istory[edit]

The word tranquility dates back to the 12th century in the Old French word tranquilite,
meaning "peace" or "happiness", although the word's sense evolved in the late 14th century.

However, the word still keeps its reference to the absence of disturbance and peacefulness.

Benefits[edit]

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[1] 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[2] and Pheasant[3] 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.