Athlete Harley Windsor on taking a career break and learning to rest

After making history as Australia's first Indigenous Winter Olympian, pair skater Harley Windsor is taking time to figure out what's next. 

He says it's a rare opportunity to step back and shift perspective.

"People get really caught up in whatever they're doing in life, and it can get very overwhelming," he says.

"We can forget it is OK to have fun and it is OK to take time for yourself — you need to look after yourself to be able to look after others."

Currently based on Gadigal land in Sydney, Harley shares how he's spending this rare period of downtime.

Unwind with… is a weekly column that explores the simple ways people take care of themselves.

A favourite ritual to connect with others is…

One of my good friends and I often play Uno or chess on the beach and go for a swim.

I'm living with my dad and brother in Sydney while I figure out my next steps. We'll regularly sit down in the afternoon to chat, or on a Friday have a glass of wine or two and relax.

Something I do that makes me feel grounded…

I love to have my morning coffee outside. I just sit there without my phone and just listen to the birds. It's one small thing that I do that makes me feel like I've started my day in a natural way and taken a moment of peace and quiet.

To shift my mindset, it's been helpful to…

Now that I'm not doing as much physically, I've realised how useful physical activity is for clearing your mind.

Sometimes for me, unwinding is going for a run or working out. Once I get into a zone, it's very meditative and gives me a bit of a high for the rest of the day.

A lot of people don't realise how much exercise helps with the mental state and your thought process about everything, but as they say: healthy body, healthy mind.

A small joy of mine…

I absolutely love cleaning and organising, so that's one thing that gives me a lot of joy. I love to fold everything very neat and tidy and I like to clean everything.

Being organised motivates me and extends to other parts of my life, like having good time management. For me, I found the best system is pen and paper. Once I've written it out and it sticks in my brain a bit better.

My go-to easy recipe…

I've been living by myself since I was 17, so I've had to learn to cook and I enjoy the process.

Recently I've been learning how to properly cook steaks to rare, medium, well done and experimenting with different herbs to try and test out what works and what doesn't.

To unwind at the end of the day…

I have difficulty sleeping sometimes. After many years of training all day every day, unless I'm having 12 or 15-work-hour days, I don't feel like I'm very tired.

If I'm not asleep in the first 30 to 40 minutes, then I don't stay in bed and toss and turn — I'll get up and just go for a walk or start doing something until I feel tired again.

My advice on how to unwind…

Everyone can benefit from a small mental reset at least once a day. For some people it could be for reading a book, or playing cards, whatever it is.

In the beginning it can be difficult to have that small break, but I think once you start, it becomes a habit.

Unwind with… is produced by Madeleine Dore, a writer, interviewer and author of I Didn't Do The Thing Today.