The Cost of Calm: Why We Struggle to Relax and How to Fix It

November 24, 2025

We are living in the most connected era in history, yet many of us cannot switch off. Here is why relaxation feels elusive, what the data says about stress and sleep, how the wellness market got so expensive, and how to build a sustainable, science-informed relaxation practice that actually lasts.

Why relaxing feels harder now

If you find it tough to unwind, you are not broken. You are living in a context that trains your body for vigilance. Global surveys show that high stress and worry remain elevated compared with a decade ago. In 2024, 37% of adults worldwide said they felt a lot of stress the previous day, and 39% reported a lot of worry. Gallup calls this a persistent global pattern, not a blip.

Sleep tells a similar story. The CDC estimates that tens of millions of U.S. adults sleep less than the recommended 7 hours. Insufficient sleep is tied to depression, anxiety, heart disease, and more, which makes recovery harder and next-day stress higher (CDC Chronic Disease Indicators).

From a medical lens, high stress, low sleep, and chronic inflammation add up. The WHO estimates that about 5.7% of adults worldwide are living with depression, and anxiety disorders affect roughly 4.4% of the global population. These are not just “mindset” problems. They reflect brain-body processes that shift how we feel, think, and rest (Depression Fact Sheet and Anxiety Disorders Fact Sheet).

Work has changed too. Burnout is now officially recognized in ICD-11 as an occupational phenomenon involving energy depletion, mental distance from work, and reduced efficacy. That label matters because it frames exhaustion as a systemic issue that calls for systemic fixes.

APA’s long-running Stress in America surveys point to money, the economy, and the broader social climate as leading stressors. In 2023, financial pressure and economic uncertainty dominated for many adults.

What our current age brings, good and bad

The good

We have more tools than ever to support mental health and recovery. Access to teletherapy, wellness apps, sleep trackers, and flexible work can help. The global wellness economy has grown to a multitrillion-dollar sector, which signals strong demand for well-being and fuels innovation across mental wellness, sleep, and recovery. Download the 2024 PDF file here.

The hard parts

Constant connectivity keeps our nervous systems slightly “upregulated.” News cycles, financial strain, and blurred work-life boundaries make true off-time rare. High baseline arousal makes it harder to drop into parasympathetic calm, which is the physiology of relaxation. If you do not reach that calm state, your body never gets the full repair cycle that restores mood, attention, and sleep architecture the next night.

The medical perspective on stress and relaxation

Relaxation is not only a feeling. It is a physiological state marked by slower breathing, lower heart rate, and vagal engagement. You can train this state. Simple practices like diaphragmatic breathing improve vagal tone and dampen the stress response, which is why paced breathing is so often recommended by clinicians. Read more about Cedars-Sinai overview on vagus nerve stimulation techniques here.

When stress becomes chronic and sleep runs short, mood symptoms rise. WHO data above show the global weight of depression and anxiety. In workplaces and health systems, burnout and mental load also appear in the numbers, including high prevalence among healthcare professionals. Example in clinicians: systematic review with wide burnout ranges and a mean near 57% across samples.

The point is simple. Your ability to relax is a body skill that follows practice and context. When the context is stacked against calm, you need a plan that respects biology.

Why “relaxation rehabs” and retreats are booming, and why they feel expensive

Wellness has become an economy in its own right. The Global Wellness Institute estimates the total wellness economy at about 6.3 trillion USD in 2023, projected to reach nearly 9 trillion by 2028. The sector includes mental wellness, sleep, wellness tourism, spas, and more. For data geeks we suggest to checkout Global Wellness Institute data hub statistics and facts.

Prices reflect demand. Wellness retreats commonly range from roughly 500 to over 5,000 USD depending on location, duration, and services. That price can put recovery out of reach for many, especially when travel is involved. Examples: Wise cost explainer and Book Retreats price ranges.

Why the cost creep

Travel, lodging, and staffing have all become pricier.
Retreats bundle many services, which adds overhead.
Luxury positioning has pulled average prices upward, especially in “destination” wellness tourism.
Demand is strong because people need structured breaks to truly disconnect.

That does not mean deep recovery must be expensive. It means we need home-based rituals that deliver frequent, repeatable relaxation at low cost.

A practical plan to relax in a restless world

You do not need a month off. You need daily micro-practices that signal safety to your nervous system.

Daily calming circuit

Two minutes of diaphragmatic or box breathing at wake-up and mid-afternoon.
A 10-minute walk outside without headphones to downshift visual and cognitive load.
One “sensory anchor” at night. Dim lights, warm shower, or gentle ambient music.
Sleep protectors. Consistent lights-out, screen cutoff 30 minutes before bed, and a cool, dark room. This aligns with CDC guidance on sleep hygiene.

Sources: CDC Sleep Facts and Stats.

Weekly reset

Pick one longer session that calms your system. Yoga nidra, slow stretching, guided breathwork, nature immersion, or a low-tech morning without screens. The goal is to let your physiology spend real time in parasympathetic mode so it can repair.

Work boundaries that reduce burnout risk

Burnout sits at the intersection of workload, control, reward, fairness, values, and community. Advocate for manageable task loads and protected focus blocks. Treat true breaks as part of the job, not a perk. The ICD-11 framing above is useful leverage for teams and leaders in WHO on burnout classification.

When you want the benefits of a retreat without the travel

If you like the structure of a retreat but not the cost, recreate the key ingredients at home.

• Remove decisions. Pre-plan your meals, movement, and downtime for a weekend.

• Design a calm environment. Clear clutter, lower lighting, and set gentle soundscapes.

• Alternate stimulation and stillness. A nature walk, then 20 minutes of guided relaxation.

• Protect sleep like a scheduled event. Early, consistent, and quiet.

A long-term investment in your relaxation journey

There are days when the usual techniques do not stick. That is when a supportive tool can help your body “find” calm again. The Ostron device was created for exactly this purpose. It uses gentle chest vibrations and soothing soundscapes to cue your nervous system toward relaxation, similar to how a steady purr can soothe the body. Sessions are short, portable, and easy to repeat, which makes it a long-term, at-home investment rather than a one-off splurge. When nothing else seems to cut through the noise, this kind of consistent sensory support can tip your system back toward balance so that your other habits start working again.

Key sources and further reading

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