Stressed, Burned Out, Overwhelmed? Where's the Peace--Experts Share Real Solutions for Stress, Relationships, and Everyday Life

During Mental Health Awareness Month, experts offer practical, real-life strategies to help people feel calmer, more grounded, and more connected in their daily lives and relationships

SEATTLE and PORTLAND, Maine, May 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- May is Mental Health Awareness Month, opening a conversation about how Americans are doing mentally. We are living during a time when there is a major divide, and it's leading to conflict, chaos, and a sense of unease. While the public is white-knuckling it to make it through such a tumultuous time, they long for days of peace and calm. The good news is that they don't have to wait and shouldn't, because there are things that they can do now to help create a more peaceful world.

"We cannot wait for peace to be all around us before we become calmer," said Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino, co-author of the book "The Peace Guidebook: How to Cultivate Hope, Healing and Harmony for the Good of Humankind," co-founder of Best Ever You Network and a leader in personal development. "Peace starts within us and then radiates outward. There are concrete things we can all do to start the peace movement right now."

According to the American Psychological Association, a survey of adults revealed that 62% of them report that societal division is a significant source of stress in their lives. It's leading people to feel more loneliness, emotional disconnection, and isolation. This has negative consequences on society as a whole, as well as the individual's health and well-being. Many people feel a physical toll from it, including feeling nervous or anxious, fatigue, and headaches.             

Hamilton-Guarino, along with her co-author Dr. Katie Eastman, wrote the book to help create positive change in the world. Witnessing how the current trends are creating chaos, stress, and divide, they knew they had to take action to help empower people to be a force for positive change. "The Peace Guidebook" aims to help find calm during the storm, which helps protect them and the community, and leads others to join in and become more peaceful. The book reframes stress, burnout and overwhelm, not as a problem to escape, but as moments where peace can be consciously practiced.

People need simple practical tools to help them find peace during the chaos and stress. "The Peace Guidebook" provides those tools in a blueprint of how to have calm in one's life. The most important tools to practice from the book include three things that everyone can do at anytime:

• Pause before reacting to anything. It is important to put a little space between things to not go with a knee-jerk reaction.
• Breathe to reset the body. Taking a few breaths before reacting to things can make a world of difference.
• Choose your response with intention. By pausing and taking a breath, it's much easier to choose how you want to respond. This allows you to have more peace in your response and keep the stress lower.
• Keep in mind it's also okay to have no response to things. We tend to feel that we always have to have an opinion, which can lead to more stress. It's like Marcus Aurelius once said "You always have the option of having no opinion."

"In order to have peace no matter what is going on in the world, we have to have healthy ways to cope and center ourselves," said Dr. Katie Eastman, a Seattle-based licensed mental health provider for more than 40 years, co-author of The Peace Guidebook, co-founder of ReCreate Coaching and Counseling and co-founder of the Percolate Peace Project. "With this guidebook, we have created a call to action that is a blueprint for personal and collective transformation. This is exactly what people need right now."

"The Peace Guidebook" path to peace provides simple tools to help people reset and regulate their emotions and discuss the importance of remembering that small shifts through practiced consistency can create long lasting change. To join in on their 30-day peace challenge, readers can get actionable tips from the book and post on social media using #PeacePromise, #PercolatePeace, and #BestEverYou. The book and movement will help those who are stressed out, burned out, and overwhelmed by the current climate. The Percolate Peace Project is inviting one million people to share a moment of peace, a peace promise, or a random act of kindness. By logging your experience, you become part of a global movement proving that peace grows through everyday actions. Whether it's a moment of calm, compassion, connection, or kindness, no act is too small to make a difference. Share your moment and help inspire peace, one choice at a time: https://www.percolatepeace.com/passthepeace

To learn more or join the movement, visit PercolatePeace.com or watch the book trailer.

About the Authors
Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino is one of the world's leading voices in personal development and peaceful leadership, inspiring a global movement rooted in authenticity, compassion, and meaningful change. She is a bestselling and award winning author, certified Master Coach, and cofounder of Best Ever You Network, a global multimedia platform reaching millions. For more than two decades, she has helped individuals, teams, and organizations navigate change, build resilience, and lead with purpose. With a background in journalism from St. Ambrose University and leadership studies at Harvard Business School, she brings both professional depth and lived experience to her work.

Dr. Katie Eastman is an internationally acclaimed grief and change expert, licensed therapist, Master Grief Coach, and co-founder of ReCreate Coaching and Counseling. With more than four decades of experience guiding individuals, families, and organizations through life's most complex transitions, she is known for her ability to transform heartbreak into healing. As a speaker, coach, and consultant, she has impacted thousands worldwide through her work in emotional resilience, compassionate leadership, and the psychology of transformation. She is also a passionate voice in the global peace movement, emphasizing that peaceful living is not the absence of pain, but the presence of love, self trust, and human connection.

Together, they are leading a global movement to redefine peace as a daily practice grounded in connection, purpose, and compassion.

Sources:

American Psychological Association. Stress in America 2025. November 2025. https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/stress-in-america/2025

SOURCE Bestselling authors Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino and Dr. Katie Eastman