Recovery is a commonly used term to describe the physiological processes that bring our bodies back to equilibrium after we encounter stress. Stress is another big word that may be summed up as the things we encounter in our lives (environment, social interactions, physical activity) that have the ability to affect us. These stressors move our body away from equilibrium, or homeostasis as it's called in physiology textbooks. This happens due to the release of hormones like epinephrine and cortisol (stress markers), that cause the body to react in a way that physiologically moves us away from homeostasis. Recovery modalities aim to augment our natural recovery processes so that homeostasis is reported more quickly.