Holistic Health Pillars
Most of you have probably heard of holistic health and have an idea of what it is. Holistic health is the theory and practice of multiple factors contributing to our overall health such as physical, mental/ emotional, social, spiritual and environmental components. It implies if any of these are missing, we cannot fully heal to our highest potential. It focuses on interconnected systems, root cause, and disease prevention.
Holistic pillars
Physical- everything to do with the physical body, from skin health to cellular function. This includes lifestyle factors such as nutrition, movement, sleep, hygiene, and avoiding toxins.
Mental & Emotional- the physical brain and its functions as well as our emotional coping.
Social- developing connections, belonging to a community, and having a well-developed support system.
Environmental- a very under-recognized element of our health. Includes how your immediate environment makes you feel, your drinking water and air quality, occupational environments, the local community, and the greater planet ecosystem.
Spiritual- this addresses expanding one’s sense of purpose and meaning in life. To some, this is a higher power and to others a great connection to humanity or nature.
Holistic health is something modern medicine does not have time for. Western/ Allopathic medicine is based on algorithms for clinical decision-making focused on symptoms, diagnosis, treatment (pharmaceuticals, interventions like surgery), specialist referrals, insurance reimbursement, and patient compliance.
While many of these life-saving treatments are the key to longevity for some, and there are amazing doctors and providers out there dedicating their lives to doing incredible work, the whole health of a person is seldom addressed because the structure is not set up that way. It’s focused on extreme efficiency (inevitably leaving things out) so they can see as many patients as possible to keep the lights on, staff paid, and sometimes earning profit.
Holistic health, however, recognizes that just because you have a physical symptom does not mean it has a physical cause.
I think this is so important to point out in a system based on diagnosing physical symptoms. One of the most common examples of this is the physical manifestation of symptoms caused by mental health issues. If you have stomach pain, for example, it could be caused by digestive problems OR emotional distress such as poor self-esteem. I saw this all the time as a primary care nurse- most often with anxiety correlating to cardiac symptoms.
We can appear healthy, have good blood lab results, and check all the objective health boxes but addressing all parts of our human experience is necessary to achieve the optimal self. And how many times have the numbers looked good but we still felt that something just wasn't right?
Holistic health practitioners run the gamut of services such as Chiropractic, Energy work/Reiki, Counseling, Nurse or Health Coach, Integrative practitioner, Naturopath, Acupuncture, Sound healers, Herbalists, Therapeutic and Lymphatic massage to name a few.
If any of this interests you, you are not alone! This study shows up to two-thirds of Americans ages 50 to 80 use at least one form of Integrative Medicine, but fewer than one-fifth wish to talk to their doctor about it. Yikes! We need to change the stigma around alternative health providers that are using evidence-based practice to guide their healing and producing real results.
The face of medical care in this country is changing my friends. I have felt this seismic shift coming over the years from inside the system and many fellow healthcare workers know what I am talking about. It is an energy and a knowing that something must change.
I would be ignorant to fail to recognize the incredible impact of acute and emergency medicine over the past century. We have made advancements in this area beyond anyone's imagination, and I am so very grateful to have these services as they have saved many of my loved ones, as I'm sure most can relate.
And while our emergent life-saving technologies soar, we cannot accept seeing the rates of chronic disease rise while our costs for healthcare continue to go up more than any other developed nation.
We are all in this together, and we must try to find answers amidst all the confusion and noise. I believe that most people are good and want to seek out the good in others. We have to believe that we can do better❤️🩹 I think that addressing the whole person on the road to healing is a good starting point.
