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Increasingly, we are informed on the potential negative impact of stress. Medical scientists report stress can adversely affect every organ system of the body and cause or aggravate essentially all medical disorders including hypertension, coronary artery disease, asthma, and gastrointestinal ulcers. It also generates or promotes all psychological problems and in particular insomnia, anxiety, and depression. It should be noted that depression alone afflicts 121 million people worldwide and according to the World Health Organization by the year 2020 depression will be the second leading medical cause of disability. In addition to its direct impact on health, stress also seeps into virtually all areas of our life. In the home, the stress-associated psychological effects of irritability, impatience, insomnia, and decreased concentration and memory lead to marital discord and difficulties in parent-child and other relationships.

In the workplace, the effects adversely impact employee relationships, team building, and customer-employee interactions, not to mention lost work days due to psychological problems and stress-related physical illness. Corporations are now becoming sensitized to the adverse impacts of stress. In fact, some progressive companies offer employs incentives to reduce their stress through stress reduction and fitness programs, although for the most part, corporate America has not yet awakened to such progressive thinking. For example, the American Institute of Stress reports that between 75% and 90% of all doctor visits are now stress-related. All of this sums to significant problems in a healthcare system already experiencing skyrocketing costs and overtaxed providers. A conservative estimate of the cost of stress suggests it exceeds $42 billion each year to the US economy.

The physical and psychological effects of stress can be gradual and subtle in onset. The blood pressure and heart rate may increase by almost imperceptible degrees initially. Mental vigilance increases. Muscle tension may gradually rise. But over time, if stress persists in unmanageable levels, these changes can progress to full-blown hypertension and abnormal heart beat patterns, muscle soreness and stiffness and potentially muscle spasm and pain. And increased mental vigilance can progress to irritability, “feeling stressed”, insomnia, anxiety and depression. If these problems persist and progress they can then lead to damage in virtually every organ system of the body.

Most stress retreats are situated in an idyllic environment, replete with fun and physical activities to essentially recharge one’s batteries. This is fine, but it is essentially a vacation from stress. When we return back to the environments like the workplace, home, and relationships that create the stress, the root problem still persists. These external factors that create stress are difficult to change. If we want to “take the stress out,” then the internal factors need to be addressed. The internal factors refer to our internal organs and their meridians or energy channels. These internal organs govern our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual lives. According to energetic medicine, which is based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), imbalances in internal organ energy will affect our physical and mental state, emotions, and how we cope with stress.

Energetic medicine views the degree of stress we feel to be related to endocrine system and immune system. When a person is confronted with a stressful situation, the adrenal glands will secrete more adrenaline, causing a stress reaction in the endocrine system, affecting the gall bladder, hormones and the immune system. In the short term, we may experience increased heart rate, higher blood pressure, shortened breathing, stomach problems, constipation, and sleep disorders. Over time, these imbalances can lead to physical and mental disease. Trying to directly change one’s way of thinking is an onerous task. TCM doesn’t see the brain as an internal organ, but all of the internal organ meridians converge in the brain. It follows that as one’s internal organs move toward balance, our thinking and emotions will balance as well.

The Transcending Stress retreat teaches energetic techniques for turning stress into a force for advancement in life. It includes Qi Gong Medical Exercises, Energetic Psychology, Healing Foods and other components for balancing internal organ energy and the endocrine system. You will learn practices to deal with stressful situations, and how to implement the techniques into your daily life to realize improved physical health, mental clarity, and emotional balance.

The program can be customized to meet your needs and schedule. For more information, please contact Miracles@qimaster.com.

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