Sensible Management of Stress and Recovery

Have you ever been too busy driving to take time to stop and refuel? Are you wearing yourself out by excessively striving to reach some unrealistic expectation imposed by oneself or the values of society? Be aware that a basic design element of the human body is its need for renewal through adequate recovery. With this in mind, optimal human productivity and effectiveness requires both passive (lowering physiological arousal) and active (increasing blood circulation and heart rate) recovery at regular intervals throughout the course of every day and each week.

What you will learn

Over the course of a day, we move from a higher to lower level of alertness and arousal every 90 to 95-minutes. These are known as ultradian rhythms within our natural 24-hour circadian rhythm. In essence, our bodies require a short recovery break every 90-minutes or so. The key to effective recovery (active or passive) is not how long we do it but how well we do it. As with any other capacity, we get better at effectively renewing by practicing it more systematically.

Key topics include:

• Recovery is a basic design element of the human body
• What does your day really look like? Perception versus reality
• Understanding sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest & digest) nervous system functioning