Short version: a quick two-minute read
I had a realisation during a facial recently. I’ve been booking hair, nails and facials for about four years, and I’ve finally learned how to actually relax during one. No emails. No mentally organising my afternoon. No making conversation or worrying whether the person looking after me was having a good day. Just lying there and enjoying it. It sounds simple, but for someone who’s spent most of her adult life working, training and running a business, switching off doesn’t come naturally.
What took me so long to learn is that I don’t have to people please when I’m the customer. I spend my days looking after other people. On the table, I don’t need to entertain anyone, be productive or make the hour easier for the person caring for me. Booking the appointment is one thing. Actually receiving it is another. That one to three hours isn’t a chance to catch up on work. It’s a chance to switch off.
Why does this matter? Your body has two broad modes. Fight or flight gets you ready for action: a faster heart rate, quicker breathing, a busy mind. Rest and digest is the opposite: slower, calmer, and the state your body leans on for recovery. A busy week of go, go, go keeps you in the first one. Down regulation is how you get back to the second, and it’s a skill you can practise.
So let’s practise now. I bet you rarely notice your breathing during the day. While you’re reading this, take three slow breaths. Breathe in for a count of four, and out for a count of four. Let your shoulders drop. That’s down regulation.
Got a few more minutes? Keep reading.
Training is still stress. I love strength training, and it’s one of the best things you can do for your health. But to your body, a hard session is still physical stress. It’s good stress, and it’s how you adapt. But if your week is already work, kids, training and a full calendar, another workout isn’t recovery. In our Six Factors of Health, stress and recovery sit alongside training for a reason. Genuine downtime is its own thing: a walk with no podcast, a slow sit-down meal, deep breathing, or lying on the floor and letting your body melt into it.
Recovery is more than rest from exercise. When stress keeps building without a chance to recover, sleep often suffers, and poor sleep and pain tend to feed each other. Ongoing stress can also change how sensitive your body is to pain. That doesn’t mean stress causes your pain, or that relaxing heals an injury. It means recovery involves your nervous system, not just your muscles.
Your breath is the quickest tool you have. Slow breathing, under ten breaths a minute, is linked with a calmer nervous system and less anxiety, and even five minutes of daily breathwork has been shown to lift mood. Box breathing is a simple place to start: in for four, hold for four, out for four, hold for four. Free divers train this skill too, staying calm while holding their breath, because staying relaxed makes each breath last longer. Wim Hof, known for his breathing and ice baths, took part in a 2014 study showing trained breathing can change how the body’s stress systems respond. His method actually ramps you up rather than calming you down, so think of it as practice at staying calm under stress, not relaxation. Never practise breath holds in water, while driving or standing, and free diving needs proper training and a buddy.
Finally, remember why you booked it, and how you feel afterwards. By the time the appointment comes around, you might feel busy and tempted to cancel. But you booked it for a reason. It’s the same with exercise, eating well and getting outside. We rarely feel motivated beforehand, but we almost always feel better after. Peace and relaxation aren’t a reward for finishing everything. They’re part of what keeps you going.
Recovery Is Part of the Plan.
At By Design Physiotherapy & Strength in North Hobart, we look beyond the sore spot to sleep, stress and recovery, using our Six Factors of Health to understand what’s helping or holding back your progress.
Book a physiotherapy appointment to build a plan that includes recovery, not just training.
To learn more, read The Six Factors of Health. If stress is affecting your day-to-day life, speak with your GP or a mental health professional.
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About This Article
Author: Marissa Seeley, Physiotherapist and Co-Founder
Clinic: By Design Physiotherapy & Strength, North Hobart, Tasmania
Publication date: 8 November 2026
Last reviewed: 6 November 2026
By Design Clinical Framework
The Six Factors of Health is a By Design educational framework used to guide broader health conversations and clinical reasoning. It is not an independently validated assessment tool.
References
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Finan PH, Goodin BR, Smith MT. (2013). The association of sleep and pain: an update and a path forward. Journal of Pain, 14(12), 1539–1552. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2013.08.007.
Zaccaro A, Piarulli A, Laurino M, et al. (2018). How breath-control can change your life: a systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, 353. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00353.
Balban MY, Neri E, Kogon MM, et al. (2023). Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. Cell Reports Medicine, 4(1), 100895. DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100895.
Kox M, van Eijk LT, Zwaag J, et al. (2014). Voluntary activation of the sympathetic nervous system and attenuation of the innate immune response in humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(20), 7379–7384. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1322174111.
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This is general information only. If you’re managing pain or an injury, speak with your physio about what’s right for you.
