RESTORATIVE PRACTICES FOR PERFORMANCE SUSTAINMENT
By Christine Sanchez, PhD, CMPC, BCB
“It takes courage to say yes to rest and play in a culture where exhaustion is seen as a status symbol.”
Brené Brown
Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS): Self-Regulator
Bigger. Faster. Stronger. Smarter. Elite performers are always looking to gain the extra edge over their competitors and their own performances. Restorative practices for performance recovery are too often overlooked or mocked because they involve a mindset that contradicts how a high achiever typically thinks.
“More is always better. How can I get stronger, faster, or mentally sharper if I’m not actively engaged in training?”
“Pushing myself less than 110% every day is lack of dedication.”
“Resting is a waste of time. I am uncomfortable being still.”
Pursuing excellence in any profession involves balancing out endeavours geared towards developing potential (performance enhancement) with sustaining performance (performance recovery).
This article will build off of a previous article, Managing the Stress Response, and provide restorative strategies for activating the Parasympathetic Nervous System through deliberate Vagus Nerve stimulation. We will discuss how to incorporate daily & weekly restorative practices into your routine to increase focus, contentment, creativity, efficiency, & resiliency to physical/mental/emotional stressors in life.
Let’s go back to our Formula 1 car example. The Redline refers to the maximum RPM value an engine can accommodate before causing damage to the vehicle. The human body can be thought of as a high-performance vehicle, much like the Formula 1 car. Think of the brain as the computer operating the human engine or body.
A high-performance engine can handle running at high RPMs when conditions call for it. The human body can do the same as it is built for acute, short bouts, of stress. However, redlining your body over long periods of time will break it down and cause damage (visible and non-visible injuries).
Chronic stress, or long-term stress, causes negative performance effects on the human body. Some of you may know this as allostatic overload. Common symptoms attributed to “redlining the human body” include:
- Feeling exhausted or overwhelmed
- Overactive mind or busy brain
- Seeing only the negative side of things
- Weight gain
- Mood swings – irritable or angry
- Poor sleep, insomnia
- Trouble focusing
- Forgetfulness
- Gritting or grinding teeth
- Tension headaches or stiff muscles
- Decreased cognition (info processing, memory, decision making)
- Inflammation in the brain or body, possibly leading to mental health or orthopaedic issues
- Lowered immune system – frequent colds or infections
Avoid long term redlining and performance deficits by engaging in deliberate recovery to help reset your mind-body connection (i.e., homeostasis). Remember, our gas pedal (Sympathetic Nervous System activation) activates the human body naturally and instinctually. It’s a skill to learn how to efficiently tap our breaks or downshift (Parasympathetic Nervous System activation).
Everything works best when in a state of balance. Maximise your engine longevity by learning how to engage in deliberate recovery to reset, recover, and restore.
Table 1 below lists examples of restorative practices and breaks them down into daily (1-20 minutes), weekly (30-60 minutes), and monthly (> 60 minutes) strategies. Every strategy provided deliberately targets PNS activation.
Set yourself a goal to engage in at least one recovery technique from each of the three categories below. You can reset your nervous system in as little as 30 seconds with regular practice!
Restorative Practices to ↑ PNS Activity & Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
| Daily: 1-20 minutes | Weekly: 30-60 minutes | Monthly: >1 hour |
|
Low & Slow Breathing: Breathing around 5 breaths/minute (easy inhale for 5 seconds and a slow exhale for 7 seconds) ↑’s vagal tone (PNS) & can have long term benefits on cognition, healing, and wellbeing. Try out a breath pacer app (iOS: Awesome Breathing; Android: Paced Breathing) to cue your inhales/exhales. Start with 5min/day and slowly increase to 20min/day. *Insert as a tactical pause (1-2 slow, easy exhales) when a quick, 15-30 second reset is needed (before CQB, giving a brief, challenging conversation) |
Yin or Restorative Yoga: Yin targets connective tissue in the body. Restorative targets “letting go” of unnecessary tension in the mind & body. Both practices bring balance to the nervous system. | Social Connection: Larger family outings, weekend getaways, socializing w/ friends. The PNS has a “tend & befriend” component —feeling connected & relatable to others. |
| Journaling/Reflecting on Gratitude: Gratitude & appreciation are powerful emotions that ↑ HRV more so than the relaxation response alone. | Yoga Nidra: Regular practice allows conscious entry into deep sleep brain wave states (growth hormone released, toxins in brain eliminated to aide in recovery ). Try out Annie Okerlin from Exalted Warrior Foundation (https://soundcloud.com/annie-okerlin) or Jennifer Piercy on the Insight Timer app | Mindfulness in Nature (long): Unstick yourself from the daily grind. Nature awakens our senses and naturally encourages us to pause, be present. |
| Mindfulness Meditation: Daily practice (body scan, muscle relaxation, metta, etc) structurally changes the brain, ↑ cognition, ↓ stress & inflammation. Try out a meditation app (Insight Timer or Calm) | Float (Sensory Deprivation Tank): Reduces sensory input to the brain so that the mind can quiet and body tension ↓. | |
| Hunt the Good Stuff: Help your brain unstick the negative by reflecting on 3 positive or neutral things that happened to you today. | Mindfulness in Nature (short): Informal meditation practices (i.e., practicing “open awareness” while outside on a walk) or connecting w/ nature in wild. | |
| Focus on Controllables: Choose to put energy towards tasks you can influence. Let go of things outside of your control. | Social Connection & Laughter: Date night, family or friends’ activity, dog walk. Activates “tend & befriend” of the PNS. | |
| Mid-day Nap: ↑ cognition & ↓ tension. Make sure to keep your nap 20-30min so you don’t enter deep sleep and experience grogginess. | Music, Art, or Dance Therapy: Generate creative energy as a healing force for the mind, body, & spirit. | |
| Singing, Humming, Chanting: Vocal cords & muscles in back of throat activate PNS. | ||
Table 2 below lists an example performance recovery routine for someone while in Camp.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Low & Slow Breathing/ Mindfulness Meditation (20min) | Low & Slow Breathing/ Mindfulness Meditation (20min) | Low & Slow Breathing/ Mindfulness Meditation (20min) | Low & Slow Breathing/ Mindfulness Meditation (20min) | Low & Slow Breathing/ Mindfulness Meditation (20min) | Low & Slow Breathing/ Mindfulness Meditation (20min) | Yin or Restorative Yoga; Yoga Nidra (30-75min) |
| Sing in the shower or dance to a song before or after work(5- 30min) | Journaling (5-15min) | Mindfulness in nature (30min) | Journaling (5-15min) | Date night w/ significant other or social gathering w/ like-minded individuals (60min +) | Music, Art or Home Improvement Project (60min +) | |
| Tactical Pause Reset in training (1-2 easy, slow exhales to quiet mind & body; 30sec) | Tactical Pause Reset in training (1-2 easy, slow exhales to quiet mind & body; 30sec) | Tactical Pause Reset in training (1-2 easy, slow exhales to quiet mind & body; 30sec) | Tactical Pause Reset in training (1-2 easy, slow exhales to quiet mind & body; 30sec) | Tactical Pause Reset in training (1-2 easy, slow exhales to quiet mind & body; 30sec) |
Foundational Recovery
While the above strategies facilitate recovery and help you “make the most out of what you have in the tank today,” we cannot forget about the two foundational sources of recovery: Sleep and nutrition (fuelling).
Keep the following lifestyle behaviours in mind as they will negatively influence optimal sleep and nightly recovery:
- Alcohol consumed > 2 drinks/day, >5 drinks/week, and & 3-4hrs before going to bed .
- A large meal consumed >2hrs before bed.
- Less than 6hrs of sleep/night or <50hrs/week on a regular basis or restless sleep in general.
- Overtraining
- Going to bed with a busy brain or feeling irritable
Christine Sanchez, PhD, CMPC, BCB
Mental Performance Consultant
Dr. Christine Sanchez provides mental skills training and executive coaching to elite performers. She has over 16 years of experience working within a variety of performance domains, such as US Special Operations, first responders, professional sports, and executive leaders. Dr. Sanchez is best known for her work integrating biofeedback training with performance under pressure and recovery optimization. She earned her PhD in Sport and Performance Psychology from Florida State University, and currently holds the following certifications: Board Certified in Biofeedback, Certified Mental Performance Consultant, and Certified Breathing Behavioural Analyst.
