
20/07/2025
Stress & Autoimmune Flares: Can You Break the Cycle?
Chronic stress isn’t just mental—it triggers autoimmune flares by pushing your body into constant fight-or-flight. TCM offers time-tested tools to calm both mind and body, helping you break this damaging cycle.
Stress as a Trigger
Stress floods the body with cortisol and adrenaline, disrupting immune balance and fueling inflammation. Up to 80% of patients report significant emotional stress before autoimmune onset.
The TCM View
In TCM, emotional and physical health are inseparable. Stress disrupts Liver Qi, leading to symptoms like indigestion, headaches, and mood swings. Autoimmune flares are seen as signs of deeper disharmony, so TCM treatments address both emotional and physical roots.
Acupuncture & Qi Gong
Acupuncture calms the nervous system, reducing inflammation and regulating immune responses. Qi Gong offers gentle, flowing movements paired with breathwork to lower cortisol, ease tension, and improve circulation—even 10 minutes a day can help.
Breathwork & Meditation
Deep belly breathing and mindfulness calm the vagus nerve, lower cortisol, and reduce inflammation. Just a few minutes daily supports emotional resilience and immune health.
Try This at Home
• Morning Qi Gong
• Diaphragmatic breathing during stress
• Daily meditation
• Gentle acupressure (Yintang, PC-6)
• Warm meals and calming teas
Healing is about nurturing your whole self. By calming your mind and supporting your body, you help your immune system shift from high alert to healing mode.