Stare off
Sit or lay down and just notice everything your body is feeling. I like to start with my toes and work my way up to my forehead while I'm just staring off. Reminding myself where I am in the world.
Need for Peace
Evidence
Low-conflict conditions can allow resources to shift from defense to development. This need may motivate de-escalation, boundary agreements, and restorative practices. Peace enables sustained focus, trust, and growth.
Details about the rewritten claim
When people aren’t preoccupied with conflict or threat, they can redirect their energy and resources toward positive development – such as learning, creating, or building better lives. This basic need for peace may drive behaviors aimed at reducing or preventing conflict: people will try to calm tensions, establish clear boundaries or treaties to avoid clashes, and use restorative methods to heal disputes that do occur. By helping to maintain peaceful conditions, individuals and communities can sustain focus on growth activities (education, commerce, relationships) rather than on defending against danger. Research in conflict psychology notes that ongoing strife consumes mental bandwidth and material resources (for defense or worry), whereas periods of peace correspond with economic growth, improved mental health, and stronger social trust. Thus, peace isn’t just the absence of war or fighting – it’s an enabling environment that allows trust to deepen and constructive efforts to flourish over the long term.
Supporting sources
- Hyder et al. (2022) Pan American Journal of Public Health: synthesis linking peaceful conditions with better population health, mental health, and development outcomes (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9535176/)
- study: chronic conflict or exposure to violence diverts cognitive and economic resources; peace-time leads to improved cognitive function and societal progress (https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-50470-001)
More sources
- Carpiniello & Pinna (2023) International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health: review documenting the mental-health costs of armed conflicts (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9957523/)
- Tay et al. (2022) The Lancet Public Health: analysis of the mental health needs of displaced people exposed to armed conflict (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(22)00088-3/fulltext)
Strategies
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Go on walk
I know you probably hear it a lot.. but going on a walk really can make a fascinating difference.
Listen to music
A lot of variety available to you here. Could benefit from calming music or raging music. You do you ;)
Butterfly taps
Cross arms over chest and tap alternately left/right for 60 seconds.
Hand on heart breaths
Place a palm on your chest; inhale for 4, exhale for 6, five times.
Box breathing
Trace a square with your finger: inhale 4, hold 4, exhale 4, hold 4 (4 rounds).
4-7-8 breathing
Inhale 4, hold 7, exhale 8 (four cycles).
Count 20 exhalations
Silently count only the out-breaths from 1 to 20. If you lose count, restart.
Soft-gaze minute
Choose one spot and rest your gaze there for 60 seconds.
Sky glance
Look up at the sky and track one cloud or patch of blue for 30 seconds.
Turn on Do Not Disturb
Set DND for 10 minutes; return when the timer ends.
Slow-walk 60 seconds
Walk deliberately slowly for one minute, feeling each step.
Body scan (30 sec)
Scan from toes to head naming neutral sensations only.
Breath with steps
Take ten steps; inhale for two steps, exhale for three.
Name what’s outside control
List three things outside your influence today.
Three breaths before reply
Take three breaths before sending your next message.
Add a strategy
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