Postimees · My Dream Self (Unistuste Mina) · 2026
Movement – the cornerstone of good mental health
English translation of the original Estonian article. Original headline: Liikumine – hea vaimse tervise alustala
See the original design in the magazineThe common saying "a healthy mind in a healthy body" is not empty words; it should inspire us to find a balance between movement and mental health in everyday life – all in order to stay vital and happy for many years. In an ever faster, eventful world, we must take time to look after ourselves.
Far too often we hear people around us say they have no time, so the emphasis must be on the phrase "take time". "When I find the time, I'll look after my body. When I get the time, I'll go walking/to the gym/…" are often the excuses for putting off movement indefinitely. Unfortunately, time is not found in the pocket of your autumn coat, it doesn't grow on trees and it isn't available at the supermarket – it has to be taken.
Setting priorities is the first step towards a happier and healthier life.
Physical activity has long been about more than burning calories or shaping muscles. Studies confirm that every step, exercise or workout is an investment in our body and mental health. Movement is a need that helps regulate stress hormones and restore inner balance.
Everything starts with choices, and we have to take responsibility for them. Blaming work, family members and other circumstances does not create personal satisfaction. Endless postponing and looking for excuses add no joy or vitality, but instead increase the dissatisfaction with life lurking in the subconscious.
Change begins with your own choice – from discipline to emotional freedom
Some ways to get yourself off the sofa or step out of the home-work-home hamster wheel are to find, at first, either an accountability partner or a personal trainer – someone with whom to keep motivation high to get moving. We often find ourselves in the grip of excuses, where "today was such an exhausting day, I can't" pulls us back into our comfort zone, but when a friend (an accountability partner) asks, it's harder to stay lazy.
When using a personal trainer, sometimes the personal financial contribution also helps you invest your time. Once you've paid, you should use the service. The trainer's role is to guide, helping to find the right load and to create a positive enough experience that you look forward to the next session.
No less important is the boost in self-confidence that grows out of better physical shape, which in turn makes many seemingly big problems smaller. Experts emphasise that during a mental low, exercise does not have to mean maximum effort. Often a simple 20 minutes of conscious movement is enough to release endorphins, the happiness hormones.
A simple exercise you can do anytime, anywhere that makes you feel better instantly
Breathe in and out deeply. Tense all your muscles as hard as you can, hold the tension for a few seconds (depending on how you feel) and then relax. Feel your body – you are suddenly present and fresher, because the body let go of tension, even if only for a moment. Afterwards you can immediately breathe more deeply, and the brain gets more oxygen.
This exercise can be done behind the wheel, sitting in an office chair, standing in a shop queue or while cooking. NB! Avoid the exercise if you have recently had surgery, have an open wound or any other contraindication. Always act within reason.
Wisdom from Peaasi.ee: movement is an important vitamin for mental health
Experts at Peaasi.ee, one of Estonia's leading organisations promoting mental health, point to many different links between movement and good mental health.
The organisation recently published a workbook packed with good advice and wisdom: "Just get moving for your mental health." Besides exercises, it contains information on the links between physical activity and mental health, as well as different possibilities and techniques for keeping up your motivation. As the workbook says, physical activity plays an important role in coping with stress. Reading it, you can dive deep into how our bodies work and learn to take better care of your mental health through movement.
According to Peaasi.ee experts, studies distinguish between the effects of a single workout and regular training. After a single workout, the so-called stress hormone cortisol drops below its pre-exercise level. With regular training, however, cortisol rises less and less with each session and later drops lower and lower. This builds resilience in other stressful situations too: cortisol does not rise as much during a busier period in life or before difficult conversations. Training regularly improves the body's resilience both to exercise and to other stress in life.
Mental health experts highlight the most important benefits of movement:
Lowers stress hormones: the level of endorphins, the happiness hormones, rises and the level of cortisol falls.
Sleep and recovery: regular activity improves sleep quality, which is the cornerstone of psychological resilience.
Prevents and reduces depression: studies confirm that the risk of depression decreases when an adult is active for at least 20 minutes a day.
Growing self-esteem: physical development and increasing strength boost self-belief, helping to cope with emotional challenges too.
Peaasjad MTÜ operates as a social enterprise, which means that 100% of the income from its trainings and services goes to supporting the mental health of people in Estonia. Its website offers plenty of useful advice for finding inner balance.
Personal trainer Kristjan-Johannes Konsap recommends starting with small steps
The trainer, who has supported clients for years, explains that resting on the sofa is not bad in itself, and sometimes it's needed too. With stress, however, it is often important to "work out" the tension. That is why people often feel better after just 10–20 minutes of walking than after lying on the sofa for the same amount of time.
"Movement is one of the body's most natural ways of relieving tension. At the same time, it helps balance stress hormone levels with mood-lifting hormones," confirms Kristjan Konsap, a personal trainer of many years.
If at first it is hard to find the motivation to get out of the house on "dark days", Konsap recommends starting by setting small goals – even just putting on a hoodie and going for a walk outside. According to him, too big a goal often feels overwhelming, and motivation can quickly start to fade. On the other hand, motivation and energy levels often only rise after you start moving.
The personal trainer admits that even after 20 years of training he has lazier days when going to the gym feels like a chore. On those days he reminds himself that he always feels better after a workout.
The intensity of exercise for finding mental balance is individual
Although much is said about the good feeling that comes with aerobic cardio training (such as running), Konsap says personal fit should not be forgotten. The main thing is that you enjoy the movement, that it is regular and that the load is sufficient.
"It's worth looking at movement so that it supports all your other enjoyable activities, rather than competing with them," explains personal trainer Kristjan Konsap.
You can start simply by walking as much as possible. Park the car further away, choose the stairs. At the office, go often to fill your glass of water or use a toilet further away. After lunch, the personal trainer recommends taking a walk outside, which helps collect steps, fight post-lunch sleepiness and draw new energy for the second half of the day.
Among his clients, the most frequent positive feedback he gets is about improved sleep quality, lower stress levels and, of course, higher self-esteem.
Eastern wisdom in supporting mental health: energy must be in motion
According to Chinese medicine and other Eastern wisdom, our mental balance is directly linked to the free flow of our life force, or Qi, in the physical body. When energy stagnates, emotional blockages arise: irritability, anxiety, sadness and exhaustion.
Powerful practices with a very long history, such as Taiji and Qigong, not to mention various forms of yoga, help relieve this inner congestion. Slow movement exercises that don't exhaust the body teach us to breathe more deeply again and find our centre. The lightness and rhythm of the exercises calm the nervous system, which can help quieten the obsessive thoughts spinning in our heads and restore harmony between body and mind.
According to Age Hallen, who has supported people's health and wellbeing through the lens of Chinese medicine for about ten years, movement is naturally inherent in all life and everything living. Everything is constantly changing and moving, and so should the human body. She notes that, unfortunately, people often only notice how important movement is for their body once an obstruction has arisen in the flow.
"With almost any tension or pain, whether mental or physical, the first thing is to free up the stagnation. By working on bioactive zones, we direct energy and blood supply to the desired area so that the change is almost always felt immediately," Hallen points out. She adds that, paradoxically, getting things moving in such a simple and forgotten way takes a fair amount of courage – to slow down, to return to the present moment… and to trust our own body.
You can also pay attention to the various benefits of movement in your life that support mental health:
- The effect of nature: walking in the forest helps reduce obsessive thoughts more quickly, because nature is always present and in no hurry.
- Social movement: sometimes group workouts and joint hikes give a good push to get moving, and they also help ease feelings of loneliness.
- Breathing techniques: conscious, deeper breathing, especially while moving, activates the parasympathetic nervous system, meaning the body calms down and reaches a sense of safety more quickly.
In short, movement is a gift to both the physical body and mental health. Whether it is a sweaty workout under a personal trainer's guidance, a mindful walk or activating your body's energy following Eastern wisdom – what matters is finding the path that speaks to you. "Any movement is better than no movement at all," as the Peaasi.ee movement workbook says. The "dream version of me" begins with the first step taken out of love for yourself, your body and your peace of mind.