The Relief Recipe
A natural reset for your nervous system
The Relief Recipe is a handful of simple skills you can learn and do on your own, lying on the floor. When you do them, your body softens, your breathing slows, and you start to feel at ease.
It isn’t about forcing your body. It’s about listening to it.
The Recipe sets things up so your body can tell you more about itself, and that is what we call Enhanced Biofeedback. Liquid Stretch invokes the process, and Follow That Feeling is how you dial in what works for you.
What each step is doing
The Relief Recipe is a short run of easy steps. Each one gives your nervous system one less reason to stay on alert.
Lying on a firm floor takes away the job of holding you upright. Your heart usually beats a little slower lying down than standing.
Being warm, with no drafts, matters because even mild cold sets off a heat-saving reflex. That reflex is run by the “fight or flight” side of your nervous system.
Closing your eyes in a darkened room shuts off your biggest stream of outside information. People resting with their eyes closed show lower signs of arousal, meaning they are less keyed up, than with their eyes open.
Steady, slow music works the same way. Slower tempos and quiet pauses tend to go with a slower heart and slower breathing, while fast, busy music tends to rev you up.
Breathing slowly, as if savoring a scent, is one of the best-studied ways to give more say to your body’s rest-and-digest side. That’s the part of your nervous system that slows things down.
You can measure that shift as a rise in heart rate variability, the natural give-and-take in the timing between heartbeats. It grows when the vagus nerve, your main “slow down” nerve, is more active.
As the outside world goes quiet, your attention has room to turn inward, to your breath, your weight, pressure, and warmth. Your brain uses a different network for that inward listening than it uses for watching the world, centered on a deep fold called the insula.
Rolling slowly on the floor lets your own weight press right where you choose. Small studies find that touch you choose and control tends to feel more pleasant and easier to read.
Liquid Stretch invokes the process. The Recipe sets things up so your body can tell you more about itself, and that is what we call Enhanced Biofeedback.
Follow That Feeling is how you dial in what works for you. Feel something, move a little toward what feels good, notice what changed, and follow again.
It isn’t about forcing your body. It’s about listening to it.
What you may notice is breathing that slows on its own, a body that feels heavier and more held by the floor, and a clearer sense of what your body wants next. So linger, rest, repeat, or let it carry you into sleep.
What’s going on in your body
Your CNS is your brain and spinal cord.
It decides how your body responds to everything coming in, from inside and outside.
When it's overloaded, your brain has no room left for anything else.
When you calm it, you free up resources.
RR is a combination of easy biohacks that lower the sensory load on your CNS.
Each step cuts some of the "neural traffic" that keeps you locked in tension.
Together, they send your nervous system a clear message of safety.
RR uses simple sensory management techniques to stop all unnecessary traffic so that your brain can go about doing its job.
With less sensory overload, the brain is no longer in reactive mode—it can finally downshift.
“Relaxation came to me very naturally, It was very gentle.”
— Madelyn E., Delray Beach, Florida
Sources: sensory management
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Why the order matters
The steps run in a deliberate sequence.
Each one sets up the next.
The sequence has four stages:
Start the clock (Step 1). The oil needs hours to come on, so it goes first.
Settle the setting (Steps 2 through 4). Do everything that needs you upright and moving while you're still up.
Get down and go quiet (Steps 5 through 7). Once you're on the floor, you stay put, so everything you need has to be in place.
Go inward (Steps 8 through 11). With the outside quiet, your attention can turn to the signals inside.
The rule underneath it all is simple.
Lower the noise from the outside first.
Then follow the signals on the inside.
Two ideas to hold
Interoception.
Interoception is your body's ability to sense internal signals: heartbeat, breath, muscle tension, and more.
RR helps you tune in to that awareness, so your body can release tension and restore balance on its own.
The automatic urge to stretch.
As the oil takes effect, many people feel an organic urge to stretch or move gently.
You don't have to make it happen.
That's your nervous system letting go of restriction.
The protocol, step by step
1. Take the oil, with fat
Take Liquid Stretch with fat.
Onset takes about two and a half to three hours.
Take it about four hours before your practice starts.
If you're starting at 8 PM, take it at 4 PM.
The biohack: the oil carries the cannabinoids, and fat helps your body take them in.
Why it comes first: it's the only step that needs lead time.
Everything else on this list happens while it comes on.
Take it first, and the urge to stretch is already building by the time you lie down.
Sources: step 1
Lunn S, Diaz P, O'Hearn S, Cahill SP, Blake A, Narine K, Dyck JRB. 2019. Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. 10.1089/can.2019.0037
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2. Take a shower or bath
The biohack: excess oil, sweat, and dirt on the skin create low-grade neural irritation, which keeps your CNS subtly engaged.
Cleansing removes that buildup.
That reduces background sensory input and helps your system relax.
Why it comes second: this is the first step that uses the waiting time.
You do it upright, before you settle in, because once you're on the floor you won't want to get back up.
Sources: step 2
Haghayegh S, Khoshnevis S, Smolensky MH, Diller KR, Castriotta RJ. 2019. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 10.1016/j.smrv.2019.04.008
Goto Y, Hayasaka S, Kurihara S, Nakamura Y. 2018. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 10.1155/2018/9521086
3. Play music
Choose something soothing and rhythmic.
The biohack: music engages the parasympathetic nervous system and calms your brain's threat response.
Steady sound helps settle your heart rate and breathing, which eases CNS activity.
Preferably with a steady beat, music helps soothe the chattering mind and induces a sense of safety.
One of the auditory functions of your brain is to keep you safe. So your brain is always listening to auditory signals for threats.
When your mind hears repetitive music, it knows and learns and anticipates a certain beat and rhythm.
When this beat and rhythm occurs on a regular basis, your mind perceives safety.
This safety signal lets your mind know that your body is safe, and that frees up even more mental processing cycles.
Sources: music
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Why it comes third: you pick the sound while you can still reach your phone or speaker.
Once your eyes are closed and your body is down, fiddling with a playlist only adds noise.
4. Eliminate drafts
Put on warm, comfortable clothing.
Close the door and the window.
Avoid drafts on sensitive areas like your neck, wrists, ankles, or back.
The biohack: cold air can trigger your stress response, which raises tension and keeps your CNS on alert.
Staying warm helps your body stay in a restful state.
Sources: drafts
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Why it comes fourth: this is when you're most likely to feel a chill, right after the shower, with damp skin.
Once you're on the floor, a draft is hard to fix without getting up and breaking the spell.
5. Lay down on the floor
Choose a firm surface.
A blanket is fine for comfort.
The biohack: a firm surface gives your body even support, which helps align your skeleton and relieve spinal tension.
It also sharpens proprioception, so your CNS can read your body's position with less effort.
That sense of stability tells your nervous system it's safe.
Why it comes fifth: by now the oil is working, the room is warm, and the sound is on.
The only thing left to do is get down, and from here on you stay down.
Sources: step 5
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6. Close your eyes
Darken the room or cover your eyes.
The biohack: blocking visual input dramatically lowers the sensory data coming in.
Less visual processing means more internal awareness and calm.
Why it comes sixth: your eyes are your biggest source of input, so they close last in the setup, once you're settled.
If you closed them before you were comfortable, you'd just be reaching around in the dark.
Sources: step 6
Barry RJ, Clarke AR, Johnstone SJ, Magee CA, Rushby JA. 2007. Clinical Neurophysiology. 10.1016/j.clinph.2007.07.028
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7. Inhale as if you're savoring a scent
Breathe in slowly through your nose, as if you were savoring something pleasant.
Don't force a big breath.
The biohack: a natural, unforced breath signals safety to your nervous system.
It calms your heart rate and brings a steady tempo to your body.
Why it comes seventh: with the outside quiet, your breath is now the main thing you can feel.
Easing it first brings your body down, so that movement starts from calm and not from tension.
Sources: step 7
Laborde S, Allen MS, Borges U, et al. 2022. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104711
Zaccaro A, Piarulli A, Laurino M, Garbella E, Menicucci D, Neri B, Gemignani A. 2018. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00353
Russo MA, Santarelli DM, O’Rourke D. 2017. Breathe. 10.1183/20734735.009817
8. Roll around slowly
Roll on the ground, slowly.
The biohack: rolling uses your body's natural movement patterns to release tension and ease pressure on the joints.
It awakens proprioception, so your CNS registers safety through movement.
With the oil on board, your muscles soften more easily and the movement feels smoother and more restorative.
Why it comes eighth: rolling is the gentlest way to start moving, and it warms up and resets your body before you hand over the lead.
It's a bridge between lying still and following your body.
Sources: step 8
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9. Follow that feeling
Tune in to your internal signals and let them guide the stretch.
Your own interoception will lead you to the tight spots where tension is being held.
Don't try to direct it.
Observe it.
Your internal intelligence knows where to go, and your only job is to stay out of the way, notice, and enjoy.
The biohack: instead of forcing a stretch, you follow the feeling of pleasure, and your body does the work.
The pleasure of tension letting go is the reward of this practice.
Why it comes ninth: every earlier step lowered the noise.
This is the one the whole recipe was building toward.
It only works once the outside is quiet and your body is warm, supported, and breathing easily.
Sources: step 9
Craig AD. 2009. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 10.1038/nrn2555
Farb NA, Segal ZV, Anderson AK. 2013. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. 10.1093/scan/nss066
Mehling WE, Price C, Daubenmier JJ, Acree M, Bartmess E, Stewart A. 2012. PLoS ONE. 10.1371/journal.pone.0048230
10. Linger, and let the feeling change
Stay with what feels good.
When the feeling changes, follow it, revisit it, or rest.
Why it comes tenth: the practice isn't a single stretch.
It's a loop of noticing, moving a little, and feeling what changed.
Sources: step 10
Farb N, Daubenmier J, Price CJ, Gard T, Kerr C, Dunn BD, Klein AC, Paulus MP, Mehling WE. 2015. Frontiers in Psychology. 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00763
Bornemann B, Herbert BM, Mehling WE, Singer T. 2014. Frontiers in Psychology. 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01504
Price CJ, Hooven C. 2018. Frontiers in Psychology. 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00798
11. Rest, repeat, or sleep
Rest when you want to.
Repeat if you want to.
Or let yourself sleep.
You stretch from about 8 PM to 10 PM.
Then you doze off into the night, or not.
Whatever you want to do.
Why it comes last: it's where the whole recipe has been heading.
Relief comes first, and what comes after is up to you.
Sources: step 11
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