Cortisol has become something of a wellness buzzword but unlike a lot of what trends on your feed, it’s worth paying attention to. As the body’s primary stress hormone, cortisol is supposed to spike when you need it and drop when you don’t. The problem is that modern life, the phone before you’ve opened your eyes, the back-to-back meetings, the endless scroll, has made that “drop” increasingly hard to come by. The result? A nervous system that never quite switches off, and a body that pays the price.
The good news is that fixing it doesn’t require an overhaul. As the experts below make clear, it’s less about adding more to your plate and more about giving your body consistent signals that it’s safe. Sleep, movement, breath, stillness; the basics are basic for a reason. Here’s what the professionals actually recommend.
Jenna Armitage, Founder of GoodGood Yoga + Pilates Studio
Cortisol gets a bad reputation, but it’s actually doing exactly what it’s supposed to do. The problem isn’t cortisol itself, it’s when it stops switching off. I see this with our clients at GoodGood all the time. People come in wired, exhausted, and convinced they need some complicated protocol to fix it. They don’t. The basics move the needle more than anything: getting to sleep before midnight, having protein at breakfast to keep blood sugar stable, going outside for a walk. Boring, I know. But genuinely effective. Ashwagandha is one I do recommend because the research actually backs it up, unlike a lot of what’s out there. Eight weeks of consistent use and the data shows real reductions in cortisol levels. Breathwork is the one that surprises people most though. Just five minutes of slowing your exhale down longer than your inhale and your nervous system shifts. You can feel it happening. And infrared, which is central to everything we do at GoodGood, works in a similar way. The heat pulls your body into a parasympathetic state and cortisol drops post-session. What all of these have in common is that they’re telling your body it’s safe. That’s really all it’s waiting for.
Yoga is known for its stress-reducing effects. When you practice yoga – especially deep breathwork, mindful movement and meditation, it activates the parasympathetic nervous system, calming you down. As a result, it reduces cortisol levels, creating a balancing effect on stress hormones. Some of the best poses for reducing cortisol are child’s pose, legs up the wall pose and even a simple seated forward fold. Adding in the breathwork to the poses really boosts the effect.
Rosie Drage, Mental Health Nurse + Health Coach
As a mental health nurse and health & wellbeing coach of 15 years, one of the biggest things I see is people living in a constant state of stress activation and a heightened nervous system without realising it. Lowering cortisol isn’t necessarily about removing all stress, but more about helping the nervous system feel safe enough to recover and regulate. One of my top tips is not underestimating the small moments in your day where you can help to regulate. Slowing your breathing, reducing overstimulation, getting outside, taking breaks away from screens or allowing moments of stillness can help bring the body out of fight-or-flight mode. I’d also encourage people to think about whether their exercise routine is supporting or stressing their nervous system. While movement is obviously fantastic for mental wellbeing, excessive high-intensity cardio can sometimes elevate cortisol further, particularly if someone is already anxious, burnt out, sleep deprived or in a postnatal season. Gentle movement such as walking, Pilates, yoga or strength training with proper recovery can often feel far more regulating for both mind and body. I’m a regular at my local outdoor sauna, and actually learnt that women should not spend as long as men in the ice baths, as this can increase cortisol levels! Finally, I think self-care is often misunderstood. True self-care (especially when you’re a parent) is less about indulgence and more about nervous system care. Basic fundamentals such as prioritising sleep, boundaries, rest and recovery without guilt. We live in a culture that celebrates productivity and pushing yourself, but the nervous system needs regular opportunities to reset in order to function well long term.
Macarena Gonzalez, Energy Healer
Stop saying yes when your body means no. Stop forcing yourself to live in ways that feel wrong deep down. Start listening to the parts of your life that feel exhausting to maintain. Pay attention to where you feel relief when plans cancel, conversations end or obligations disappear, that is valuable information. Build more recovery time into your day instead of earning rest only after exhaustion.
There was a point in my life where I was exhausted every day. Wired at night. Drained in the
morning. Anxious for no reason. And what I learned is this: High cortisol usually isn’t caused by one catastrophic event. It’s death by a thousand micro-stressors. Your body was designed to use cortisol as a survival mechanism. It spikes when you need to perform, react, survive… then it’s supposed to come back down. But modern life never gives it the chance. Most people wake up and immediately flood their nervous system with stress: Phone in their face before their feet hit the ground; Caffeine on an empty stomach; Constant notifications; Multitasking all day; Conversations and environments that keep them in fight-or-flight. Your body cannot tell the difference between a tiger in the wild and chronic low-grade stress in your daily life. To your nervous system, it’s all threats. And when cortisol stays elevated long enough, eventually you stop feeling like yourself. The fix isn’t some complicated biohack. It’s returning your body to the environment it was designed for.
Start here:
• No phone for the first hour of the day
• Get outside and walk after meals
• Morning sunlight on your eyes and skin
• Breathe through your nose, especially during stress
• Cut caffeine after noon
• Go to sleep at the same time every night
• Stop multitasking
• Spend more time in nature
• Protect your peace from people who constantly dysregulate your nervous system
Most people are overstimulated, under-recovered, and disconnected from the rhythms their body depends on to heal. Your nervous system is listening to everything around you. Start giving it signals of safety again.
