Three micro-wellness rituals that shift my day from chaos to calm

We tend to think wellness needs a perfect setting, a new week, a better schedule or a full hour. But the things that truly changed my day are the ones that feel almost too small to count—those we often skip over because they don’t come with transformation photos or gold stars. There’s also discomfort in doing something slow or in something that doesn’t give us quick results. Maybe we overlook them because we’ve grown up on big gestures. Bollywood has taught us that dramatic pay-offs lead to happy endings. And while I love that in a love story, when it comes to wellness, it’s the smallest things that make the biggest difference.

The science behind micro-wellness rituals

Dr Michael Norton, a behavioural scientist, explains that rituals are intentional actions that attach meaning to what we do, making them more emotionally engaging and repeatable. Micro-wellness rituals are small enough to be repeated often, but meaningful enough to anchor us. They can reduce stress, increase focus and create a stronger sense of control, even when the ritual itself is just a few minutes long. They don’t need to be big. They just need to be consistent.

Rituals that reset my day

9

Morning breathwork: A 3-minute anchor

The urge to scroll usually kicks in before my feet even touch the floor. But when I pause and choose breath instead, even just for a minute or two, it doesn’t transform the whole day but it shifts how I enter it. My thoughts might race, my breath uneven, but even then, it creates a shift—like telling my body, you come first today, before the noise.

As Nikhil Kapur, founder of Atmantan Wellness, shares, “Just one or two minutes to do some active relaxation, or try and be in silence, or just focus on the breath… sometimes all it takes is two to five minutes to rewire yourself.” And that’s exactly what micro-wellness rituals do.

Joyful movement: Redefining exercise

I once believed movement only mattered if it was hard. I over-exercised, under-ate and treated my body like a constant project. In a culture where health is often seen as something you “earn” by pushing harder, eating less, doing more, rest feels indulgent and ease feels like laziness. But everything shifted when I found Melissa Wood-Tepperberg’s platform. Her workouts were short, low-impact and surprisingly, kind. For the first time, movement became a micro-wellness ritual. Just a few minutes of checking in, not checking out.

“It’s not just about the body we build in these few minutes together, it’s about strengthening our mind and feeling good,” she says. I embraced moving every day, whether that’s a five-minute solo dance party or a standing arms workout between meetings. At first, it was just doable. Over time, I felt stronger from these micro-moments. You don’t need an hour to see results. You just need to shift from correcting yourself to connecting with yourself.

Night-time gratitude: The one-minute reset

While living in the Netherlands, I often felt lonely. Though I knew there was beauty in that time, I wasn’t acknowledging it. Not ready for journaling, I started with the simplest practice: saying three things I was grateful for before bed. It sounds easy, but I struggled to name even one. It felt robotic, like something I “should” do.