Kate: How do you define holistic health? What does the term "holistic" even mean? Ringing any bells in your noggin? Or perhaps you see it as some new age term with little to no real definition. To me, holistic means "whole" and all-encompassing. And when referring to health, it points to taking into taking into account all aspects of a person's life as keys to their health. So, instead of just examining physical symptoms and causes, holistic health practitioners (like myself) look at a person's emotional state, mental clarity, environmental influences, relationships, stress level, job satisfaction and even their spiritual beliefs. (Not to mention the quality of the food and water they eat and drink). Because every piece of your life situation either adds to or takes away from your life energy and health.
What are your thoughts on this? I'd love to know.
Teresa: I agree with you Kate. For me the term Holistic reflects all aspects of a persons life, I think as most of us grew up with a western medical model,where we learned to compartmentalize our health issues. That reductionist way of thinking may help "zero in" on a problem, but it also gives us a false view of who we really are, and how to live as balanced human beings.
The diet industry is a great example of this. We are willing to damage ourselves physically and emotionally in many cases, to become thin. When often we are eating to nourish our emotions, or cover up hurt. Then on top of it we are unkind to ourselves for not being thin. A viscous cycle. I really liked what you shared on the show about primary foods, and nourishing our lives. Would you be willing to touch on that for those who may not have heard that show???
In Indigenous Cosmology it goes even further, body, mind, spirit, emotions, community and the earth. Because we are all interrelated, what effects others we love, and are close to, effects us. The same holds true for the earth.
Kate:
Certainly, Teresa.
Primary Foods are everything that nourishes your life, besides the food you eat, including relationships, career, hobbies, movement/exercise, etc. They are "primary" because the nourishment from these other parts of your life feed your mind, emotions, and spirit. They give meaning and purpose to your life. They are the foundations of healthy living. The food you eat is really a secondary source of nourishment. We need food, of course, and it's very important to eat high quality foods, so as to give our bodies the balanced nutrition it needs to sustain our energy levels throughout the day, whether we're behind a computer or running a marathon.
I so agree with what you said about the Indigenous Cosmological perspective and including society/community and the earth into our views of health. In order for us to thrive as individuals, we must create healthy relationships with one another and collaborate to support the health of the earth. Yes! They are all interrelated and cannot be separated.
Science has a need and desire to separate and dissect the pieces--making the parts more important than the whole-- which creates a healthcare view that is limited in its abilities to reach and affect people and communities on a sustainable level. Western medicine treats a headache by looking to dislodge the symptoms. Holistic medicine will treat the person by looking at all the "primary foods" and factors that could be causing a headache (i.e. stress and tension, poor nutrition, dehydration, stressful relationship with spouse, or environmental allergies).
I could go on and on about this, but would rather this discussion be more than a monologue.
We'd love to hear YOUR thoughts and perceptions of holistic medicine? What does the term holistic mean to you?
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