What Is Holistic Wellness?

What is Holistic Wellness?

Holistic health is an approach to life that considers multidimensional aspects of wellness. It encourages individuals to recognize the whole person: physical, mental, emotional, social, intellectual, and spiritual. 

Holistic wellness has become increasingly popular as more and more people strive toward balanced wellness, self care, intentionality, and living a better life. 

Generally, as the name implies, holistic wellness is about striving for being well in a way that utilizes every part of a person’s life, including the body and mind, emotional wellness and mental health, spiritual and social wellness, and overall wellness. 

Holistic means knowing and valuing the interconnectedness of all the parts of something. So, rather than just focusing on symptoms or specific issues, the concept involves how every aspect of a person intersects to influence their overall wellness, including even their personal relationships. 

Holistic care looks at many factors in order to design a whole person approach that can improve a person’s whole life, in an expansive sense as well as down to the tiny details.

The Origins of Holistic Wellness

The concept of holistic wellness, self-healing, and the importance of treating the entire person rather than just a specific illness or condition goes back millenia and has roots in many ancient cultures. Eastern medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, and traditional Chinese medicine are all based on this holistic, interconnected approach. 

The term holistic comes from the Greek holos, meaning whole. Combined with wellness, you get the whole person approach to health, healing, and happiness. Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, who is considered the father of medicine, was also a proponent of this approach to health care.

Ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu (also called Laozi, which translates to Old Master) is also considered a pioneer of this way of thinking. He promoted the idea that mental, physical, and spiritual health intertwine. 

Lao Tzu, who was the founder of philosophical Taoism, advocated for a slow, mindful approach to wellbeing, which is encapsulated in this saying that’s attributed to him: “The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.”

How to Achieve Holistic Wellness

Holistic wellness can be achieved through a variety of methods. In fact, it is often necessary to approach striving for overall wellness by pursuing many avenues of change in one’s life. Consulting holistic wellness centers and practitioners is a good place to start. You can work with a range of providers to make a plan that will foster spiritual and emotional growth as you finetune your mind and body.

Other ways to promote holistic wellness include self care, optimal nutrition, breathwork, exercise, meditation, yoga, listening to music, mindfulness, optimism, stress management, and counseling.

Even small changes can result in big steps toward the goal of wellbeing. Additionally, many people find that once they get the ball rolling toward positive lifestyle changes, future changes become easier to start and maintain.

Ultimately, striving for holistic wellness can help you overcome challenges like depression, make progress in therapy, reduce stress and anxiety, achieve optimal physical and emotional health, develop new ways of thinking, and achieve greater life satisfaction.

Holistic Wellness is the Key to Health & Happiness

Holistic wellness promotes wellness in all areas of life, while honoring the interconnectedness of every aspect of the human experience. This approach to health and living your best life teaches us that you are not truly well unless all areas of your life are balanced and in an optimal state, including mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

Pursuing holistic wellness is one way to root out issues that may be undermining your ability to fully realize your potential and enjoyment of life. This lifestyle, mental health, and physical health approach can help you discover your healthiest, most balanced, energized, centered, and dynamic self. Even better, those that embrace holistic wellness often find that they arrive at a state of health and happiness like they never imagined—and end up living a better life.

Source- “Holistic Wellness: What is it and why is it important?” By Sarah Vanbuskirk (https://www.goalcast.com/holistic-wellness/)