“The part can never be well unless the whole is well.”
Socrates (Greek Philosopher 4th century B.C)
What is holistic therapy?
To understand why holistic therapy is so effective, we must first understand fully what it is and how it can help us. The word holistic is literally defined as the belief that parts of something are intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole. Wholistic. Let that word sit with you for a minute. Holistic healers take into account the whole picture of a person, not just the symptoms presented by a physical complication.
These are the simple fundamentals of holistic medicine:
- Approaching the individual as a whole person, not just the disease.
- The belief that all people possess the ability to heal themselves.
- Treatment involves fixing the root cause of the condition, not just alleviating symptoms.
- The healing process addresses all aspect of a person’s life, in attempt to bring balance, by use of a variety of treatments.
“It is more important to know what sort of person has a disease, than to know what sort of disease a person has.”
Hippocrates (Greek physician “the father of medicine” 4th century B.C)
The quest for optimal health
A holistic treatment can be many things; a massage, psychotherapy sessions, use of essential oils and herbs as natural remedies, life coaching, hypnosis, acupuncture, chiropractic medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, breath work, chakra balancing, crystal healing, acupressure… The list of techniques are almost endless, but they all have one thing in common: The quest for optimal health and wellbeing.
It is standard procedure these days to present with an ailment and head straight for the doctors office. This is often followed by the doctor conducting a speedy assessment and prescribing pharmaceutical drugs to treat the symptoms of the disease. We’ve all been there. In certain cases, this type of treatment is vital. Emergencies call for emergency doctors. There’s no arguing the dire importance of medical professionals in the health industry.
However, the doubts you want to be having are these:
- Are these prescription drugs going to fix the root cause my problem?
- Why does this problem keep reoccurring, with no long-term solution presented?
- Are these extra-strength, fast-absorbing, over-the-counter pain killers going to heal the underlying issue which is causing my pain?
- Is my liver or other organs going to suffer as a result of ingesting this medication, potentially causing more harm than good?
- Can I become addicted to the instant relief this super-drug offers?
- Are the side-effects worth the relief?
- Am I doing the right thing by masking a symptom which is alerting me of a deeper issue that needs resolving?
Why is holistic therapy booming today like never before?
With proper holistic treatment, these worrisome questions are not of concern. You learn to listen to what your body is telling you, and start to comprehend the links between the health of your mind and the health of your body; treating the two in unison. Finally, the only real question becomes, What has nature provided as an antidote?
So, now that we are in the know about holistic therapy, why is it booming today more than ever before? For starters, the ever-increasing demand for food, materials and convenience is a global pandemic. Consumerism is taking it’s toll on the environment in every way; enforcing a stressful work setting, encouraging fast-paced lifestyles, producing impatient attitudes and excreting pollutants into our atmosphere. The vast majority of people today have bad habits which are detrimental to their health. A lot of these bad habits are an attempt to self-medicate when faced with daily stresses, or afflicted with conditions such as depression and anxiety.
Holistic healing teaches and promotes self-love
Through observation, we see that society has managed to create a colossal need for balance to be restored. This is where holistic healing comes in. With such quick and easy access to information, society as a whole is becoming more open-minded to alternative treatments. People want to feel wholesome and be healthy, and are turning in masses towards holistic therapy to help them reach their goals. In times of great emphasis on how important it is to look good, there is an area of neglect regarding how important it is to feel good. Holistic healing teaches and promotes self-love, and once you have that, you have everything.
The health industry and holistic world is only expanding. The growth is expected to increase for the foreseeable future, and as more people become educated on the benefits, they will start to implement holistic treatments into their usual self-care routines. Or as some of my own clients have named them; ”A stay alive and recharge massage.”
You can learn all about holistic therapies and even take courses online yourself from the comfort of your own home. At the School of Natural Health Sciences there are over 50 different holistic therapy courses to discover, including Holistic Massage Therapy, Holistic Pain Management and Meridian Psychotherapy. In conjunction, these qualifications can change your world and that of others. Check out the courses on offer here.
