The Observatory

Stress and strain

Perceived stress, pressure, overload and the need for recovery.

Questions to ask yourself

1How high is your stress level on an ordinary day?
2What is the single biggest source of stress right now?
3How does the stress show up in your body and your behavior?
4How much real recovery do you get in an ordinary week?
5What is the smallest thing that would lower the pressure a notch?

In the app, you rate the area 0–10, answer the questions, and watch how your answers shift over time.

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Getting started

Self-assessment

Your stress level right now

Five questions that make a diffuse stress measurable — and point to where you can start.

5 min · Rationality

One minute: the physiological sigh

The body’s fastest brake: three sighs, one minute, in the middle of anything.

1 min · Rationality

Progressive muscle relaxation

Tense hard, release sharply — and teach the body the difference. The most researched relaxation method, guided from hands to feet.

14 min · Compassion

Stress is not always the enemy

How you interpret your stress response shapes how it affects you. Try reading it in a different way.

11 min · Rationality

Burnout is a system failure, not a weakness

Three signs, an uncomfortable truth about the causes, and why recovery takes more than a holiday.

2 min · Rationality

The stress curve

What happens in the body under stress, and where the line runs between what sharpens you and what breaks you down

7 min · Rationality

Stress has two faces, and only one of them wears you down

Short-term stress can sharpen you. It is the lack of recovery that does the damage.

2 min · Rationality

When parenting runs you dry

Exhaustion as a parent has a name, and it is not about loving your child too little. About the signs, and about what has helped.

5 min · Compassion