Practices

Pick one or two. Keep them for a few weeks.

A daily routine is built one small habit at a time. Choose what fits your life now, and add more only once these feel automatic.

Pick one or two
Choose what is easy to fit into your life and keep it for a few weeks before adding more.
“Don't try and do it all!” Niti Sheth
Small and steady wins
Two minutes done daily does more than an hour done once.
“Simple. Consistent. Powerful.” Nidhi Pandya
Missed a day? Resume
Falling off is normal. Pick it back up tomorrow, with nothing extreme to make up for it.
“There's always tomorrow.” Niti Sheth

Loading your practices

Morning

Brief movement
3 min
Stretch, walk or do a few sun salutations before anything else. It only needs to be enough to feel warm.
From Nidhi Pandya
Hot water with ginger
2 min
Stir a pinch of ginger powder into a cup of hot water and sip it slowly. In hot weather, plain warm water is enough.
From Nidhi Pandya
Oil massage
2 to 10 min
Warm plain sesame oil and use long strokes on limbs and circles on joints, then shower. Short on time? Do one body part a day; today's is shown on your Today page. Skip it if you have a fever.
From Nidhi Pandya and Niti Sheth
Tongue scraping
1 min
Draw a metal scraper gently from the back of the tongue forward a few times, rinsing between strokes. Then brush as usual.
From Niti Sheth and Kirti Tewani

A pause before eating
1 min
Sit, put the phone away and take a moment of thanks or a slow breath before the first bite. It moves the body from rushing to digesting.
From Dr. Varalakshmi Yanamandra
Stop at 80% full
No extra time
Serve a little less than usual and stop when you are satisfied, not stuffed. It leaves space for digestion and eases bloating.
From Dr. Varalakshmi Yanamandra
Early, light dinner
No extra time
Make lunch your main meal. In the evening have a warm spiced soup, cooked vegetables or a small bowl of mung dal, and finish a couple of hours before sleep.
From Dimple Jangda

Foot massage before bed
3 min
Rub a little warm sesame oil into the soles and between the toes, then put on socks. In hot weather use ghee instead; it draws heat down and helps sleep.
From Munmun Ganeriwal and Niti Sheth
Bed 15 minutes earlier
No extra time
Move bedtime earlier by 15 minutes this week, then another 15 next week. Never jump a whole hour. A good place to aim for is asleep by 10 and up before 6.
From Niti Sheth
Screens off before sleep
30 min
Late nights and blue light are the first things to fix for poor sleep. Put the phone in another room and lower the lights.
From Dr. Alka Vijayan

Oil massage is the practice people most want and most often drop. These fixes come from Niti Sheth.

No time: One body part a day, two minutes.
Hate the oiliness: Use a lighter oil and do it on laundry day.
Keep forgetting: Lay out towel and oil the night before, and attach it to something you already do.
Wrong time of day: Morning energises and evening calms. Either works.
Not sure how: Use pressure that feels good. There are no hard rules.

Two minutes each. Start with plain sesame oil. Skip oil massage when you have a fever.