How to Build a Recovery Toolbox (For Musicians)
If you want to stay consistent as a musician, recovery can’t be something you think about only when things fall apart.
It needs to be built into your day-to-day life.
That’s how you truly thrive in this industry.
A Recovery Toolbox is a collection of short, targeted recovery protocols you can use daily to unload stress, reduce fatigue, and slow the build-up of allostatic load.
These aren’t long, spa-style recovery sessions.
They’re microdosed tools you can apply in minutes, matched to what your body actually needs in that moment.
This is the piece most musicians are missing.
The Three Steps to Effective Recovery
Intelligent recovery comes down to three things:
Knowing your current recovery state
Understanding the system or systems carrying excess load
Applying the right tool to match that state and system
This is about precision, not effort.
In Performance Conditioning, this is called the State → System → Tool method.
Here’s how it works.
Step 1: Identify the State
Before you reach for a recovery tool, you need to ask one question:
What’s actually going on right now?
This is the skill of interoception.
In practice, almost everything you’ll experience fits into one of these eight states:
Physically tired – heavy, flat, slow to move
Physically wired – restless, jittery, unable to settle
Mentally tired – foggy, low focus, spaced out
Mentally wired – racing thoughts, difficulty switching off
Poor sleep – groggy, unstable energy, easily drained
Anxious or overstimulated – tight chest, hyper-alert, jumpy
Disconnected from the body – numb, clumsy, poor coordination
Stiff, sore, or inflamed – muscle soreness, joint pain, headaches
If you misidentify the state, recovery won’t land.
Step 2: Identify the System Carrying Load
Every state maps back to one or more physiological systems.
When you know which system is overloaded, recovery becomes much simpler.
The key systems involved in recovery are:
Nervous system: Regulates arousal, stress response, and what feels switched on or off.
Endocrine system: Regulates hormones involved in stress, sleep, energy, and recovery.
Musculoskeletal system: Muscles, joints, connective tissue. Usually noticed only when overloaded.
Cardiovascular and respiratory systems: Oxygen delivery, waste removal, heart rate, breath, endurance, recovery.
Cognitive and sensory systems: Focus, decision-making, emotional control, and how much input you can handle.
Interoceptive, proprioceptive, and vestibular systems: Internal awareness, body position, balance, and spatial orientation.
You don’t need to memorise this list.
You just need to recognise the patterns.
Step 3: Match the Right Tool
Once you know the state and system, you choose the tool.
Recovery tools fall into three broad categories:
Bottom-Up Tools
Start with the body and influence the brain.
Examples:
Breathwork (downregulating): physiological sigh, slow nasal breathing
Breathwork (upregulating): breath of fire, CO₂ tolerance work
Zone 2 cardio or walking
Rope flow, yoga, animal flow
Loaded mobility, eccentric work
Myofascial release, hanging, decompression
Eye movement drills, humming
Top-Down Tools
Start with the mind and influence the body.
Examples:
NSDR or Yoga Nidra
Meditation and body scans
Journaling, voice notes
Thought reframing
Visualisation or mental rehearsal
Silence and stillness practices
Outside-In Tools
External inputs that regulate your system.
Examples:
Cold exposure or heat
Contrast therapy
Weighted blankets
Morning light exposure
Blue-light reduction at night
Functional or intentional music
Simple fidget or tactile tools
You don’t need everything.
You just need the right tool at the right time.
Putting It Together: State → System → Tool
Below is an example of how a Recovery Toolbox might look in practice.
This is not prescriptive. It’s a working model.
1. Physically Tired
Systems: Musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, endocrine
Tools:
Bottom-up: Zone 2 cardio, rope flow
Top-down: NSDR, body scan
Outside-in: Contrast therapy, vagal stimulation
2. Physically Wired
Systems: Nervous system, musculoskeletal, endocrine
Tools:
Bottom-up: Deadhangs, eccentric stretching, long exhales
Top-down: Meditation, breath tracking
Outside-in: Cold exposure, weighted blanket, calming music
3. Mentally Tired
Systems: Cognitive, respiratory, cardiovascular
Tools:
Top-down: NSDR, stillness
Bottom-up: Slow nasal breathing
Outside-in: Natural light, scent, low-stim music
4. Mentally Wired
Systems: Cognitive, nervous system, endocrine
Tools:
Top-down: Journaling, silence, voice notes
Bottom-up: Physiological sigh, gentle flow
Outside-in: Reduced light, calming sound
5. Poor Sleep
Systems: Nervous system
Tools:
Top-down: NSDR, meditation
Bottom-up: Short activating movement
Outside-in: Cold exposure, light management
6. Anxious or Overstimulated
Systems: Nervous, respiratory, interoceptive
Tools:
Top-down: Body scan, reframing, journaling
Bottom-up: Slow breathing, walking
Outside-in: Weighted pressure, tactile input
7. Disconnected from the Body
Systems: Interoceptive, proprioceptive, cognitive
Tools:
Top-down: Body scan
Bottom-up: Eye drills, slow coordinated movement
Outside-in: Textured tools, foam rolling
8. Stiff, Sore, or Inflamed
Systems: Musculoskeletal, immune
Tools:
Bottom-up: Isometrics, mobility flows, myofascial work
Top-down: NSDR
Outside-in: Contrast therapy, manual therapy
Why This Matters
A Recovery Toolbox gives you control.
It allows you to take control of every element of how you feel and how you perform.
Instead of resting blindly, you can recover with intent.
Over time, this reduces allostatic load, balances the scales, improves consistency, and keeps training, performance, and recovery working together so you no longer live on the edge of burnout.
