We chat with Dr Ula Heywood (MBChB FACEM), co-founder of Autonomy and lead physician doctor, on the importance of effective recovery for overall health.
Dr Ula previously worked in emergency medicine in the public health system and as a Westpac Rescue Helicopter doctor. Now her focus is on proactive and personalised healthcare at Autonomy — New Zealand's leading personal health transformation clinic, offering medically-led health coaching.
Why do you prescribe recovery in your practice?
Recovery is often misunderstood as “doing nothing,” when in reality it is one of the most biologically important phases of adaptation and repair.
At Autonomy, we see many high-performing people who are very good at pushing themselves but relatively poor at recovering. The problem is that the body does not get fitter, stronger or healthier during the stress itself. It adapts afterwards — during recovery.
Exercise, work, parenting, poor sleep, psychological stress, travel, alcohol, illness and even under-fuelling all place demands on the body. Without adequate recovery, the nervous system, immune system, hormonal system and musculoskeletal system can gradually become overloaded.
Over time, this can contribute to fatigue, poor sleep, reduced exercise tolerance, recurrent injury, metabolic dysfunction, burnout, increased inflammation and loss of resilience.
"We prescribe recovery because it is not a luxury or indulgence. It is a core component of physiological adaptation, healthy ageing and long-term performance."
What role does the nervous system play in recovery?
The nervous system sits at the centre of recovery.
Much of modern life keeps people in a relatively chronic sympathetic (“fight or flight”) state — mentally switched on, overstimulated and physiologically vigilant. While that response is useful in short bursts, remaining there continuously can impair sleep quality, digestion, recovery, glucose regulation, immune function and tissue repair.
Effective recovery requires the body to shift appropriately into parasympathetic (“rest, digest and repair”) physiology. This is where many of the body’s restorative processes occur.
The nervous system also influences heart rate variability, sleep architecture, inflammatory signalling, muscle tension, hormonal regulation and perceived stress resilience. In many people, the issue is not simply a lack of fitness or motivation, but a nervous system that has lost flexibility and spends too much time in a heightened state of activation.
That is why recovery is not only about muscles. It is also about creating enough physiological safety for the body to repair, adapt and restore balance.
How would you define what effective recovery actually is?
Effective recovery is not simply feeling relaxed temporarily. It is the process of restoring the body’s ability to function, adapt and perform well over time.
A person who is recovering well will generally demonstrate:* Stable energy* Good sleep quality* Consistent exercise tolerance* Healthy mood and cognitive function* Good stress resilience* Stable metabolic function* Appropriate recovery between training sessions
Importantly, recovery is highly individual. What restores one person may not restore another. A professional athlete, shift worker, parent of young children and peri-menopausal woman may all require very different recovery strategies.
We also try to distinguish true recovery from passive distraction. Scrolling on a phone for two hours may feel mentally numbing, but it does not necessarily create physiological restoration.
"In practical terms, effective recovery is anything that helps the body return toward a more resilient, adaptable and biologically balanced state."
Which tools do you recommend for recovery, and why?
The fundamentals remain the most powerful:
- Sleep
- Nutrition
- Adequate protein intake
- Hydration
- Nervous system regulation
- Appropriate exercise programming
Beyond that, we commonly use:
- Walking in nature and low-intensity movement like yoga
- Sauna
- Breathwork
- Light exposure and circadian rhythm optimisation
- Massage and mobility work
- Deliberate down-regulation practices - meditation, journalling, listening to music
Sauna is particularly interesting because it appears to function as a cardiovascular and metabolic stressor while also promoting relaxation, vasodilation and heat shock protein activation.
Breathwork can also be powerful for some individuals because it provides a direct way of influencing autonomic nervous system tone and improving physiological down-regulation.
Importantly, recovery tools should match the individual. Someone already exhausted and under-recovered may not benefit from additional high-intensity stressors masquerading as “wellness.”
The goal is not simply to add more interventions, but to improve resilience and physiological adaptability over time.
Why is it important for recovery to be consistent?
The body responds much more strongly to repeated behaviours than isolated events.
One massage, one early night or one weekend away will not fully offset months or years of chronic under-recovery. In the same way that fitness is built through repeated training, resilience is built through repeated recovery behaviours.
Consistent recovery practices help regulate circadian rhythms, improve autonomic nervous system flexibility, stabilise metabolic health and improve the body’s ability to tolerate stress over time.
This is particularly important because many people now live in environments of continuous stimulation — artificial light, constant notifications, psychological stress, sleep disruption and prolonged sedentary behaviour. Recovery can no longer be viewed as an occasional reward after burnout occurs. It has to become part of the baseline architecture of health.
Ultimately, recovery is not about avoiding stress altogether. It is about building enough physiological reserve that the body can tolerate stress, adapt appropriately and remain resilient long term.
To find out more about Dr Ula's work, head to Autonomy.Health
