How can you improve your health? There is a range of ways you can approach this question. The first step is to acknowledge that you have a disease or health issue. Living a healthy life is about improving your health, not focusing on how you may be sick or sickly. Medically, this means recognizing that you have a disease and understanding why it may be occurring. It also means understanding that your health is dynamic and ever-changing.
Therapeutically, it means looking at your health from a whole-person perspective. You are not just one disease or health issue. Instead, you are a unique being with various gifts, talents, and skills. You can leverage these assets to improve your health. For example, if you have asthma, you may be able to improve your quality of life by doing what is best for your health and well-being by learning how to ride a bike or practice yoga.
It’s also important to look at your health holistically, not just from a disease or illness perspective. Holistic medicine looks at the whole person and considers all factors that contribute to your health. For example, you may realize that sitting at a desk all day makes you sicker than you would like to be. You may choose to take more time for yourself and make physical activity part of this new way of life.
Holistic medicine is not about doing whatever you want to do. It’s about working with your body, mind, and spirit to achieve the best health possible.
The Holistic Approach
Holistic physicians can integrate the following elements into their practice:
Holistic Health Care
Holistic health care treats your health that encompasses both the physical and mental aspects of your being. In holistic care, we look at your total health and all the factors contributing to it. We treat the person, not just the symptoms. Our goal is to heal you, not just treat the disease.
Holistic Medicine
Holistic medicine is a way of practicing medicine that focuses on the whole person. It looks at the physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects of health. Holistic physicians integrate these elements into their practice:
In holistic treatment, we look at our patients’ total health and consider all the factors that contribute to their health. We treat the patient, not just their symptoms. Our goal is to heal them, not just treat their disease.
Holism is a more comprehensive way of seeing life and living it; it’s a way of being in which we’re able to take care of ourselves as well as our family and friends—and even all living things—in a way that honors our world’s interconnectedness and interdependence on all items.