What is Holistic Health?
Holistic health is an approach to life that considers multidimensional aspects of wellness. It encourages individuals to recognize the whole person: physical, mental, emotional, social, intellectual, and spiritual. The individual is an active participant in their health decisions and healing processes, including wellness-oriented lifestyle choices. Holistic approaches to health are derived from ancient healing traditions that help to achieve higher levels of wellness and prevent disease. These approaches include use of traditional medical systems, mind-body-spirit interventions, manipulative and body-based approaches, biological based therapies and energy therapies. Most of these approaches are used in combination with each other and with conventional medicine to provide a holistic and integrated approach to health. These traditional holistic approaches focus on the use of food, herbs, supplements, teas, homeopathic remedies, and essential oils as “medicine”. Movement, dancing, singing or chanting, sound and vibration, drumming, prayer, meditation, mindfulness, and touch are examples of activities that are included in holistic approaches. Holistic approaches include but are not limited to: acupuncture, acupressure, biofeedback, massage therapy, chiropractic physicians, manual therapy, naturopathic physicians, meditation, guided imagery, yoga, therapeutic touch, reiki and other energy therapies, and ayurveda. On campus, the interest and enthusiasm for this inclusive and multidimensional approach to health and wellness has resulted in the development of a concentration in Holistic and Integrative health within the Health Promotion Studies major at WCSU.
