Good Form is a series that explores the daily rhythms, rituals, and routines that bring wellness into our homes. In this edition we're joined by Luke Richmond—an adventurer, author, and motivational speaker whose life journey embodies resilience and transformation.
After serving in the Australian Army, Luke sought a new path and found it in extreme adventure. He’s since climbed the tallest peaks on six continents, rowed across the Atlantic, and trekked 1,800 kilometers across the Gobi Desert. Most recently, he set a new record for the fastest human-powered crossing of the Tasman Sea — completing the journey in 22 days, 4 hours and 40 minutes, with the support of Coronation Property. Luke’s philosophy is simple: one life, one chance. Through his books and talks, he shares what it means to step outside your comfort zone — and why it’s worth it.
In this conversation, Luke shares the daily practices that keep him grounded and strong — from warm water rituals and real food, to low-arousal strength training and the power of saying no. His approach to wellness is grounded in nature, nervous system balance, and making time for what matters most.
Luke Richmond
How do you start each day?
The first thing I do every morning is boil the kettle, pour a small amount of boiling water into my cold coffee mug, (I live in Tasmania) and then add cold water to it, so I have a full cup of warm water. This is my first drink of the day which I gulp down. Then it’s coffee time. Warm or body temperature water should be the first thing I drink because it tells my nervous system that the environment is safe and sustaining. This helps maintain a Parasympathetic state. If I was to gulp down a V drink first thing in the morning for example, apart from being terrible nutritionally, this creates a stress response in my system and floods my body with cortisol and creates a Sympathetic arousal. Long term activation of our Sympathetic Nervous System can only lead to disease and disorder. Warm water first thing will also help fix any digestion issues we may have caused by stress or poor nutrition.
What is something you consume every day that improves your life?
Eating real food and drinking water is a pillar of a healthy life. This does not mean I am a saint by any means. However, 85% of what goes into my mouth is natural healthy ingredients. Rainwater is my preferred, as opposed to treated town water. Organic is ideal but if your food has no additives, preservatives, or chemicals you are already allowing your body to be in an optimal state.
What kind of physical movement do you practice?
I do some form of Strength and Conditioning every day. Lifting weights is essential for longevity and anti-ageing. I follow NeuroPhysics Therapy training programs which are a Nervous System based low level arousal training protocol. This allows me to recover from expeditions in rapid time scales and be ready in a robust and optimal state for the next one.
What are your headspace habits?
Humans are living creatures and a part of the natural environment, which means our physical and mental states are intertwined with our perception of our environment. Learning to train and move around in the bigger, stronger faster world in a calm and composed manner, is the key to a rock-solid mental health. We can sit in a quiet room and meditate or stretch and be calm as Hindu cows, but eventually we must enter the real world and sadly these practices won’t prepare you for it. We need stress from training to learn how to control our stress response and gain the tools to allow us to navigate the world in a healthy state. The world will not change, only your perception of it can. Once we have attained this level of stress control enlightenment, our motivation and desire for life will be overflowing.
Is there a tool, product, or practice you swear by?
The main practice I swear by is NeuroPhysics Therapy and its programs. In a nutshell without going down too many science rabbit holes, it teaches us how to control our arousal to stress inputs. Which in turn helps us stay in a Parasympathetic state, which is our rest and digest growth state. Sadly, a large portion of our population are stuck in a Sympathetic state of Hyper-vigilance constantly, which can only lead to anxiety, pain and disease and disorder in the long run.
How do you like to wind down at the end of the day?
The end of each day for me is reading, and ideally with a paperback book. This allows our visual cortex to wind down, our brains drop back a gear from the over stimulation of the day, which will allow us to sleep in a much better state and for longer. One of the worst things we can do is be staring at a screen the second before we try to go to sleep. Give yourself half an hour of easy-to-read words, it will add years to your life.
What’s one small decision you made that’s changed your life for the better?
One small decision my wife and I made many years ago was to not do things we didn’t want to do. When we lived in Sydney it seemed all our spare time was spent at weddings, lunches, dinners, breakfasts and constant engagements that, to be totally honest, we didn’t really want to attend. We were doing it because it was the social norm and expected. One year we started saying no to them all. This freed up our time for adventures, quality conversations and things we really wanted to do. Try it for yourselves. It might lose you a few “friends” but gain you a whole lot of quality time. Which is our most valuable commodity, time. Do not waste it.
