| Holistic
Health FAQ
Frequently
Asked Questions about living holistically
What
is meant by 'holistic'?
There are many definitions, but 'whole' is a good start. 'Mind,
Body & Soul' is another notion that can take us in the right
direction.
What
then is 'holistic health'?
It usually means looking at our health not just
in the context of absence (or otherwise) of particular medical
conditions, but as the sum of our physical, mental, emotional
and spiritual selves. Taking an holistic approach to our health
and wellbeing means looking not just at the physical causes
of illnesses (and accidents) but also those related to our emotional
state, what's going on it our lives at the time, etc..
Who
can benefit from such an approach?
Anyone! You don't have to be 'ill' in the conventional sense
of the world to benefit. Looking at our holistic health can
also help us if we're unhappy, unfulfilled, stressed or at a
cross-roads in our life.
How
does it work?
Any therapist, counsellor, healer, life-guide (etc..)
working holistically will take a while getting to know you,
enabling and encouraging you to describe . . . in your own way
in your own time . . . what's wrong . . . and what's right about
your life. By looking at your life situations and background
and at all sorts of factors affecting your health and well-being,
we'll get a feel for what is really underlying any ill health
or unhappiness. They will then encourage you to see this 'higher
truth' for yourself. They can only help you if you are willing
and able to help yourself . . . by accepting responsibility
for yourself.
What's
the treatment?
Whatever you need. The following are typical 'prescriptions':
-
plenty
of rest and fresh air, perhaps with country walks
-
Reiki
healing (or training)
-
drawing,
painting, writing and general creative artwork
-
wholesome,
authentic, food
-
opportunities
to talk & share your dreams and disappointments
-
use
of divinations to provide further insight on root causes
and 'where next' to go
-
helping
with a natural garden to connect to Mother Earth
Everybody
is different. A good holistic practitioner is unlikely to tell
you what to expect in advance and will often work intuitively and
spontaneously.
An
example of this might be in respect of 'Balance'. Whilst there are many
therapies that claim to restore 'balance' in various ways (chakra
balancing, for example) such therapies are rarely a panacea. They might
help but few, on their own, would be sufficient to make your life happy
and pain-free.
What, in my experience, is
needed to feel balanced, is to be able to listen to your body and higher-self
and to act accordingly: to get the right balance of work, rest and play; to
find your personal balance (over the course of a day, week, month or year) between
time alone, time with nature, time with family, time sharing with others generally,
etc...
Whatever some book or therapist might
say, feeling out of balance . . . and the unhappiness and illness that that
causes . . . usually requires getting our lives back into balance .
. . in what we do and how we think.
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