Active recovery in ME/CFS: resting so that your nervous system rests too

Active recovery is a conscious decision and it helps to regulate the nervous system. High demands, a complex life and your own standards mean many of us are permanently under tension. Even for people without a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system that can lead to constant strain and deep exhaustion.

With Long Covid, ME/CFS or post-vaccine illness it is all the more important to plan the change between tension and relaxation deliberately, because the autonomic nervous system often cannot manage that regulation on its own any more, or not as effectively.

What active recovery does

• Supports the regulation of the autonomic nervous system
• Raises the activity of the parasympathetic system and with it relaxation
• Increases heart rate variability, a marker for how well the body copes with stress
• Supports detoxification and the regeneration of cells
• Improves concentration and mental clarity

What counts as active recovery

Vagus nerve stimulation, meditation, breathing exercises, mindfulness, grounding. These are only a few examples. What calms your nervous system is very individual, so it can also be a short walk or sleep.

What passive recovery is

For a long time I thought lying down and watching a series was recovery. It is, but it is passive recovery. That is completely fine, but it matters to know this: you are neither fully focused nor actually recovering. It may feel relaxing, yet for your nervous system it is not rest, it counts as exertion.

How to put it into practice

It works best if you set fixed times for your active recovery every day. After every period of tension or exertion, go into active recovery as a counterweight. You are training your nervous system to move from a stimulus back into recovery.

I use the Sensate for my own active recovery, every two hours for twenty minutes and gladly longer. It stimulates the vagus nerve with infrasound and binaural sounds. The discount code LEILA10 applies.

📖 More in my book

In Beyond Survival you will find detailed strategies and background on active recovery, prepared for everyday use.