You wake up one winter morning and you think to yourself, “Ugh, I just feel ‘blah’ today.” This might be due to poor sleep the night before, because the weather has been grey and cold for too long, or because you are coming down with some sort of health problem. And just as there could be a long list of reasons for that feeling of “blah”, there is also probably a long list of remedies. That is what a holistic healing expert would tell you. This might be a good time to understand the basics of holistic healing.
What is Holistic?
In other words, it is never just one thing that causes our bodies to feel a certain way. The holistic healing expert would say that it is your whole person – emotional, spiritual, body, and mind – that regulates your health or well being. So, any sense of being under the weather might be due to some surprising things. Of course, a holistic practitioner would tell you that it could also be due to just one thing…one unexpected or unknown thing.
For instance, because we are made of a large array of independent (and interdependent) systems, if one part or system is not functioning properly, every other system or part is going to show signs of this. The emotional turmoil that rules each waking hour of someone’s day, for example, may have a hard impact on their health. If someone with ongoing emotional upheaval of this kind went to a holistic healer, they may recommend medicinal treatments but would also delve deeply into lifestyle changes as part of the remedy.
So, holistic healing is healing that takes all aspects of the whole person into consideration when making a diagnosis and developing treatment.
What Are Holistic Treatments?
It is often a bit of a surprise to someone visiting a holistic healer for the first time because they will hear a lot about their responsibility in their own treatment. Holistic medicine views treatment as a sort of team approach, and the doctor and patient must work together with honesty and openness if they are to succeed.
Anyone with a health issue is going to learn that they are ultimately the one responsible for healing. However, they also learn that they are going to work with their doctor to treat whatever the cause of their health problem might be. In holistic treatments there is no treating a condition. Instead, it is a deep look at the whole life of the person, and then a range of solutions meant to address what is actually causing a health complaint.
Will this mean that no medicines or surgeries are considered? No, not at all. A practitioner of holistic healing would never ignore modern medicinal remedies. However, there is just as much emphasis on the education of the individual and their commitment to self-care; the use of alternative treatments like chiropractic healing or acupuncture; and any modern surgical or medicinal remedies as well.
In reality, holistic healing is the most responsible form of medicine – one in which you assume the ultimate responsibility for your health, and in which you work with a trained expert to use whatever steps necessary to balance all parts of yourself – body, mind, emotions, and spirit.