What does holistic wellness mean?

The phrases “holistic wellness” and “holistic healthcare” have become expressions that get used quite a lot these days. But there doesn’t seem to be a unified understanding of the term “holistic.” Or, often, although intellectually there may be an agreement on the meaning of the term, the integration of its full meaning into practice does not truly occur.

While there can be different layers and aspects to the term holistic, a simplistic way of understanding the term is that it refers to the consideration of the person as a whole. However, this goes beyond the person individually. It includes a person’s experiences at different stages of their lives as well as the environments they are a part of.

Many physicians will identify themselves as holistic physicians. Yet, when they meet their patients, they don’t explore with them the history of life events that they have experienced and meaningful moments that impacted their sense of self and understanding of their place in the world. They don’t truly explore a person’s lifestyle, their relationship with food and eating habits, the hobbies they enjoy or lack thereof, and the richness or absence of social connections. Uplifting moments, educational moments, stressful periods of life, traumatic events, meaningful relationships, and lifestyle practices all need to be included and lightly touched upon as part of creating a holistic awareness towards a client for a holistic approach to care rather than a focus on short-term symptom relief. 

Indeed, the patient’s life circumstances may likely be contributing to their present ailments in some way. The ability to have a more holistic consideration of the ailments that are manifesting can present different possibilities for a journey toward greater health. Thankfully, changes are happening in this realm for sure, with holistic physicians such as Dr. Gabor Mate and Dr. Thomas Cowan bringing more inquiry and awareness into the body-mind-environment-society-history-ancestory connection. But this understanding and integration is far from mainstream.

What is holistic wellness?

The connection between the body, mind, heart, and spirit is a given. There is also the interplay and connection between a person’s past and present, ancestral history, relationship with self and relationship with others, environmental experiences, socioeconomic circumstances, and so on.

The effect these different elements have on a person is reflected in three main aspects of their wellness: their mental health, emotional health, and physical health. A fourth dimension often considered in indigenous traditions is energetic health. Traditional holistic medicines in China, Japan, India, and Tibet, for instance, have medicinal practices that are all based on supporting a harmonious and unobstructed flow of energy in the body. These include such practices as yoga, qi gong, acupuncture, and jin shin jyutsu. In all their different ways and subtleties, the implication of these teachings and practices is the same. By improving energy flow in the body, there is also a release of mental blocks, emotional blocks, and physical blocks which manifest as ailments. 

Holistic wellness recognizes the wholeness of a person as well as the interplay of all of these elements. It recognizes the potentiality of wellness inherent in each person and embraces the role of these different layers as well as lifestyle habits and practices as part of this journey and expression. A holistic healthcare practitioner champions this and understands that when one part of our wellness is not aligned, other parts will be affected as well. With that, there is an affirmation of the creativity and agency of a person to play an active role in understanding what ails them, gain insights into what helps them, discover what inspires them, and make the necessary changes in life to follow their own purpose for thriving, wholeness and well-being.

Benefits of Holistic Wellness

Many are still skeptical about the idea of holistic wellness or perceive holistic wellness as a fad and new-age technique. It is true that the term has become a fad in some of the ways it is being used and “tossed around”. But, in reality, understanding your own health and well-being from the lens of holistic wellness is empowering and provides real-world benefits. 

Following are just some of the ways that adopting a holistic wellness mindset and approach to your health and well-being is beneficial: 

• It helps you manage your stress.
  Stress is a biochemical physiological experience that involves the engagement of stress hormones and activation of stress physiology. We know that chronic stress has a negative effect on health. Holistic wellness practices provide you with natural and alternative means for releasing and reducing stress.. To explore your relationship to stressors in life try BMY’s free Stress Calculator. 
• It improves your mood.
  Experiencing perpetual low mood or anxiety, or struggling with an overwhelm of emotions impacts our health, our ability to enjoy and engage with our life, and our overall well-being. To be able to regulate your emotions as well as cultivate experiences of lightness and ease is an important part of wellness. When we engage in holistic wellness practices, we discover naturalistic ways that improve our mood and ability for emotion regulation which in turn allows us to experience more joy in our life.
• It helps you feel more connected.
  Holistic wellness looks at our ability to be connected with ourselves and to our world. Often many people are rushing through their day not truly taking in the pleasure of the moment that they are having. And, more often than not, people tend to be lost in thought, ruminating over things they wish they had dealt with differently, or preoccupied with anxiety about things that may go wrong in the day. In other words, they are not present and nor self-aware. Holistic wellness includes having a better relationship with ourselves, engaging in enjoyable social connections and daily activities, and being mindful and present in the given moment. As such, through holistic wellness practices, we start to feel more connected internally and externally, better able to participate in and take in the life that we are experiencing at the moment. Such a powerful way of being in the world helps us move towards the experience of a more fulfilling life.
• It helps you live a healthy life.
  We are living organic beings. As such, we require nourishment to grow and thrive and the absence of such makes us vulnerable to diseases and illnesses. Proactive healthcare includes preventative medicine, i.e. lifestyle medicine. There are several basic fundamentals of nourishment and health: we need healthy food and nutrients, clean water and minerals, movement and exercise, fresh air, quality sleep, creativity and play, and social connection. When we take time to nourish these different elements purposefully, mindfully, and happily, we cultivate a healthier body, mind, heart and spirit, all culminating in living a healthier life.

Implementing Holistic Wellness in Daily Life

Holistic wellness includes both lifestyle practices when all is well, and consultation with holistic healthcare practitioners when the body and mind signal a need for help (with physical symptoms, emotional symptoms and or mental symptoms). The constant of the two is lifestyle practices. There are many ways to begin to implement holistic wellness in your life. It starts with curiosity, playfulness, and identifying the aspects in your life that need nourishment. 

A lot of information is already out there and available for different activities and practices that promote health and wellness. And a few of the tips here should prove to be quite handy. 

• Make rest a part of your life. 

Rest is what makes you more reflective and effective in your tasks. We are not only talking about sleep here but there are several types of rest that you can provide for your body and soul. Taking time off from work and using these breaks for something that you love is also a good way to give rest to your body and soul. 

• Understand the interconnection between physical and mental wellness.

Physical wellness can have a huge impact on your mental and emotional wellness. Take care to get enough sleep, exercise regularly, and eat well. These things can go a long way toward promoting your mood and cognitive function. 

• Build your relationships. 

Relationships nourish our need for social connection.. Developing the art of building relationships will inspire you and help you develop a sense of belonging. Focus on building relationships based on similar interests and goals, mutual respect, and support for each other. Be it within a family or otherwise, relationships have a positive impact on how and what you feel.

• Express yourself

Yes, learn to express yourself, and never suppress your feelings. Suppressing your feelings can have a severe impact on both your mental and physical health. When your mind is going through issues, your body will show signs of frequent pain and aches. Learning healthy and effective ways for expressing yourself empowers you to have healthier boundaries, healthier relationships, and identify and support your needs. 

Also read: Grief and the Collective, Grief and the Body
 

Conclusion

Holistic wellness is an important understanding of how we maintain our health, grow and thrive. By learning more about holistic wellness and engaging with holistic practitioners, we can discover the naturalistic ways for promoting our overall well-being, reducing our vulnerability to ailments and illnesses, and experiencing a more fulfilling life.