I fear we’ve all become a little obsessed with cortisol.

“Cortisol face.”

“Cortisol belly.”

“Lower your cortisol.”

“Never drink coffee before breakfast or your cortisol will explode.”

If you’ve spent approximately seven minutes on wellness TikTok lately, you’d be forgiven for thinking cortisol is a toxic substance your body accidentally produces just to ruin your skin, sleep and waistline.

Except…

Cortisol isn’t the enemy.

It’s actually an incredibly important hormone that helps regulate your stress response, metabolism, blood pressure, immune activity and sleep-wake cycle.

You want cortisol.

You just don’t necessarily want your body acting like you’re being chased by a bear while you’re sitting at your desk answering emails.

And I think that’s where the conversation gets much more interesting.

So, What Actually Is Cortisol?

Cortisol is produced by your adrenal glands as part of your body’s stress-response system.

It naturally follows a daily rhythm.

Levels generally rise around the time you wake up, helping you become alert and ready for the day, and gradually decrease toward nighttime.

And when something stressful happens?

Your body can release more cortisol to help mobilise energy and deal with the situation.

Very useful when humans were escaping predators.

Slightly less useful when the “predator” is an email that says:

“Quick call?”

The problem isn’t having a stress response.

It’s never properly coming out of one.

I Think We’re Accidentally Cortisol Maxxing

Think about a pretty normal modern morning.

Your alarm goes off.

You immediately check your phone.

There are six notifications.

You open Instagram.

Someone is already running a marathon.

Someone else has launched a business.

You haven’t even brushed your teeth.

You rush around getting ready.

Grab coffee.

Skip breakfast.

Sit in traffic.

Open your laptop.

Twenty-seven emails.

Slack starts going off.

You’ve been awake for 90 minutes and your nervous system has already lived seventeen lives.

Then we wonder why we feel wired, tired and slightly irritable by lunchtime.

I’m calling it cortisol maxxing.

Obviously not a medical term.

But perhaps a lifestyle we’re all participating in a little too enthusiastically.

And while we can’t eliminate stress from life, nor should we try, we can become better at giving our bodies opportunities to come back down.

These are three habits I’ve been focusing on.

1. Stop Starting Your Day in Someone Else’s Life

This one has become huge for me.

I don’t think our brains were designed to wake up and immediately absorb 47 people’s lives.

Before you’ve even properly opened your eyes, you’re seeing news.

Emails.

Bodies.

Relationships.

Careers.

Opinions.

Problems.

Things you should apparently buy.

Things you should apparently be worried about.

And suddenly your brain is on.

I’ve been trying to create a little space between waking up and letting the entire internet into my nervous system.

Nothing revolutionary.

Open the curtains.

Get some natural light.

Drink water.

Make breakfast.

Move around.

Go outside for a few minutes if I can.

Then I’ll deal with the world.

Morning light is particularly useful because light is one of the strongest signals regulating your circadian rhythm, the internal clock that helps coordinate cortisol, alertness and sleep.

And psychologically?

There’s something really nice about having ten minutes of your day that belong to you before everybody else gets access.

Try this: Give yourself 15–30 minutes before checking social media in the morning.

Your notifications will survive.

I promise.

2. Eat Like Your Body Isn’t an Inconvenience

I think wellness culture has spent years convincing women that ignoring hunger is somehow impressive.

Coffee for breakfast.

Tiny lunch.

Busy all afternoon.

Then suddenly you’re standing in front of the fridge at 8pm wondering why you’d sell your laptop for some carbohydrates.

Your body needs energy.

And while eating a specific food isn’t going to magically “flush cortisol” from your body, regular, balanced meals can help prevent the additional physical stress that comes with being under-fuelled.

For me, that means trying to build meals around the basics:

Protein.

Fibre.

Carbohydrates.

Healthy fats.

And yes, carbs.

Your nervous system does not receive an award because you avoided a potato.

I’ve become much more interested in keeping my energy relatively stable throughout the day than trying to eat as little as possible.

Because when I’m properly nourished?

I’m less irritable.

I think more clearly.

My workouts feel better.

I don’t spend the afternoon desperately searching for energy.

It’s almost like eating enough food helps.

Groundbreaking wellness journalism.

Try this: Instead of asking, “How can I make this meal healthier?” try asking, “Will this actually keep me satisfied?”

3. Give Your Nervous System Proof That You’re Safe

This might be the biggest one.

You cannot always think yourself out of stress.

Sometimes your body needs an actual physical cue that the stressful moment has passed.

And that doesn’t have to mean a 45-minute meditation while Tibetan singing bowls play in the background.

It can be ridiculously normal.

Go for a walk.

Sit outside.

Take a slower workout.

Stretch.

Swim in the ocean.

Listen to music.

Read.

Spend time with someone who makes you feel safe.

Put your phone in another room.

Take a few slow breaths with a longer exhale.

There is evidence that slow breathing practices can influence the autonomic nervous system and help shift the body toward its parasympathetic, “rest and digest”, state.

Personally, nature is one of my favourite resets.

Something happens when I get outside.

My phone disappears into my bag.

My shoulders drop.

My thoughts slow down.

Suddenly whatever felt incredibly important twenty minutes ago feels… considerably less important.

Sometimes nervous system regulation isn’t another task to add to your wellness routine.

It’s removing stimulation.

Try this: Find one thing that reliably makes your body feel quieter and deliberately give yourself 20 minutes of it every day.

You Don’t Need Zero Cortisol

This is probably the most important part.

The goal isn’t to become so relaxed that nothing ever stresses you out again.

That’s not health.

That’s also probably impossible unless you live alone on a private island with no Wi-Fi.

Cortisol helps you wake up.

Exercise temporarily increases cortisol.

Excitement can activate your stress response.

Challenges require energy.

These aren’t automatically bad things.

What matters is having recovery between the stress.

Work hard.

Then switch off.

Train hard.

Then recover.

Have the difficult conversation.

Then go for the walk.

Have the coffee if you enjoy it.

Then don’t spend the rest of the day running entirely on caffeine and anxiety.

We’re not trying to eliminate stress.

We’re trying to become better at coming back to baseline.

Maybe Calm Is the Real Wellness Flex

I’m becoming less impressed by how much someone can squeeze into a day.

The 5am workout.

The twelve-hour workday.

The side hustle.

The social plans.

The perfectly optimised evening routine.

Sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is… less.

Eat properly.

Sleep.

Go outside.

Move your body.

Put your phone away.

Have people in your life who make you laugh.

Create enough empty space that your nervous system occasionally gets the message:

We’re good. Nothing needs to happen right now.

Because maybe we don’t need another supplement, morning routine or wellness hack.

Maybe we all just need to stop cortisol maxxing for five minutes.

And go sit in the sun.