Dial Down: Holistic Strategies to Move from Chaos to Calm

by Raquel Durden, Tracey Koach (Editor), Tara Huck (Editor)

Dial Holistic Strategies to Move from Chaos to Calm is a practical guide focused on holistic wellness techniques to help individuals manage stress and find calmness in their lives. The book integrates evidence-based wellness practices with personal stories and poems aimed at offering readers actionable tools for transformation. Drawing from her work with women veterans and first responders, Raquel demonstrates how holistic strategies can be powerful tools for finding peace and balance. Raquel emphasizes connection—both to oneself and to others. With its blend of holistic practices, real-life stories, and creative exercises, Dial Down is a comprehensive roadmap to personal well-being. The book is full of nurturing both body, mind, and spirit.

176 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 2, 2025

Reviews

[Raquel Durden]

Dear Readers,
This isn't just another self-help book, it's a transformational guide for real life when chaos knocks at your door (...and it always does). In Dial Down: Holistic Strategies to Move from Chaos to Calm, I share evidence-based strategies, personal stories, and practical tools to show that chaos isn't something to fix. Chaos is something to navigate.

Writing this book felt like sitting down with a friend, offering easy to apply tools and gentle nudges to breathe, reset, and try again. Whether you're a veteran, a first responder, a caregiver, a leader, or simply someone who craves balance in the middle of everyday busyness, I believe you'll find strategies here that actually work.

If you enjoy books that explore:
~Practical wellness tools you can use right away
~Stories from real heroes in the military, healthcare, and public safety who face chaos regularly
~Mindful movement and breathwork made simple
~How nature, food, journaling, and prayer restore balance
...then Dial Down may be exactly what you're looking for to find inner calmness.

I invite you to weave wellness and connection into your life!

[Char Pachniak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dial Down by Raqel Durden. Raquel shares techniques I have used as I work with students that have suffered trauma. This reinforced the work we do mentoring teens at Horizons4Girls as well as giving me some additional techniques and tools to use with at risk teen students. The steps to make this work a doable exercise are extremely beneficial. Time spent with students equals successes.

[Amy Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that everyone could benefit from reading. In a world where being busy has become a badge of honor, being reminded of the importance to slow down and dial down is critical. The vignettes and stories of individuals experiencing their own level of chaos and then calm are engaging, and there is applicable information throughout the book that can be woven into my life to improve my wellness. The author does an exceptional job of sharing information and making it available, but I didn’t feel any guilt while reading this book about things I haven’t done or may not do. Additionally, I found this a book that is easy for me to share with others, particularly those who are faced with the challenge of cancer. Whether cancer has created the chaos or just life in general, as is my case, I do believe there’s something for everyone to gain from this book.

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any type of First Responder is going to face secondary trauma and stress on the job-it comes with the calling. You will deal with it one way or another. Dial Down offers healthy, holistic approaches to processing that stress and taking care of yourself, so you can continue to serve others while still living your best life. A thoughtful and practical read for anyone in the field.

[Lori Mauldin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an easy, informative, great read for ideas on how to weave wellness into your daily routines. Highly recommend!

[Tara Huck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raquel’s book is an accessible resource that delivers on its promise to provide tools that can easily help you to weave wellness into your existing schedule. Regardless of the circumstances of your stress, in Dial Down: Holistic Strategies to Move from Chaos to Calm we learn to turn our chaos into calm as Raquel skillfully navigates the reader through a menu of evidence-based offerings to choose from.

As a retired combat veteran, Raquel has been sharing healing strategies within the military community by founding the nonprofit, Humble Warriors Wellness & Yoga. As a practitioner and promoter of wellness, she met with and helped to lead veterans and other first responders and health care professionals to experience calm.

However, this book is much more than a researched guide to improve your health—mental and physical. It is also a beautiful statement on the resilience of the human spirit to be able to journey toward improved health regardless of present chaos.

The stories of resilience are shared from real individuals who have had the opportunity to work with Raquel. These are not just testimonials; they are beautifully told human stories from people who have experienced horrendous chaos. For those of us who are not in dangerous careers it provides a glimpse into the frightening and harrowing situations our military, first responders, and health care professionals live through regularly.

This book is a great resource for anyone who is looking for insight to help manage stressors from work and military service, family and social life, health of self or health of loved ones or any other source of chaos.

I keep coming back to the summary statement Raquel makes: “. . . chaos is not something to fix, avoid, or fear, it’s something to navigate.” Raquel’s work fills a void with hope that each of us can journey towards a calmer way of life.

Note: I was one of the editors on this project.