Ayurvedic medicine is an ancient (like, thousands of years old) Indian system of holistic healing. It uses food, spices, herbal remedies, bodywork and lifestyle changes to boost your health and balance the body, mind and spirit. 

1. Rise before (or with) the sun. I don’t feel like this is hard in Winter, since it gets light so late… but Summer might be more challenging. Waking up between 5am – 7am, is considered to be the best time of day for meditation, taking in knowledge, or self-study. Baby steps—start by getting up just 20 minutes earlier than usual and take it from there. 
2. Meditate. Whether you call it prayer, meditation or mental hygiene, mindful stillness comes to us most easily in the early morning. Why? Because your brain hasn’t had the opportunity to start overthinking yet or get distracted by everything on your never-ending to-do list. Even sitting up in bed with your eyes closed for a few minutes is beneficial.  
3. Clean your tongue. It sounds weird, but tongue scraping is surprisingly relaxing. To do it the Ayurvedic way, first examine the coating, before drinking tea/coffee. Depending on what’s there, it could be telling you something about your digestive health. A yellow colour indicates that your digestive fire is too hot, for example, and you should reduce spicy, sour and salty foods. Then, use a tongue cleaner to clear off layers of toxins that have accumulated overnight. 
4. Drink warm water. Before grabbing your morning cup of coffee (which should never be consumed on an empty stomach, by the way) or eating, have some good old H20. Water, particularly warm to hot water, primes your digestive system. You can boost water’s cleansing properties by adding alkalizing lemon or drinking it from a copper mug.  
5. Dry-brush your body. Also called  Garshana, dry brushing helps slough away dry skin and prep your body for hydration. It also helps with lymphatic draining and blood circulation. To try dry-brushing, use a body brush with natural bristles and start brushing your skin from the tops of your feet using long, methodical strokes and slowly work your way up toward your chest and arms.