Relax, refresh, recharge: your stress-free lifestyle guide

In today’s fast-paced world, finding moments of peace and relaxation is essential for maintaining a healthy mind and body. From simple daily practices to transformative lifestyle changes, here you’ll learn how to create a balanced routine that promotes mental clarity and physical well-being. Whether it’s through mindfulness, exercise, or creative hobbies, this guide offers practical tips and insights to help you relax, refresh, and recharge.

The stress response is characterised by the hormones cortisol and adrenaline, produced by the adrenal glands upon signalling from the brain.¹ While these hormones were meant to serve us if we ever found ourselves being chased through the jungle by a panther, in modern life the stress responses meant to protect us become dysregulated.² This can lead to our brains being confused as to whether the stressor is real or not.
Stress, your ever-vigilant guard dog believes it is doing you a favour by staying alert and detecting threats, so as much as we may dislike the idea of stress, it does serve you. It’s a matter of helping to remind your nervous system when stress is necessary, and when it is not.² We will explore some ways to do this, and helpful practices for overall stress management below.

Relaxation is a difficult concept for most, as we are conditioned that being busy is the cornerstone of a productive life. While breathing techniques, progressive muscle relaxation, exercise and connecting to nature are fine ways to help your nervous system relax, more than ever we need a perspective shift.³ Consider for a second the thought that relaxing is productive. It’s okay to take a step back, and do less, because as the age old saying suggests when it comes to stress: less is more!

What do you do that fills your cup? The much-needed refresh we all crave when stressed often comes from doing the things that make you feel fulfilled. For some, this is reading a book curled up with their cat, for others, playing sports or having brunch with a friend. Refreshing activities should serve you, and not harm you, so minimise drinking, eating junk food and stress-eating to ensure you are spending your time wisely.⁴ If activities don’t immediately come to mind, we’ve compiled a list to help you:

• Yoga
• Play an Instrument
• Draw a Picture
• Knit a Scarf
• Bushwalking
• Going to the Beach
• Take a Dance Class
• Take a Bath
• Gardening
• Qi Gong
• Ocean Swimming
• Sing a Song
• Journalling
• Meditation

We all understand the experience of looking down at your phone battery and seeing it dwindling close to empty. Now consider how much charge you have left, because inevitably we all need a recharge. B vitamins can support energy levels as well as contributing to normal energy production to help in a stressful time.^4,5 Foods naturally high in B vitamins include leafy greens, salmon, egg, meat and legumes.⁶
Tracing back to ancient Ayurvedic texts, Ashwagandha can be particularly useful in times of stress as it’s traditionally used in Ayurvedic medicine to help relieve stress and mild anxiety.⁷ Classified as a “Rasayana”, or aptly named rejuvenating herb, Ashwagandha can support a refreshing sleep.⁸ There is a classical use of Ashwagandha as an adaptogen, these are a type of herb that help in combating stress, recharging is easier with nature on your side.⁹

We all understand the experience of looking down at your phone battery and seeing it dwindling close to empty. Now consider how much charge you have left, because inevitably we all need a recharge. B vitamins can support energy levels as well as contributing to normal energy production to help in a stressful time.^4,5 Foods naturally high in B vitamins include leafy greens, salmon, egg, meat and legumes.⁶
Tracing back to ancient Ayurvedic texts, Ashwagandha can be particularly useful in times of stress as it’s traditionally used in Ayurvedic medicine to help relieve stress and mild anxiety.⁷ Classified as a “Rasayana”, or aptly named rejuvenating herb, Ashwagandha can support a refreshing sleep.⁸ There is a classical use of Ashwagandha as an adaptogen, these are a type of herb that help in combating stress, recharging is easier with nature on your side.⁹