Recovery Is a Trainable Skill.

But First, We Need to Think About Recovery Differently

Part 2 of the World Cup Series

If you haven't read Part 1, click here to read

During the World Cup we've watched some of the world's best footballers doing yoga before and after competition. The conversation has been predictable.

"Yoga helps athletes recover."

I agree, but I think we're stopping the conversation too early. Because if we're going to use yoga as a recovery tool, we need to answer a much more important question first.

What exactly are we trying to recover? What exactly is recovery?  

That question changes everything.  If you are telling you class or even the teams you might working with that it helps with recovery -can you accurately define recovery?

Recovery isn't something you do.

Recovery is a capacity you develop. Most conversations about recovery revolve around interventions.

Ice baths.

Compression boots.

Saunas. (i’m not knocking saunas.  I love them and am obsessed that my gym has them)

Sleep trackers.

Massage guns.

Breathwork. Breathing strips

Red light therapy

Yoga.

HRV.

The recovery industry has become incredibly good at selling tools.

But tools are only valuable if they solve the problem in front of you.

The better question isn't:

"Am I using enough recovery tools?"

The better question is:

"What aspect of my recovery needs my attention today?"

That is where exceptional practitioners begin.

Recovery isn't one thing.

We often talk about recovery as though it's a single process. It isn't.

Recovery is the restoration of the systems that allow us to meet the demands of life and performance. Sometimes that means restoring tissue after training. Sometimes it means restoring the nervous system after sympathetic activation. Sometimes it means recovering attention after weeks of cognitive load. Sometimes it means rebuilding confidence after injury. Sometimes it means reconnecting with internal signals that have been ignored for months or years.

These are all forms of recovery. But they are not the same problem.

Why would they receive the same intervention?  If someone is sleeping 5 hours a night, is an ice bath the intervention they need? If someone is grieving, is another recovery gadget solving the problem? If an athlete is cognitively exhausted after months of travel and competition, is more physical recovery what they're actually missing?

Before we choose the tool, we have to understand the system we're trying to support.

The question isn't whether ice baths, yoga, sleep, or breathwork work.

The question is: What problem are you trying to solve?

The mistake isn't choosing the wrong tool.

The mistake is choosing the tool before understanding the problem.

One of the reasons I invited Dr. Adam Wagner to serve on the APEX advisory board wasn't simply because he is an amazing Chiropractor.

It was because of how he thinks. What has impressed me most isn't the number of techniques he knows. It's the quality of his assessment. He doesn't just throw the best or most trendy treatment at you.

He begins by asking,

"What is actually happening here?"

He seeks to understand the whole person, the whole picture. That shift changes everything.

Because the quality of an intervention is determined long before the intervention begins.

I believe when we are talking about yoga as a way to recover, it  deserves the same approach.

Before we recommend yoga...

or breathwork...

or an ice bath...

or compression boots...

or a sleep protocol...

we should first ask:

Which system needs support?

This is where yoga becomes extraordinary.

Not because yoga is recovery.

Because yoga contains multiple ways to influence recovery.

Movement.

Breath.

Attention.

Meditation.

Interoception.

Stillness.

Connection.

Self-awareness.

Metacognition

These aren't interchangeable.

Each influences the human system differently.

The skill isn't knowing that yoga can help.

The skill is knowing which aspect of yoga to emphasize, for which person, at which moment and for what purpose. That is a very different level of practice.

Recovery is more than rest.

One athlete finishes a match physically exhausted. Another finishes mentally depleted. Another is struggling with sleep after weeks of travel. Another is returning from injury and no longer trusts their body. Another is carrying grief after a significant personal loss.

All of them need recovery.

None of them necessarily need the same recovery session. This is where performance and mental wellbeing begin to overlap. Recovery isn't only about restoring tissue. It's about restoring the capacity of the whole person.

Physical.

Neurological.

Psychological.

Cognitive.

Social.

Ignoring any one of those changes the quality of recovery.

What the World Cup may actually be showing us.

I don't think the most interesting story is that elite footballers are doing yoga It is cool and I’ll admit to becoming a big fan of Erling Haaland as a result of it. So much so that anything that Trader Joe’s had that had “Norwegian” in the name I bought.  Seriously-they have a limited edition Norwegian flatbreads that are really good.

I think the more interesting story is that elite sport is beginning to recognize recovery as a trainable performance skill.

The ability to shift between effort and restoration. To recognize and respect internal signals rather than constantly overriding them. To recover attention, movement quality, emotional balance, readiness. That's performance.

Ancient yoga already had a word for this.

Yup….i’m making the bridge between the ancient practice and modern science because connecting the two is SO COOL. The Sanskrit word viveka is often translated as discernment.

The ability to perceive clearly enough to make wise decisions. Modern healthcare might call it clinical reasoning. Different language, but similar aspiration.

Not collecting more techniques, but developing better judgment.

Because knowledge gives us options.  It allows us to ask better questions.  Not necessarily have all the answers.

Discernment helps us choose.

The yoga teacher that is needed.

I don't think the future belongs to the yoga teacher with the most recovery tools.

I think it belongs to the teacher who understands what they're trying to recover before they choose the intervention.  They know when yoga is an excellent tool, what part of the practice they want to emphasize and when it’s not.

Someone who can look at an athlete, an executive, a woman navigating menopause, or a person living with persistent pain and ask:

What system needs attention today?

That's a different conversation and a different level of preparation.

And it's exactly why APEX exists.

Not to teach more recovery techniques or even to teach yoga specifically for recovery. It's not to create yoga teachers who can teach more postures or more creative sequences. 

But to develop practitioners with the discernment to choose the right tool, for the right person, at the right time, for the right reason.

Because recovery isn't just something that happens after stress.

It's a capacity.

And like every other capacity...

it can be trained.

If this is the kind of teacher you want to become, applications for the next APEX 300-Hour are now open. 

We don't just promise more information.

We promise a different way of thinking and how to apply it.