryness and heat to go together in the body, just as in the desert.

The remedy is to moisten the tongue by hydrating and nourishing the body, a technique called building ojas. Try a rice pudding for example, or an almond shake.

Sometimes, pathogens or other external factors come into play requiring nuances in your approach.

Cracks on a pale tongue indicate a Vata imbalance due to blood deficiency (rakta). A pale tongue indicates that the digestive fire (agni) is low. Color can be restored with digestives like ginger and black pepper as well as easy to digest foods like kitchari and soups.

Deeper cracks with a pale tongue indicate chronic injury to fluids and or tissues. There may be dehydration and/or kidney flushing due to toxins in the blood.

The person will likely feel depleted and could benefit from foods that enrich the blood without overwhelming the digestive system. Bone broth, borscht, pomegranate juice and raisins all serve to rebuild the blood.

Deep cracks with a very red tongue are more serious indicating severe depletion of fluids and a flareup of Pitta. The excess heat has caused an imbalance in the blood (rasa and rakta dhatus) and may be burning up fluids (tejas burning ojas).

Cooling foods like bitter greens, coconut water and aloe vera gel will bring relief.

The most severe situation is cracks on a red shiny tongue due to severe injury to tissues, ojas, fluids and the blood plasma (rasa).

In this case, the stomach is likely damaged and the body extremely depleted.

Recovery from this level of imbalance will require help from an advanced practitioner.

Remedies include favoring building foods that are easy to digest. Bone broth, chicken soup, almonds, warm milk (if digested well) and ghee are good examples.

A tongue that appears shredded is likely the result of epileptic fits, which cause a person to inadvertently chew their tongue.

The good news is that through accurate assessment of their underlying imbalances, cracks on the tongue can heal and may even disappear altogether.

Before	After 3 Weeks

The tissues of the tongue and mouth are especially similar to the tissues of your GI tract, with many of the same bacteria.

That's why the appearance of the tongue often mirrors that of your digestive tract, or is (at least) suggestive of GI pathologies.

If your tongue looks healthy, your digestive system is probably healthy. However, if your tongue looks unhealthy, your GI tract may be compromised.

For example, a sore in your mouth may indicate a sore somewhere along your GI tract. If your tongue is inflamed, your GI may also be inflamed.

The appearance of the tongue and the GI is not always the same, but often the tongue provides clues to what is happening deeper within.

When your tongue responds positively to treatment, chances are your GI will too.

It should not be a surprise that the tongue is a useful tool for assessing the health of all organs and tissues in the body. Organs perform important functions and when these functions are compromised, the effects are noticeable everywhere including on the tongue.

The tongue is especially useful for assessment because it is an internal organ visible from the outside, and therefore offers different cues than the skin or eyes.

To assess the tongue, practitioners look at its entire surface, including underneath it and at the back. They also examine your tongue coating and color, along with surface features such as tongue body shape, and color. Of particular note are cracks on the surface of the tongue.

Tongues are assessed with the eyes, arguably the most well developed of the five senses in humans.

Seeing is believing!

Also, practitioners can analyze the tongue over the phone, webinar or photos. This enables them to work effectively with clients from afar.

Tongue assessment is also easier to learn and less subjective than pulse diagnosis. The pulse changes rapidly throughout a session according to the anxiety of the client, whereas the tongue is relatively stable.

The tongue is a digestive organ. And at Joyful Belly we specialize in digestion, including tongue assessment and analysis.

Students in our Mastering Ayurvedic Digestion & Nutrition program learn how to determine organ imbalances, constitutional strengths and deficiencies, as well as the quality and nature of fluids via tongue assessment.

Use this fascinating art to assess your own health. Or, if you are a practitioner, use it to:

• Show the depth and nature of client imbalances.
• Better understand client gunas and doshas and observe the ones that need support.
• Measure the progress of client disorders.
• Track client recoveries.

Begin by looking at your tongue in the mirror every morning.