Why Recovery Matters More Than You Think
Updated: 5 days ago
By Nad's Founder of Vitality4Life with Nad's Transformational Wellness Coach Move. Nourish. Breathe. Align. Helping people rediscover their vitality and come home to themselves through movement, massage, breath and holistic coaching.
Sometimes doing less is exactly what allows us to feel more like ourselves again.
We live in a culture that often celebrates doing more.
More exercise. More productivity. More commitments. More goals. More things crossed off the list.
And while movement, activity and getting things done all have their place, there is another part of wellbeing that can easily get overlooked:
Recovery.
Recovery isn't simply about stopping when you're completely exhausted. It's about creating regular moments where your body and mind have the opportunity to slow down, reset and reconnect.
What Recovery Has Taught Me
I didn't always understand this the way I do now.
For a long time, my own idea of "looking after myself" was really just another form of doing. Another class, another goal, another thing to get right. It took me a while to learn that my body wasn't asking for more effort. It was asking for space.
These days, recovery isn't something I fit in around the edges of my week. It's part of how I stay well enough to hold space for everyone I work with.
Some months that looks like a massage. Some months it's joining a friend's sound healing session, lying back and letting the bowls and gong do the work my mind can't do for itself. Other times it's a yoga nidra practice at home when I'm depleted and simply need to lie down and be guided somewhere quieter.
One of the things that first made this real for me was my Oura ring. Fairly often, after a restorative session, it registers me as having been asleep, even though I was awake the entire time. My conscious mind stayed present. I could hear the room, follow the guidance, notice my own thoughts drifting in and out. But physiologically, my body had dropped into a state so deeply restful that my ring read it as sleep.
That told me something important: rest this complete isn't something we can always think our way into. It's a physiological state, and it responds to the right conditions far more than it responds to willpower.
It turns out there's real research behind why that happens. Studies using EEG and brain imaging on yoga nidra practice have found something similar to what I feel in my own sessions: the body can move into deep, sleep-like relaxation, with the parasympathetic nervous system taking over from the stress response, while a thread of conscious awareness stays present throughout. Separate sleep-lab research has found yoga nidra can improve slow-wave sleep and next-day memory and reaction time, even in people who'd never practiced it before.
Restorative yoga has its own body of evidence too. Because the poses are supported and held for longer, the body has time to properly shift out of "doing" mode and into the parasympathetic, rest-and-repair state, the same shift researchers see reflected in heart rate variability studies. And sound has its own well-documented effect on the nervous system: a recent scientific review looking at more than thirty studies found that sound-based practices consistently helped lower physical stress markers like cortisol and heart rate, alongside people simply feeling calmer.
None of this is about chasing a "better" score on a wellness tracker. But it is reassuring to know that what so many of us feel intuitively, that these practices genuinely help us settle, is backed by something real happening in the body.
Your Body Needs More Than Movement
Movement is an important part of feeling well, but constantly pushing ourselves isn't necessarily the answer.
There is value in learning to notice the difference between movement that supports you and movement that leaves you feeling depleted.
Some days you may feel like lifting weights, doing Pilates, running, going for a hike, surfing or getting into a more intense workout. Other days it might simply be walking, stretching or practising a slower style of yoga.
Other days, your body might be asking for something gentler. That might look like a slower yoga practice, a few minutes of mobility, some conscious breathing, a massage, an early night, or simply giving yourself permission not to rush.
There doesn't have to be one perfect wellness routine. The goal is to develop a better relationship with your own body.
Recovery Can Be Simple
When we hear the word "recovery," we can sometimes imagine elaborate routines, expensive treatments or taking an entire weekend off.
But recovery can be much simpler than that. It might be:
Taking five quiet minutes before starting your day
Going for a gentle walk without turning it into a workout
Stretching while your morning coffee is brewing
Putting your phone away for a little while
Taking a few slow breaths when you notice you're rushing
Making space for a proper night's sleep
Choosing a restorative movement practice instead of another intense session
Booking time for yourself before you reach the point of complete exhaustion
Small practices count. In fact, I believe they are often the practices that are easiest to sustain.
Learning to Listen Instead of Push
One of the things I love about working with people through massage, movement and wellness practices is seeing how different everyone's needs are.
There isn't a single approach that works for everybody.
Your body is constantly giving you information. Sometimes we notice tension. Sometimes we notice tiredness. Sometimes we notice that we're holding our breath or moving through our day without really being present.
Rather than immediately trying to fix everything, we can start by becoming curious.
What am I noticing?
What do I need today?
Would more be helpful, or would less be more supportive?
That simple pause can change the way we approach our wellbeing.
Recovery Isn't Giving Up
This is something I think many of us need to hear.
Rest isn't laziness. A slower day isn't a failure. Changing your movement practice because your body needs something different isn't weakness. And taking time for yourself doesn't mean you're falling behind.
Wellbeing isn't about creating another list of things you have to get right. It's about creating habits and rhythms that you can actually live with.
A New Way I'm Offering to Support This
Because recovery has become such a central part of my own wellbeing, and because I've seen how powerful it can be for the people I work with, I've created a new one-on-one offering built entirely around it.
These sessions guide you through a combination of restorative yoga, calming breathwork and sound healing, woven together to help settle your mind, your body and your nervous system all at once.
The 60-minute session moves you through restorative postures, breath work to calm the nervous system, and sound.
The 90-minute session includes all of the above, with a guided yoga nidra practice added at the end, for anyone who wants to go deeper into rest, or who's simply running on empty and needs the extra time to properly land.
You don't need any experience with any of these practices. You just need to be willing to lie down, breathe, and let yourself be guided somewhere quieter for a while.
A Small Practice for This Month
I'd love you to try something very simple.
At some point during your day, pause for two minutes. Put your phone down. Take five slow breaths. Notice your shoulders. Notice your jaw. Notice how you're standing or sitting.
And ask yourself:
"What would support me right now?"
Don't overthink the answer. Maybe it's movement. Maybe it's rest. Maybe it's water. Maybe it's fresh air. Maybe it's finishing what you're doing and then giving yourself permission to stop.
The important part is creating the space to notice.
Your Wellbeing Doesn't Have to Be Complicated
Sometimes the most meaningful changes begin with simply paying attention.
This month, I'm inviting you to explore recovery not as something you do after you've pushed yourself too far, but as a regular part of how you care for yourself.
Small moments. Gentle choices. Consistent habits. And a little more permission to listen to yourself.
Move with intention. Nourish your body. Breathe deeply. Align with your true self.
From my heart to yours, Nad's 💚
P.S. I'd love to hear from you. Has there been a time when slowing down gave you back more than pushing through ever did? Or has this stirred up curiosity about trying restorative yoga, breathwork or sound healing for yourself? Leave a comment or send me a message. I always love hearing your stories.
Sources:
Datta, K. et al. (2023). Yoga nidra improved slow-wave sleep and next-day memory and reaction time in a controlled study. Published in PLOS ONE, summarised in Nature: nature.com/articles/d44151-024-00012-y
Brain imaging research on yoga nidra found sleep-like, parasympathetic-dominant relaxation occurring alongside sustained conscious awareness, distinct from ordinary sleep on EEG: biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.09.15.557655
A controlled study on yoga's effect on the autonomic nervous system found increased heart rate variability, reflecting greater parasympathetic (rest-and-repair) activity, after a ten-week yoga programme: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7153865
A 2025 scoping review of 34 studies on sound-based interventions found consistent reductions in cortisol, heart rate and self-reported stress: mental.jmir.org/2025/1/e69120
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