Naveen Jain, Founder and CEO of Viome, and Anu Jain, VP of Community Relations are both up very early in the morning. Not only do they need good, deep sleep, but they rely on a morning ritual that allows them to get up and face the day feeling energetic and ready to get things done. And a part of that ritual is chai tea.
Watch Naveen in action in a live demonstration of his from-scratch preparation for authentic Chia tea:
Chai With Naveen
Naveen’s Morning Ritual Chai
Tip: Use ¼ teaspoon of each spice per 2 cups of water used for your tea
Ingredients
Filtered water
Dry ground spices (grind fresh if you can):
Cardamom
Cloves
Cinnamon
Whole seeds:
Fennel seeds
Ajwain seeds
Fresh root spices, grated:
Ginger root
Turmeric root
Optional:
Loose-leaf Indian teas (Assam, Darjeeling, etc.)
Oat milk
Almond milk
Coconut milk
Honey
Instructions
Heat your water in a deep pot or Dutch oven. Add your spices and grated roots in as the water becomes warm, and bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer. You can warm the spices in water and drink plain, or add some loose-leaf Indian tea (black tea) and steep for a few minutes. Pour your tea through a fine-mesh strainer to filter out all the tea, seeds, and roots before drinking. Add milk and honey to taste (if you like).
The Morning Rituals
Anu and Naveen
Naveen’s morning is made up of three routines: “I wake up at 4 AM every morning and I spend the first three hours reading – anything from scientific papers to books and the most up-to-date data I can find on my latest topic of interest. I always prefer physical books.” Naveen continues reading with catching up on emails and news.
Naveen’s morning workout is next, which physically prepares him for the day. But he also takes a moment to prepare fresh, homemade chai for himself and Anu.
Meditation rounds out his morning and focuses him for the day before he heads into the Viome offices in Bellevue. “So that takes care of my soul. Business is like a war. You have to be completely prepared and unless you have mind, body, and soul really all ready for it, you just can't fight that battle.”
Anu gets to bed around 9 PM, and wakes sometime between 4 - 5 am. She gets off to a focused start with 20 minutes of meditation before getting started for the day. “I then have my hot chai prepared by Naveen and quickly check my emails and get caught up on the news,” she tells us. Next for Anu is her workout: core power yoga at 6 am 3 times a week and laps in the pool 2 days a week. Back home for breakfast and a shower. “At 8:30 am I am ready for emails and calls!”
