10 Ways to Use a Long Weekend to Recharge Your Mind & Body

Whether you just had a long weekend or one is rapidly approaching, you’ve got three precious days to recharge your mind and body. Regardless of whether you’re heading out of town or staying close to home, it’s the perfect chance to rest. Here are 10 ideas for making the most of it.  

Why rest matters

Many of us are feeling stressed and overwhelmed. In fact, global surveys show that more than one in three adults report feeling “always” or “often” under extreme pressure. 

That’s why long weekends are so valuable. They may not be a full vacation, but that extra day can make the difference in giving your mind and body time to rest, recover, and reset. 

When you rest well, your body:

• Balances stress hormones: Time away from pressure helps reduce cortisol and adrenaline.

• Repairs itself: Cells heal, and your brain strengthens its ability to learn.

• Boosts immunity: Sleep allows your body to produce proteins called cytokines, which fight infection.

• Restores energy: Deep rest helps you generate ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the energy source your cells run on.

Bottom line: rest isn’t a luxury. It’s essential.

In this guide, we’ll explore:

• What it means to recharge body and mind

• The many kinds of rest

• 10 ideas for how to recharge your mind and body

Suggested: What is stress?

Different kinds of rest

When most of us think of rest, we picture sleep or maybe a yoga session. But many types of rest can help you feel recharged. Having time to recharge your mind is incredibly important for health and happiness. Indeed, getting adequate rest is literally a human right (specifically, Article 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights). One useful framework breaks them down into seven categories.

• Physical rest: Sleep, stretching, or gentle exercise.

• Mental rest: Short, intentional breaks from focus.

• Emotional rest: Allowing yourself to be vulnerable and check in with your feelings.

• Social rest: Time with people who make you feel comfortable and supported.

• Sensory rest: Stepping away from screens, noise, and constant stimulation.

• Creative rest: Engaging with art, music, or creative activities.

• Spiritual rest: Connecting to a sense of meaning, faith, or something bigger than yourself.

With that in mind, here are 10 ways to recharge your mind and body over a long weekend.

Dig deeper: The 7 types of rest

10 ideas for how to recharge your mind and body over a long weekend

1. Give yourself a nutritional boost

Use the extra time to focus on food that makes you feel good. Cook something nourishing, stock up at the grocery store or farmers’ market, or prepare meals you can freeze for the week ahead. Slow cooking—like roasting vegetables or simmering a stew—can be both soothing and satisfying.

2. Read a good book

Settle into a story you’ve been meaning to start. Pick a book that fits the length of the weekend and matches your mood; something that helps you unwind rather than heightens stress.

3. Get social

It’s well-established that spending time with close friends and family (and having positive interactions with them) can improve mood and relaxation. Suggest a walk, grab a coffee, host a game night, or explore a local museum or event together.

4. Get your body moving

If you work hard, you probably don’t get as much time as you’d like to exercise. So, the extra day in the long weekend is the ideal opportunity to catch up. Exercise not only relaxes you in the moment, but studies show it boosts resilience against stress going forward, too.

It’s up to you, but we’d suggest doing something a bit different from your usual fitness routine. With the extra time, why not:

• Try trending new sports like padel or pickleball ball 

• Have a go at a new water sport like stand-up paddleboarding

• Hit the trails and tracks for some off-road running or cycling

5. Do a digital detox

Ever get overwhelmed by those endless new message alerts, breaking news pings, and email notifications? Research has shown that these constant alerts trigger the same neural circuits that light up when we’re facing real threats. This contributes to a continual sense of stress and anxiety. 

So, why not take the opportunity of a complete digital detox this long weekend? Turn your phone off, put it in a drawer, and enjoy three days living in the moment. 

6. Take a mindful break from the news

It’s important to stay informed, but it’s also healthy to recognize when the news cycle is affecting your stress levels. Constant updates can create a sense of urgency and alarm that makes it hard to decompress or unwind.

The next long weekend, maybe consider switching off news alerts on your phone, limiting your check-ins, or even taking a full day away from the headlines. A short break can give your mind space to rest, so you return feeling calmer and more balanced.

7. Make time for meditation

It’s well known that various kinds of meditation can help with managing stress. Whether it’s guided breathing through an app, a quiet mindfulness class, or solo “forest bathing” in the woods, use the long weekend to experiment with meditation practices that help you center yourself.

8. Get creative

Being creative allows you to get into a meditative ‘flow’ state, which can be super relaxing. While it’s fun to try something new, we’d generally recommend choosing a creative activity you have a foundation in. This is because learning new things can be a little stressful, too!

The possibilities really are endless, but here are just some starter ideas:

• Write a short story

• Draw people, animals, or objects

• Paint a local landscape

• Bake a loaf of bread, cake, or pie

• Build a model

• Learn to play a new song on an instrument

• Take photographs of your neighbourhood

• Knit, crochet, or sew

9. Go somewhere new

Visiting a new place allows you to escape the pressures of daily life, experience new things, and get a new perspective.

Now, considering we’re talking about a three-day weekend, last-minute travel is likely to be expensive and tricky. But you can still be creative and see new things in your local area:

• Go to that local museum or monument you’ve always meant to visit but never quite got around to

• Explore a different neighbourhood in your town or city

• Take an impromptu road trip by car, or finally dust off that bike you’ve been meaning to ride again. 

10. Spend time in nature

If you’re a city-dweller, it’s easy to feel disconnected from the natural world. So, with an extra day, why not set aside some time to plunge back into it?

Various studies have shown that spending time in nature can boost health and wellbeing, reduce anxiety, and recharge your mind, among many other benefits. Here are some ideas for how to recharge your mind and body in nature:

• Take a ‘conscious’ walk in the woods: Observe the trees, plants, and wildlife around you, rather than focusing on walking a certain distance or getting to a specific viewpoint. 

• Go wildlife spotting: You might not be a natural twitcher, but spending time watching birds, mammals, or even sea life preening, feeding, and displaying can be really enriching. 

• Camping trips: In the UK, the August bank holiday offers the best chance of dry weather. A night or two camping could see you stargazing, listening to the dawn chorus, and hearing the rustle of wind in the trees. 

Recharge your mind and body this bank holiday

The long weekend is your chance to rest, refresh, and reconnect with yourself, others, and the world around you. With just a little planning, you can use those extra hours to come back to your routine feeling restored and ready for what’s next.

Words by Len Williams