Balance - it's that simple.
But holistic well-being, for me personally, is much more than that. It’s giving my body what it craves, what it needs, and, occasionally, just what it wants!
I have this theory that everyone practices holistic well-being in one way or another, but whenever I rave about this different approach to life, my roommates usually look at me like I’m crazy. Holistic is a weird word. According to the dictionary, it means the whole as the sum of its parts. Like, a holistic view of the world, rather than a scattered one. A holistic approach means looking at something or someone as a unit - which is exactly what I do when I think about my body and how a holistic lifestyle feeds it.
Holistic well-being is caring about the body as a whole. It means providing the body with the necessary nutrients, vitamins, minerals, activity, rest, and love that it needs. For me, that means combining everything I need to feel, well, good. For you, it might look a little different. As a natural complement to my love for holistic well-being, I also practice, or take part in, holistic medicine. Holistic medicine? What the heck is that?
What's holistic medicine?
According to WebMD, the philosophy of holistic medicine is “gaining the proper balance in life.” Balance - it’s that simple. But it can't be that simple. Under the Holistic Lifestyle tab, you can find a page that goes in depth about holistic medicine, but I wanted to provide a few more insights here. There are a few intricacies that make holistic medicine a bit easier to understand. The practice of holistic medicine is governed by four principles:
1) Love and support of yourself and others
2) The patient as a person, not a disease
3) The healing process as a team approach between the patient and the doctor
4) Treatment for the condition, not just the symptoms
Does that sound like something you may be interested in trying? If yes, keep reading. If no, still keep reading! I never thought I’d be the type of person to try holistic medicine, but I’ve really loved every second of it.
When I think about well-being, it’s composed of multiple factors: mental health and its connection to the body, food and nutrients, fitness and everyday activity, medicine, and much more. Do those topics sound familiar? Probably, some of them are the titles of my blog sections. But holistic well-being, for me personally, is much more than that. It’s giving my body what it craves, what it needs, and, occasionally, just what it wants!
So, what is it?
I started practicing holistic medicine at the ripe age of 18. I saw my first holistic practitioner at the age of 22. Very different times in my life, but both important to my health discovery, nonetheless. You can read about the injury that started it all under the about me tab, but for this post, I want to summarize what I think are the five most important things to know about holistic medicine and overall well-being:
1) The whole as the sum of its parts: Headache, fatigue, digestive issues - all very different symptoms but all possibly caused by the same thing. Holistic well-being and holistic medicine look at the body as a whole, not just the symptoms separately.
2) The mind-body connection: Ever heard the phrase “if you can dream it, you can do it?” I think the body thinks the same way. There’s this idea (and book) called the Mind-Gut Connection. You may not know this, but the mind and gut are in constant communication with each other. Are you ever experiencing digestive issues when you’re super stressed? It’s because everything is connected, and holistic medicine strives to keep that connection top of mind for its patients.
3) Loving your body: Still the hardest for me to this day, holistic well-being and holistic medicine stress the importance of loving your body for what it is, what it can overcome, what it can do, and what it cannot do. The body has limits, but its also capable of crazy things. Learning to love yours is so important.
4) Lack of perfection: Holistic well-being does not mean taking all the supplements, doing all of the workouts, sleeping 8+ hours a night, and meditating on a daily basis. It means trial and error, learning what works for you and your health, and repeating this circle of trial and error until you find your balance.
5) Balance: Finding your balance is integral to holistic well-being. Whether that’s pushing your body to its limits and then indulging in a piece of chocolate, eating clean all week and ending your day with a glass of wine, or abstaining from alcohol and sugar all together- find your balance. It’s different than everyone else’s!
