10 Mar The Holistic Way

What do you think of when you hear the word holistic?

You might think of a swami in India, meditating in a trance like state

A barefoot hippy in jeans and a flowery shirt

Or some kind of hocus pocus pie in the sky airy fairy philosophy

By definition, the word holistic means two things:

Philosophy

“Characterized by comprehension of the parts of something as intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole”.

Medicine

“Characterized by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the physical symptoms of a disease”.

Think of yourself like you would your car, for instance.  Sure, you did your oil change last month, and you’ve got 2,000 miles to go before the next one.  But without water in your radiator, or gas in your tank, will your car run for very long? What if it’s the wrong kind of gas?  Gasoline in a diesel engine won’t work, will it?  No, it will be sitting on the side of the road, maybe on fire.  What about your tires? Are they inflated, or is there a slow leak?  You get the picture.

So it is with our bodies and our physical, mental and emotional well-being.  We are more than just the sum total of all our working physical parts, and each one of those parts is inter-related.  We might be in optimum heart health as far as blood pressure, HDL/LDL, beats per minute, CBC and lipids profile, but our thoughts and emotion might be plagued with fears doubts and worries.  Our weight might be normal for our height and age, but inside cancer could be silently growing; lurking and waiting for an opportunistic time to begin eroding your health.  We might eat well and be strictly organic but not sleep – ever, through the night! Over time, any of these things will show up somewhere else in our health profile. You can be sure; all aspects of our health ARE inter-related.

For too long, we have become conditioned to believe what we see on TV about brightly colored capsules and lean, silver haired, tanned couples or young people strolling on a sunny day smiling away in pharmaceutical ads.  We are urged, suggested and prompted to “Ask your doctor about Brand X for Condition Y”, never really considering the long list of possible horrifying  side effects as we mindlessly hand over intelligent choice to others who do not have a vested interest in our personal health. Often we are not encouraged to think of our body’s systems and interrelated dependence resulting from our own actions, but rather think of quick fixes so we can keep on living life at a frenetic pace.

The Good News is that we now live in the information age, and knowledge about self-care and taking responsibility for our own wellbeing is never more readily available than right now!  There is no excuse for ignorance, and taking responsibility is the right thing to do.  For yourself, for your children, your spouse, business or employer, grandchildren and future generations, you have made the right choice!  A holistic approach is the only way to true empowerment; both increasing our long term longevity and sustained whole wellness!

We are SO glad you are on this journey with us at A Charitable Life Wellness!  We are here to support you along the way!  We invite you to peruse this blog, read the citations, ask questions, try the recipes, speak and say the affirmations, and BE HEALTHY together!  Let’s Do this!  Today is the first day of the rest of your LIFE!!!!

Tags:  holistic, wellness, health, cancer, diabetes, weight management, heart disease, high blood pressure