Tranquillity

Tranquillity (also spelled tranquility) is the quality or state of being tranquil; that is, calm, serene, and worry-free. The word tranquillity appears in numerous texts ranging from the religious writings of Buddhism, where the term passaddhi refers to tranquillity of the body, thoughts and consciousness on the path to enlightenment, to an assortment of policy and planning guidance documents, where interpretation of the word is typically linked to engagement with the natural environment.

Psychological Being in a tranquil or ‘restorative’ environment allows individuals to take respite from the periods of sustained ‘directed attention’ that characterise modern living. In developing their Attention Restoration Theory (ART), Kaplan and Kaplan proposed that recovery from cognitive overload could most effectively be achieved by engaging with natural restorative environments, that are away from daily distractions and have the extent and mystery that allows the imagination to wander, thereby enabling individuals to engage effortlessly with their surroundings. The theory works on the principle that the amount of reflection possible within such an environment depends upon the type of cognitive engagement, i.e. fascination; that the environment holds. ‘Soft fascination’ is deemed to occur when there is enough interest in the surroundings to hold attention but not so much that it compromises the ability to reflect. In essence, soft fascination, which has been taken by Herzog and Pheasant as a reasonable term to describe tranquillity, provides a pleasing level of sensory input that involves no cognitive effort other than removing oneself from an overcrowded mental space.

For many, the chance to experience tranquillity is what makes the countryside different from cities. In a survey by the United Kingdom Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) 58% of people said that tranquillity was the most positive feature of the countryside.

In contrast to ‘soft fascination’, ‘directed attention’ requires a significant amount of cognitive effort and it is known that prolonged periods of sustained mental activity can lead to directed attention fatigue. This condition has the potential to significantly affect performance and bring about negative emotions, irritability and decreased sensitivity to interpersonal cues. As the incidence of mental illness continues to rise, there is growing evidence that exposure to natural environments can make a significant contribution to health and wellbeing. Mounting evidence shows, that exposure to nature contributes to physical and psychological wellbeing, such as the review carried out by Louv, that found evidence of ‘nature-deficit-disorder’ in children, which suggests that the importance of being able to engage with restorative environments applies across a wide age range. Others report that natural tranquil surroundings have profound physiological effects on people suffering from stress. For example, Ullrich found that stress (as measured by blood pressure, muscle tension and skin conductance response), induced by showing videos of workplace injuries, improved significantly quicker following further viewing if videos included natural surroundings rather than busy traffic or shopping scenes. A recent study has demonstrated the benefits of simulating such environments for pain relief during bone marrow aspirate and biopsy.

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