Holistic Health Principles
The term holism was introduced by Jan Christian Smuts in 1926. He understood that living things are “entities greater than and different from the sum of their parts,” The term wasn’t popular until the 1970s when holistic became a common adjective in our modern vocabulary.
During the 20th century holistic concepts were temporarily forgotten in Western societies. Scientific medical research had created a dramatic shift in the concept of health. At the beginning germs, and later all kind of toxic substances, were identified as outside sources of the disease. Regaining health became a process of killing microscopic invaders or un-healthy cells with synthesized drugs. People started to believe that they could get away with unhealthy lifestyle choices, and modern medicine would “fix” them as problems developed.
However, for some conditions, medical cures were more harmful than the disease. In addition, many chronic conditions do not respond to scientific medical treatments. In their search for other options, people are returning to the holistic approach to health and healing. The Holistic Health lifestyle is regaining popularity each year, as the holistic principles offer practical options to meet the growing desire for enjoying a high level of vitality and well being. Knowing and understanding these principles helps us to make good choices in our daily life.
The interdependency
Holistic Health is based on the law of nature that a whole is made up of interdependent parts. In the same way, an individual is a whole made up of interdependent parts, which are the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Each part’s function impacts the functioning of all the other parts in that person.
As a consequence, if one thing is not going well, most probably some other things are not going well either. The problem begins when we try to find out the primary cause, or the root of the illness. The Greek philosopher Socrates (4th century BC) warned against treating only one part of the body “for the part can never be well unless the whole is well”. In the 16th century, Paracelsus, the father of modern medicine, said that “the true physician must look upon man as a whole”, and “he must look for the causes producing the disease, and not merely treat the outward effect”.
A holistic approach to healing goes beyond just eliminating symptoms. For example, taking an aspirin for a headache would be like disconnecting the oil light on the dash of a car when it flashes. The irritation is eliminated, but the real problem persists.
In holistic medicine, a symptom is considered a warning, an indication that something needs attention. So, the symptom is used as a guide to look below the surface for the root cause. Then what really needs attention can be addressed.
Oneness
The same way the person is made up of interconnected parts, this whole person, including all of the parts, is part of something bigger, like family, community, country, the whole world, and finally the Universe or Nature. That’s why many ancient philosophers, as well as some contemporary ones stress the importance of living in harmony with Nature. Ancient healing traditions, as far back as 5,000 years ago in India and China, stressed living a healthy way of life in harmony with Nature.
A similar importance is to live in harmony with family, neighbors, co-workers and so on. An un-healthy relationship most probably will end up by affecting our health. If we think that we can wrong people around us and get away with it, we are wrong. On long term, this will ruin our health and happiness.
Understanding the fact that we are interconnected is similar to understanding that we are part of the same big system. This is the principle of Oneness.
The wellness continuum
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We have the tendency to think in term of opposite concepts, like good/bad, happy/unhappy, healthy/sick. In ancient eastern civilizations, people understood that there is not such thing and that the opposites form a whole. They discovered the concept of Yin and Yang as inseparable forces that build the Universe. The Yin/Yang concept was symbolized by a half-black, half-white circle with dots of the opposite color on each half.
In a more Western manner, let’s imagine the health/wellness whole as a line. The left end of this line is represented by a deadly disease and the right end is represented by the maximum level of well-being. On this line, the middle point is the state of no apparent disease. This point separates the line in two segments. On the left side we have what we call illness and on the right side we have what we call health.
We have to remember that the zero point is different for each person, and also, is different for different periods of time for the same person. What it is accepted as a normal health condition for a certain period of time by a certain person, could be unacceptable and un-healthy for some other periods of time or persons. This means that, even when we consider ourselves healthy, we may have a potential condition for disease, but that when we think about ourselves as ill, we have the potential for health. It also means that even when no illness seems to be present, there is still room for improvement in our health and wellness.
The dynamic process
We have to understand that on that continuum of health and well being, our current state is not a fixed point. More than this, it is not even a point moving slowly from time to time in one of the two directions. Our health state is constantly moving in a cyclic manner. It is influenced by everything in our environment, from the planets’ or stars’ movements on our apparent sky, to our daily tasks and routines. This is why our lifestyle has an enormous influence on our health.
The personal commitment to be consciously moving toward the right end of the wellness continuum is the most important factor of health and happiness. People can improve their level of well being regardless of their current status of health. Even when there are temporary setbacks, the movement is always headed toward wellness, as long as people opt for it.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that the key factors influencing an individual’s state of health have been almost constant over the past 20 years. Everyday lifestyle choices are responsible in proportion of 53% for our health, followed by the environment for 19%, and heredity for 18%. Quality of medical care is accountable for only 10%. The decisions people make about their life and habits are, therefore, by far the largest factor in determining their state of wellness.
Prevention
When it comes to health, we face two choices: repairs or maintenance. We generally understand the principle of prevention applied to cars, and we periodically change oil filters, air filters, and all kind of other parts, before their malfunction affects the performance, or other parts, of the car. We should apply the same principle when it comes to our own health and happiness. We should do everything in our power, from a healthy lifestyle to preventive healing sessions designed to balance our energies.
Going back to the well being continuum, it is important to act constantly to improve our health and happiness, no matter how good or bad they are. It is always easier, and subsequently cheaper, to correct little problems, than to wait till the problem gets serious in order to take corrective actions. If we choose to neglect it for a long time, it may not be possible to correct the situation to our satisfaction.
Just an example: A few thousand years ago in China, an Emperor paid his doctors, as long he remained healthy!
While preventing illness is important, Holistic Healing focuses on reaching higher levels of wellness. The right half of the wellness continuum invites people to constantly explore everyday actions that work for them and discover what to do in order to move toward the ultimate level of well being. People are motivated by the feeling of vitality and enthusiasm, knowing that their actions will help them maintain the state of well being for the years to come.
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