Sadhana
साधना (sādhanā)
A committed, repeated practice - the daily work by which an aspiration becomes a capacity.
Sadhana comes from a root meaning to accomplish or bring to completion. It names the difference between admiring a quality and building one: anyone can admire steadiness; sadhana is sitting down for ten minutes every morning until steadiness has somewhere to live.
The form matters less than the repetition. Recitation, breath, study, prostration, a walk taken the same way at the same hour - each becomes sadhana when it is kept through the days you do not feel like it. The unwilling days are not failures of practice; they are the practice.
A useful test for any sadhana: it should be small enough to survive your worst week and honest enough to matter on your best.