Sept 5, 2024

What is a Holistic Approach

by Dr. Elle Hutchins

Holistic Health means taking the whole system into account. Holistic Pain Management, Holistic Health and Wellness, Holistic Weigh Loss, and Holistic Healing, to name a few involve seeing the person as a collection of systems and not just treating the part that happens to be the problem.

Holistic Pain Management, for example, would involve evaluating how the following help or relieve pain

• Specific Movements that cause or relieve pain

• Where the muscles and bones are overly developed and pulling

• Where the associated bones and muscles are overly weak

• How nutrition and the ways in which a person nourishes themselves help to aggravate or relieve the problem.

• How nutrition and the other systems in our body impact our body as a whole

• Stress, Work, Emotional Support, Mental and emotional health, and connection

All of these work together to paint a picture of our overall health.

Holistic Health often implies natural health, but not necessarily

The reason holistic health has a reputation for being natural health is because many of the probelms in our modern life are lifestyle related. We have too much stress, not enough opportunities for meaningful activity that connects us to the natural world and to one another. We tend to be rushed and not nourish ourselves in a healthy balanced way, and we do not get the sleep our bodies need. Our bodies try to adapt by learning to use less sleep, and manage with out the proper nutrients, but these things catch up with us, either at the end of our day or at the end of our lifespan.