Do you go to the doctor only when you are ill? A lot of people do, and this is unfortunate because good health is really a lot like happiness – not a destination but an ongoing journey. In other words, good health takes constant awareness of yourself and your sense of well being; begin to ignore the body, mind, or spirit and you may quickly find yourself feeling a bit under the weather.
This is the philosophy behind holistic health. It is not just something to use when you feel poorly, not a band-aid meant to address a few symptoms (headache, stomach upset, and so on). Instead, it is a form of healing that makes you responsible for yourself, but which partners you with a practitioner who can help you to look clearly at all areas of your life.
While many say that it is a form of alternative medicine that looks at the mind and body connection, holistic healing is actually a great deal more than that.
Think of It as Wholistic
Thinking of holistic healing as “whole” healing really helps to clarify what it is that holistic remedies provide. After all, when you rely on holistic health, you will always keep balance in your:
• Mental health
• Physical well being
• Spiritual self
• Emotional life
None of these things are what we can describe as “static”. For example, your emotional life might suddenly become disrupted by a stormy romantic relationship or a bit of family friction. These are not things that you can control, and they will upset the balance of your “whole” self.
Your sleep may be disrupted, you may feel diminished appetite (or eat for comfort), and it may all take a toll on your spiritual self and your physical well being. Clearly, this would mean you have to keep an eye on your whole self throughout your adult life.
Let’s go back to that first question asked. “Do you go to the doctor only when you are ill?” This is a common pattern, and yet it shows that we might easily forget that we are the sum of our many parts – and not all of them are physical.
The holistic healer is going to let you know that you are the person who is most responsible for your health. They will partner with you to create treatments that may touch on all areas of your life, but the goal is always going to be to get to the root of the problem.
Let’s return to the example above – you have a bit of emotional upset in your life. Your primary care physician might give you something to help you sleep, but this is not addressing the cause of the problem. The holistic healer would discuss a variety of steps including emotional therapy, lifestyle changes to help you vent built-up energy, changes in the diet, and possibly more. The result would be to fix the real problems and keep you moving through life wholly healthy on every level.