World self-care & traditional therapies
Browse self-care and traditional practices from around the world, by type or by region of origin. Listing a practice is not a recommendation, and no effect is promised.
A listing is not a recommendation.
Browse by type
- Heat & water — 27 entries
- Breathing — 16 entries
- Movement — 28 entries
- Manual therapy & points — 25 entries
- Food & herbs — 30 entries
- Daily habits & sleep — 20 entries
- Mind — 19 entries
Browse by region of origin
- Japan — 28 entries
- China — 16 entries
- Korea — 3 entries
- East Asia — 13 entries
- India — 20 entries
- Southeast Asia — 6 entries
- Middle East — 3 entries
- Europe — 24 entries
- Africa — 3 entries
- The Americas — 3 entries
- Modern & worldwide — 26 entries
- Several regions — 1 entries
All entries
- Stimulus control for insomnia (CBT-I component) — Daily habits & sleep
- Walking — Movement
- Avoid alcohol as a sleep aid — Daily habits & sleep
- Cycling as daily activity — Movement
- Alexander Technique — Movement
- Afternoon caffeine cutoff — Daily habits & sleep
- Cyclic sighing (physiological sigh practice) — Breathing
- St. John's wort — Food & herbs
- Jala neti (saline nasal rinse) — Daily habits & sleep
- Nordic walking — Movement
- Pilates — Movement
- Finnish dry sauna — Heat & water
- Peppermint tea / peppermint oil — Food & herbs
- Mindfulness / MBSR — Mind
- Yoga asana (general) — Movement
- Baduanjin (Eight Brocades) — Movement
- Self-acupressure at Neiguan (PC6 / P6) — Manual therapy & points
- Local cold pack — Heat & water
- Zazen (seated Zen meditation) — Mind
- Tai chi (taiji) — Movement
- Standing and movement breaks — Daily habits & sleep
- Morning outdoor light exposure — Daily habits & sleep
- Qigong — Movement
- Local heat therapy (pack, wrap) — Heat & water
- Toji / onsen bathing (balneotherapy) — Heat & water
- Progressive muscle relaxation (Jacobson) — Mind
- Ginger tea (shoga-yu) — Food & herbs
- Sleep hygiene — Daily habits & sleep
- Diaphragmatic (belly) breathing — Breathing
- Autogenic training (Schultz) — Mind
- Time in nature (green / blue space) — Mind
- Foot bath (ashi-yu) — Heat & water
- Music-based relaxation — Mind
- 4-7-8 breathing — Breathing
- Heel drops — Movement
- Tepid prolonged bath — Heat & water
- Ashwagandha — Food & herbs
- Wim Hof breathing — Breathing
- Ujjayi breath — Breathing
- Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) bath — Heat & water
- Kapalabhati (skull-shining breath) — Breathing
- Chamomile tea — Food & herbs
- Kneipp water treading (Wassertreten) — Heat & water
- Kneipp arm bath — Heat & water
- Kneipp hydrotherapy (general) — Heat & water
- Coconut oil self-massage — Manual therapy & points
- Savasana (corpse pose) — Mind
- Self-moxibustion (e.g. Sennen-kyu) — Heat & water
- Thai herbal compress (luk pra kob) — Heat & water
- Thalassotherapy — Heat & water
- Turmeric / golden milk — Food & herbs
- Jjimjilbang (Korean spa heat rooms) — Heat & water
- Tulsi (holy basil) tea — Food & herbs
- Triphala — Food & herbs
- Nadi shodhana (alternate nostril breathing) — Breathing
- Hammam (steam bath) — Heat & water
- Valerian — Food & herbs
- Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement — Movement
- Foam rolling (self-myofascial release) — Manual therapy & points
- Buteyko breathing — Breathing
- Black seed (Nigella sativa) — Food & herbs
- Bhramari (humming bee breath) — Breathing
- Pranayama (yogic breathing, general) — Breathing
- Box breathing — Breathing
- Massage ball / self trigger-point release — Manual therapy & points
- Yoga nidra (yogic sleep) — Mind
- Radio Taiso (Radio calisthenics) — Movement
- Lavender (scent or tea) — Food & herbs
- Lemon balm (Melissa) tea — Food & herbs
- Self-acupressure at Sanyinjiao (SP6) — Manual therapy & points
- Wuqinxi (Five Animals) — Movement
- Contrast showers — Heat & water
- Liuzijue (Six Healing Sounds) — Breathing
- Cold-water immersion / Nordic cold exposure — Heat & water
- Gua sha (scraping) — Manual therapy & points
- Self-acupressure at Hegu (LI4) — Manual therapy & points
- Surya namaskar (sun salutation) — Movement
- Daoyin / meridian stretching — Movement
- Ganban-yoku (hot-stone bed bathing) — Heat & water
- Self Koryo Sooji (Korean hand therapy) stimulation — Manual therapy & points
- Self-shiatsu / self-massage — Manual therapy & points
- Self-tuina massage — Manual therapy & points
- Yijinjing — Movement
- Forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) — Mind
- Contrast baths — Heat & water
- Zhan zhuang (standing meditation) — Movement
- Green tea — Food & herbs
- Auricular self-acupressure — Manual therapy & points
- Self-acupressure at Jianjing (GB21) — Manual therapy & points
- Tongue scraping (jihwa prasadana) — Daily habits & sleep
- Guided imagery — Mind
- Self-acupressure at Zusanli (ST36) — Manual therapy & points
- Toe mobility and foot-intrinsic exercises — Movement
- Self foot massage — Manual therapy & points
- Foot reflexology (self) — Manual therapy & points
- Self-acupressure at Fengchi (GB20) — Manual therapy & points
- Yojokun daily regimen (rest and moderation) — Daily habits & sleep
- 20-20-20 eye break rule — Daily habits & sleep
- Jujube (red date) tea — Food & herbs
- Mugwort bath (yomogi-yu) — Heat & water
- Mugwort steam (yomogi-mushi / ssenaegjil-type) — Heat & water
- Abhyanga (self oil massage) — Manual therapy & points
- Earthing / grounding — Daily habits & sleep
- Oil pulling (kavala / gandusha) — Daily habits & sleep
- Olive oil (culinary and gentle self-massage) — Food & herbs
- Jamu (Indonesian herbal tonic) — Food & herbs
- Dinacharya (Ayurvedic daily routine) — Daily habits & sleep
- Honeybush tea — Food & herbs
- Rooibos tea — Food & herbs
- Ruesi dat ton (Thai yoga / hermit stretching) — Movement
- Lemongrass tea — Food & herbs
- Dry towel rub (kanpu masatsu) — Manual therapy & points
- Half-body bath — Heat & water
- Miso and traditional fermented foods — Food & herbs
- Salt bath — Heat & water
- Sotai (self practice) — Movement
- Goji berry tea — Food & herbs
- Umeboshi (pickled Japanese plum) — Food & herbs
- Katsugen undo (Noguchi Seitai spontaneous movement) — Movement
- Self-acupressure at Yongquan (KI1) — Manual therapy & points
- Amazake (sweet fermented rice drink) — Food & herbs
- Plain warm water (sayu) — Food & herbs
- Makkoh-ho stretching — Movement
- Haramaki (abdominal wrap) — Daily habits & sleep
- Jikyo-jutsu — Movement
- Chrysanthemum tea — Food & herbs
- Yaoshan / Chinese food therapy — Food & herbs
- Shiro-abhyanga (head oil massage) — Manual therapy & points
- Yojokun dietary moderation (hara hachibu) — Food & herbs
- Dry cupping (self, caution) — Manual therapy & points
- Cao gio (coin rubbing) — Manual therapy & points
- Sweat lodge / temazcal-type ceremony — Heat & water
- Nasya (nasal oiling) — Daily habits & sleep
- Paida (body slapping qigong) — Manual therapy & points