What is 'Holistic Healing?'
This term has become trendy in the World of Wellness. A buzzword. A catchphrase.
Holistic means focusing on the whole rather than just the parts. It has endless uses. Holistic Learning. Holistic Cleaning. Holistic Holidays. Yes, these are all real…I looked them up.
Holistic Healing is approaching health via multiple layers, levels, and aspects. A balancing act. Mind. Body. Spirit. Wellness is not simply a lack of illness. Your relationships. Your home. Your working environment. Your diet. How you think. How you feel. How you react.
From a young age, I took up weight training. Embraced the 'fitness lifestyle.' Whole, non-processed, nutritious foods. Weight lifting. Cardio. I entered (and sometimes won) 'Best Body Contests.' I even modelled for a couple of local gym adverts.
Inside, I was a mess.
Horrible habits. Smoking. Too much alcohol. Insane relationships. My thoughts were all over the place. Self-loathing. Self-destructive. Self-flagellation. shudder
Physically, I looked fantastic. Mentally and spiritually, fragmented and lost.
Why do I bring this up? To show that focusing on one aspect of 'health,' in this case, physical appearance, does not guarantee the rest will follow suit.
It took me forty years to figure this out.
Desperation led me to meditation. Something I had dismissed as 'pointless.' Then I embraced Reiki. I felt better. Yet something was still missing.
After years of living in the English countryside, I finally understood. Connecting with the natural world was the missing part of my puzzle. I then realized how crucial this is for everyone to understand.
Is my life a perfectly balanced picture now? Uh…no. I still have unhelpful habits. Challenged by the chaos and drama of life. Make unwise choices. Choose irrational decisions. Have horrible moments. Or days. Even weeks, on occasion.
However, I can now return to a much more balanced set point. My 'norm' is to feel pretty darn good rather than perpetually troubled. My daily practices reset my choice of thoughts. Prepares me to actively live rather than passively react to life.
You do not have to completely give up your favourite treat. Or quit drinking or smoking or watching horrible shows. Small changes in major aspects of your life, over time, will have a cascade effect. Overall, you start to feel better. Feeling better results in making healthier choices.
Is living a Holistic Lifestyle easy? Not really. If it were, then Everyone Would Do It. However, it is relatively simple to live a bit holistically. All you need is the desire to feel better, the commitment to do so, and the means to get started.
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