Qigong has but a short history in Australia, and I am proud to say, my Qigong School of Australia has played a pioneering role in introducing qigong to Australia.

Besides generally contributing to improvement of health and well-being, qigong is becoming known in Australia as an efficient means to overcome stress.

The number of people suffering from stress in the Western world is enormous. The tempo of life is becoming ever faster, however, in order to survive. everyone must keep pace. Therefore there are very few indeed who do not feel this pressure, whether it be at home, at school or at the workplace and in the business world. We have had many students suffering from such symptoms as increased heart beat, physical exhaustion and insomnia while some further suffered from peptic ulcers, high blood pressure and heart disease which are related to stress.

More than 50% of the qigong students had been suffering form stress. We carried out a study of 400 students who had been enduring such stress. They were from various fields and occupations; 18% of them were doctors. computer specialists, artists, business executives and lawyers etc., and this category had the most serious symptoms. 12% were students, 45% were workers and other employees, and the remaining 25% were housewives or retirees.

In the teaching of qigong, it has been important to give detailed explanations as to how qigong works and to introduce the historical background to the art. This is to help the students have full confidence in qigong and persevere in practising. Dynamic qigong was integrated with quiescent qigong.

All the four hundred students in the survey reported marked improvement in their condition. There were 22 cases of high blood pressure among students at the time of their enrollment, and all have experienced gradual lowering, such that fifteen are no longer in need of any medication and all other cases have seen improvement.

Those who suffered from impaired sleep are now sleeping well. Student are more efficient in their learning and teachers are more relaxed, which has brought about a more cooperative and responsive class of students.

Conclusions:
We have therefore reached the conclusion that qigong is an effective means to combat stress, and its beneficial effect is enjoyed not only by those students directly learning and practising qigong, but is also experienced indirectly by those who are in constant contact with those students. All these students feel profoundly grateful to the ancient Chinese sages who discovered and developed the art of qigong and to all the qigong masters and scientists in China today who are carrying on and developing this art of longevity bring well-being and happiness not only to the people of China but also to the people of the world.

Qigong in Australia, an effective weapon against stress