Stress Takes A Spring Cleaning

Workplace stress continues to grow in the U.S., say experts at the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.A spring break retreat offers a way to relieve stress and get right back to battery.

(PRWEB) March 21, 2006 -- Workplace stress continues to grow in the U.S., say experts at the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. And it applies equally to working in the home or in a career. $300 billion, or $7,500 per employee, is spent annually in the U.S. on stress-related compensation claims, reduced productivity, absenteeism, health insurance costs, direct medical expenses (nearly 50% higher for workers who report stress), and employee turnover. A spring-cleaning retreat (http://www.americanyogini.com) offers a way to relieve stress and get right back to battery.

According to the Mayo Clinic, when stressful situations pile up, our bodies don’t have a chance to recover. They report that this can eventually lead to a disruption in almost all of our body’s processes, including sleeping, maintaining our weight, digestive complaints, and depression. They suggest that by maintaining a healthy body through diet, adequate rest, and exercise, you will be able to handle stress better.

Increasingly, people are taking this natural approach to stress to heart. One effective stress-busting method that gives your body a chance to recover is a good spring-cleaning. People are visiting retreats to help refresh their mind, body and spirit. “Today’s workplace has become particularly stressful – whether it is a career or running a home,” explains Mary McGuire, owner of the American Yogini retreat located in Remensburg, NY. “In order to replenish our physical and mental energy it’s important to step back and ‘clean house.’ Apart from their popular spring break retreats, American Yogini offers retreats all year round.

The spring-cleaning retreat aims to show people a new way to look at their relationship with food, exercise and the world around them. There are workshops in cooking, including those covering vegetarian and raw foods. There are also workshops and retreats that include children, dance, yoga, and fasting.

“Our spring cleaning retreat has become very popular,” says McGuire. “Spring is a natural time to transition from the richer foods we consume in winter to the lighter and fresher foods of summer.”

She explains that people are ready during spring to clear the winter heaviness with her spring cleansing diet. It gives them the chance to wipe away the information overload from the television and daily noisiness of modern life that seem to clog our minds. “With this retreat spring cleaning takes on a whole new meaning,” says McGuire.

The retreat also looks at cleaning product we use in the home. Many heath conscious families are replacing the toxic cleaning products with ones that are just as effective, yet are natural and non-toxic.

“When people attend our retreat for the first time and learn about the toxic cleaners they have been using for years, they are in shock,” says McGuire. “They leave us with a new outlook on what it means to clean.”

“Our workshops are in a real home setting,” explains McGuire. “Our students are often surprised and relieved when they realize that simple changes, like those with the cleaning products and creating a clutter free environment, can lower stress levels, improve health and increase one’s capacity for joy in all things.”

As spring emerges, people are deciding how to give their mind, body and home a chance to transition. This year more people will make the choice to start their spring cleaning (http://www.americanyogini.com/posting_detail.php?ID=3434361) with their body.

“Spring cleaning should start with the mind and body,” says McGuire, “everything else will fall into place when that’s taken care of.”

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