I once found myself in a small Himalayan town on a trip that was only supposed to last two weeks. Thanks to my ever-present curiosity and a series of random coincidences, those two weeks turned into a month.
I’d wake up early to the aroma of chai, watch the sunrise over the misty foothills, and lose track of time in winding conversations with locals and travelers alike.
One morning, while meandering through a busy bazaar, I met someone who would shift my perspective on daily rituals forever — a yogi named Amma who’s now 98 years old.
Amma was a tiny woman with a radiant, almost mischievous smile.
You could see every one of her 98 years etched in the soft lines on her face, yet there was something timeless about her energy. She told me she’d practiced yoga for over eight decades.
My first thought was, “That’s more years of yoga than I’ve even been alive.”
Amma welcomed me into her life as if I were an old friend. She taught me about morning rituals and how she believed they gave her the clarity, health, and joy she still flaunted at nearly a century old.
When someone has that kind of aura, you can’t help but pay attention.
Over the course of several mornings, she shared 7 key habits she sticks to without fail. I wrote them down in my travel journal — and I’ve been revisiting them ever since.
The sunrise salute
Amma would wake up well before dawn, often chanting quietly.
She called this time “the birth of possibility.” Even if you’re not a morning person, the logic is pretty simple: waking up early offers a rare window of stillness.
There’s no rush of traffic, fewer notifications popping up on your phone, and your mind has a chance to focus before the chaos of the day seeps in.
Her first act was to greet the sunrise with gratitude. She’d step out onto her small balcony, hands in a prayer position, and simply watch the sky lighten inch by inch.
According to her, the key was mindfulness. She reminded me that the sun rises every day whether we notice it or not. By tuning in, we tap into a sense of calm that’s hard to replicate once the day hits full speed.
And research backs this up.
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Studies show that exposure to early morning light can help reset our circadian rhythms, improve our mood, and even support better sleep at night.
It’s also an opportune time to reflect on the day ahead—decide what truly matters before your to-do list swallows your brain. As
Amma put it, “This is my chance to say thank you to the universe for another day. Why waste that?”
The gentle stretches
Next, Amma did her version of yoga stretches.
They weren’t the intense poses you might see on Instagram. She’d start by rolling her shoulders, gently twisting her torso, and moving her limbs in slow, deliberate motions.
The routine might look simple, but it was consistent.
Day after day, year after year, these gentle moves kept her joints supple and her mind alert.
I asked her why movement mattered so much so early in the morning. She replied, “Your body is like clay when you first wake up. You can shape it for the day, or you can let it harden.”
In a culture hooked on quick fixes, it’s easy to think we need a two-hour gym session or a high-intensity boot camp to stay healthy. But maybe the real secret is the consistency.
Amma’s done her stretches every morning for decades, never skipping because she was “too busy.”
The result?
Even in her late 90s, her posture was more upright than mine ever was.
The mindful sipping
After stretches, Amma would sip warm water infused with ginger and a few drops of fresh lemon.
She said it helped her digestion and boosted her energy.
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Now, this isn’t exactly groundbreaking news — health gurus around the globe tout the advantages of starting your day with warm lemon water.
But there was a twist in Amma’s approach: mindfulness.
She insisted on sipping slowly, feeling the liquid travel down her throat, and imagining it replenishing every cell in her body. “If you’re rushing even at this hour,” she said, “your mind is already sprinting into stress mode.”
She likened it to driving a car with the gas pedal jammed down right from the start. No wonder so many of us feel burned out by noon.
The breathing exercises
After her water, Amma practiced something akin to pranayama — deep, deliberate breathing techniques.
I tried following along one morning, and I was a bit surprised at how challenging it was to stay focused on nothing but breath.
She didn’t overcomplicate it: just slow, rhythmic inhalations and exhalations, often counting to four on the inhale, pausing for a brief moment, then counting to four on the exhale.
She explained that this helped her remain present and centered. So many of our waking hours are spent reacting to emails, texts, or news feeds.
Breathing exercises create a buffer, giving our nervous system a chance to settle.
A Harvard study shows that regular deep-breathing routines can lower blood pressure, calm anxiety, and sharpen cognitive function. It’s basically a mini meditation without requiring a full 20-minute sit-down.
I used to think I didn’t have time for breathwork in the mornings.
But watching a 98-year-old do it before she even checked her horoscope (yes, she was also into astrology) made me realize that if it’s a priority, you’ll find the time.
The daily intention
Before she fully launched into her day, Amma would set an intention — sometimes out loud, sometimes in her mind. This could be a single word like “peace” or “kindness,” or a short phrase like “I will move with ease today.”
She explained it as planting a mental seed.
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Having spent years reading up on behavioral science, I recognize a parallel to what psychologists call priming.
When we focus on a specific idea early in the day, we tend to notice opportunities related to it. If your intention is “be patient,” you might handle an irritating colleague or a traffic jam with a little more grace.
If your intention is “creativity,” you’ll likely spot more sparks of inspiration.
Simon Sinek is known for championing the concept of “starting with why.”
In a way, Amma’s practice was her version of that question.
She wasn’t just blindly going through life’s motions — she was directing her mind toward a meaningful daily anchor.
And the best part?
It took less than a minute.
The mental challenge
Around this point, Amma would work on a small puzzle — often a Sudoku or a local language crossword. She believed in keeping her mind agile, likening it to “stretching” for the brain.
I loved that she saw intellectual stimulation as just as important as physical movement.
There’s a line from Einstein, “Once you stop learning, you start dying.” It’s a bold statement, but it resonates. And no, we’re not all aiming to become Nobel-winning physicists, but we can keep our mental gears turning each morning.
Even a five-minute mental challenge can refresh the pathways in our brain, making us more alert for the rest of the day.
The key, according to Amma, is consistency.
If she missed her puzzle time, she’d feel slightly off-kilter, almost as if she’d skipped brushing her teeth.
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It’s a small habit that, done daily over decades, helps keep her mental faculties intact. She even teased me that if she could do crosswords at 98, I had no excuse to let my brain go soft at 30-something.
The sense of play
Finally, before heading off to her tasks — which included teaching a beginner yoga class — Amma would do something playful.
Sometimes she’d sing along to an old folk tune, other times she’d take a few minutes to dance to Bollywood songs on her ancient radio.
On one particular morning, she asked me to join her. Let’s just say I’m no natural dancer, but we laughed until our cheeks hurt.
This sense of play might be the most underappreciated aspect of a morning routine.
Putting it all together
After spending those mornings with Amma, I came away with a brand-new perspective on daily rituals.
She wasn’t doing anything fancy or expensive. She wasn’t chasing the latest wellness trend or hawking an online course.
She simply moved her body, calmed her mind, and made space for gratitude, curiosity, and fun.
Over time, these small practices yielded big results:
- A sharp mind
- A healthy body
- An infectious spark of joy in her eyes
I’ve tried integrating parts of her routine into my own mornings.
I no longer mind waking up a bit earlier to watch the sun crawl over the horizon or to spend a few minutes on gentle stretches and mindful breathing.
And I definitely see the value in adding a playful touch to the start of my day, whether it’s a quick dance break or humming a favorite tune.
The main takeaway?
If a 98-year-old yogi can hold onto her health, humor, and mental clarity through a set of straightforward daily habits, maybe the rest of us can, too.
As Amma would say, “There’s always time for what keeps you truly alive.”
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And after witnessing her routine, I believe it.
