As one of the pioneering forces in the arena of hemp wellness, it comes as no surprise to find Yash Kotak’s morning routine just as idealistic as we’d assumed. Yes, the Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 entrant is a 5 am guy who does breathwork on a routinely basis as he takes one day at a time—building a cannabis wellness empire via BOHECO (the brand recently launched a physical clinic in Delhi). In a candid chat, he drops interesting details about his mornings.

How do you start your mornings? Take us through your routine.

Yash Kotak: I’m an early riser. I wake up by 5:30 am on most days, go for my yoga class or to the gym, followed by some meditation or breathwork for 20 mins, run my daily errands and commence my work by 9:30 am.

What will we see sitting on your bathroom shelf?

YK: You’ll find my moisturiser, sunscreen, beard care kit, BOHECO FOREVER – my skin hydrator and my hair brush.

Your go-to grooming products?

YK: Well, my grooming products are limited to the bare essentials – BOHECO PRISTINE for skin moisturisation, BOHECO FOREVER for skin hydration, any sunscreen that my wife recommends and since I have a beard, I use multiple products from Bombay Shaving Co. to maintain my beard.

Your day and night fragrances?

YK: Day fragrance: L’Eau D’Issey Pour Homme Sport Eau De Toilette by Issey Miyake and VIP 212 by Carolina Herrera for when the sun goes down.

How do you like your coffee?

YK: I’m not a coffee person. My external stimulants are limited to Green Tea with a few drops of CBD oil to align my mind and get cracking.

What does breakfast look like?

YK: Given my eggetarian dietary preferences, my breakfast usually consists of eggs in some form, any 2 fruits of the season and a bowl of cereal that’s loaded with dry fruits and Hemp seeds in some form – either hemp protein powder or hemp hearts.

What’s your workout/ physical activity routine like?

YK: Yoga or gym in the morning at 6am, followed by some workout for the mind in the form of breathwork or meditation. Weekends are reserved for football.

Different news portals you check out in the morning?

YK: Inshorts and/or Google News and occasionally I listen to news podcasts on my way to work – Morning brief by ET or In Focus by The Hindu.

Morning Music

YK: Music is very key for me so depends on the day ahead and the mood, nothing in particular. But some of my morning go-to artists that never disappoint are Audioslave, Xavier Rudd, Ocie Elliott and Jon & Roy.

What are you currently reading?

YK: Unfortunately, I’m not an avid reader but very recently I have begun to take a keen interest in knowing more about the Gut so I’m reading this book called, “Gut – The Inside story of our body’s most underrated organ” by Giulia Enders.

Three things we’ll always find on your nightstand.

YK: My eye moisturiser after all the screen consumption through the day, my phone & charger.