Info card · Depression and burnout
Release the tension your body holds out of habit: tense your muscles as you breathe in and let go completely as you breathe out.
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By evening your shoulders are up by your ears and your jaw is clenched, and you only notice when your head starts to ache.
Your body is tired, but it won’t relax in bed: your thoughts are racing and your muscles are on edge.
After a hard conversation or a hard day, you want to let out a breath, but you can’t.
How it works
With anxiety and long-term stress, muscles often stay tense even when nothing dangerous is happening. You quickly get used to that background tension. And telling yourself to “relax” doesn’t work: it’s not clear what exactly to let go of.
So you first tense a muscle on purpose — and then release it completely right away. The contrast makes relaxation something you can feel. This is Edmund Jacobson’s progressive muscle relaxation. As at the gym, the effect comes with regularity and time: 5 minutes every day is better than an hour once a month.
Progressive muscle relaxation was developed by Edmund Jacobson; this is a short version by Nikita Grigoriev with a 5/3 breathing rhythm. In a meta-analysis of 27 studies, relaxation training (including this method) noticeably reduced anxiety — an average effect of about d = 0.5. A 2024 systematic review (46 studies, more than 3,400 adults) concluded that the method reduces stress, anxiety and symptoms of depression. This is self-help, not a substitute for treatment.
Tense your muscles without pain. If you have an injury, back or neck pain, cramps, or are pregnant, check with a doctor first. If the exercise makes your anxiety worse, stop and just breathe calmly.
If things feel very bad right now or you are having thoughts of death: 112 — immediate danger to life, around the clock; 116 123 — emotional support, 10:00–24:00; 116 006 — victim support crisis line, around the clock; Eluliin 655 8088 (Estonian), 655 5688 (Russian) — 19:00–07:00. Emergency help →
Dim your thoughts before sleep: each one is a monitor whose brightness you turn down.
Info cardGo through the list to see what’s keeping your sleep from restoring your energy, and choose where to start.
TrackerSee which activities lift your mood, and gradually add them to your week.
If this topic feels familiar, a consultation can help clarify what is happening in your situation and identify practical next steps.
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