If you're not really sure what holistic health is, it's NOT because
you're a dummy! There are a LOT of misconceptions out there, partly
because people use so many different terms to describe holistic health,
and not everyone means the same thing. Many people use the term
"alternative health", but you'll NEVER hear me use it. I don't like it,
because to me it denotes something other than what's accepted and
acceptable. The only community, in my view, that doesn't
accept holistic health practices as valid is the conventional medical
community. But I don't recognize the conventional (allopathic) medical
community as a standard, much less "the" standard. Many of the
practices encompassed in holistic health have been around a LOT longer
than allopathic medicine and actually have a track record for HEALING,
which is not really the case with allopathy. In my personal view,
allopathic medicine is the alternative, and I don't choose it. (Now
don't get me wrong. If I fall off a roof and need stitched back up, I
will avail myself of an allopathic doctor to do so. But for matters
involving health and healing, that's not where I'm going to turn. I do
not believe that dis-ease comes from a drug deficiency, so I'm not going
to someone in search of a drug.)
Also, I don't associate the word "health" with allopathic medicine, so
to say that holistic health practices are "alternative health" seems an
oxymoron to me. It is my personal belief that most of the conditions
which allopathic medicine "treats" are the result of lifestyle and
allopathy administers drugs and surgical procedures to suppress or
compensate for them. Overall, VERY FEW of the conditions allopathic
doctors treat are actual birth defects or accidents not brought on by
lifestyle choices, percentage-wise. If your lifestyle choices are
causing your body to raise your cholesterol level really high to
compensate and patch up the damage, then taking a drug to suppress your
body's natural healing process is not going to fix anything. Your
body will just try to find another way to send you a message that it's
out of balance and it's trying to save your life by doing what it was
created to do. If your body has taken on a lot of extra fat because
you eat a lot of garbage (food-like substances), the answer is not to
take a drug to suppress your appetite or have surgery to make your
stomach smaller. Your body is trying to save your life by storing the
toxins you're consuming in your fat, away from your organs where they
would be more dangerous. Taking away your body's ability to do that
will not make you healthy and fit. And your body will fight you every
inch of the way.
I use the term Holistic Health to encompass practices (modalities) that
enable and encourage the body to heal itself. These would include, but
are not limited to, Traditional Chinese Medicine, including acupuncture;
Chiropractic manipulation; Shiatsu and other forms of body work;
Homeopathy; Herbs; Nutrition, including supplements; Exercise; Massage; Reiki; Energy Medicine and Energy Psychology; Body Talk; Aromatherapy;
Gemstone therapy, and many other modalities.
Another term that is often misused is Homeopathy. Many people are
confused about what it is and many mistakenly use it to mean
Naturopathic or Holistic. It falls into those categories, but is a very
specific philosophy all by itself. A Naturopath is a degreed
practitioner who specializes in several holistic health disciplines, one
of which may be homeopathy. Holistic just means pertaining to
supporting the whole body in healing, and homeopathy does that. I've
often heard people say something is homeopathic, when what they really
mean is that it's "all natural". Homeopathy is one of my favorite
holistic health modalities and you will learn a lot about it on this
site. It is one of, if not THE, safest ways to support your body in
healing, and I'll talk more about it later.
Pretty much anything and everything I'll talk about on this blog and on my website is holistic. You can also find a Glossary of Terms, with more information on common holistic health terms as a sub-page to the Home Page, on the drop-down menu.
(Okay, I'll hop down off my soapbox for now. I love having my very own soapbox. This is so cool!)
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