What is Holistic Health?
I grew up under the traditional health care credo, as dictated by my parents, and really didn’t know there was any other way to take care of myself if I fell ill. See the doctor, get medicine – take drugs! That’s it!
During a rather uncomfortable bout with allergies, and my taking lots of prescribed medication, a friend of mine recommended my looking into holistic health and giving it a try. Talk about a life changing moment!
So what is holistic health? It sounded a little bit like ’snake oil’ salesnanship to me. How wrong I was. Today, I can’t emphasise how much I incorporate holistic health into my daily life and how much healthier I am for doing so. Now when people ask me what holistic health is all about, I feel as though I can stand up, turn around, and tell them, “Hey! it’s all of me”.
Holistic health care practicioners take the approach that the entire body is interconnected and that through treatment of all the aspects of your health your physical health will increase. The mind—body—spirit connection has been at the heart of many cancer center treatments, debilitating injury treatments, and even infertility treatments. Often holistic health practices succeed where traditional medicine has failed. No, not always ( sadly) but it is another route to explore.
My favorite aspect of holistic health is the overall reluctance to medicate, medicate, medicate! Traditional medicine has a habit of writing a prescription for everything and anything. People naturally trust physicians and won’t think twice about what they are prescribing them so casually. The reality is that many medications are actually poisonous to us. For instance, Warfarin is made from a form of rat poison!
That information made me think twice about taking medication unless it was absolutely necessary. Holistic health practices are focused on finding natural remedies that incorporate the body, the mind, and the spirit.
Focusing on the mind—body—spirit connection isn’t a negative idea. I know when I was growing up I was often told that one complaint or another was all in my head. It’s not the same principle. The idea is that the mind and the spirit need just as much health attention as the body. By caring for my mind and my spirit while nurturing my body with natural remedies I set my body up to be in the prime condition for health and healing.
It’s not that hard to find holistic guidance. There are ample internet sources that can offer ideas, thoughts, experiences, and instruction. I do always cross reference herbal remedies and vitamin therapies with other holistic sources and I still check with a pharmacist before starting high dose therapies as such. Holistic health care practitioners are easier than ever to find. Some areas are fortunate enough to have entire clinics devoted to holistic health. Many of today’s more traditional physicians are starting to recognize the power of the mind—body—spirit connection and are starting to incorporate holistic health care into their daily practice.
It was encouraging to find that those who practice holistic health whether they are ill or healthy are generally healthier overall than those who don’t. This means that there is actual evidence being gathered that the mind—body—spirit is more than just a theory. It is an actual provable method of caring for one’s entire self and benefiting all the way around. Taking the time every day to care for your body, your mind, and your spirit is a fantastic way to improve your daily health.
Someone should start a blog about this!
