What is Holistic Medicine?

The word "holism" is rooted in the Greek "holos" meaning whole. It supports the idea that the universe cannot be broken down to the sum of its parts. Holistic medicine is therefore an approach to health, healing and wellness that aims to treat the patient as a complete entity without reducing him or her to mere symptoms, physical or otherwise. What this approach does then, is that it considers the person from multiple dimensions such as current psychological state and natural tendencies, environmental and social factors and a dimension beyond the physical, intangible to some, indescribable to others, but we all know that it exists.

Most holistic health approaches whether Chinese medicine, Naturopathy or Ayurveda believe that the maintenance of the body's natural balance is key to good health. Any external stimulation that tips this balance (also called homeostasis) leads to illness or "dis-ease". When this stability is disturbed, patients are encouraged by the holistic approach to look with awareness at their body and mind in order to determine the possible causes, no matter how diverse and string them together into a coherent whole so that healing can begin from there on. Focusing on the deeper causes of illness rather than the symptoms alone helps in initiating a process of self-healing. That in fact is the core of many holistic health care systems - the awakening of the body's own potential to heal itself.

Holistic systems are also termed complementary which suggests that systems other than the mainstream, western one are "alternative". However, as awareness grows about the spiritual dimension of humans, doctors and therapists are willing to traverse the bridge between body and mind and are trying to take treatments beyond mere symptomatic diagnosis and management. Holistic healing therapists are equally applying techniques of modern diagnosis in order to help them assess and determine the cause of the distress that they are trying to address.

The prevention-is-better-than-cure approach is nothing to be taken lightly. Most modern day ailments can be traced back to stress, poor diet and lack of adequate sleep. Then there are stress-induced actions, such as smoking or drinking that further deplete the body of its energy or "pranic" reserves. What stress also does is break down the body's homeostasis, which in turn reduces immunity and makes the body vulnerable to sickness. Moreover, our emotions do affect our physical equilibrium as well. Take for example the breath. It becomes shallow and fast when we are angry or upset. And we mean it when we say the long commute to work is a pain in the neck or that certain events were gut-wrenching.

There is enough evidence to show that the mind does affect the body and a positive frame of mind can dramatically alter the course of our physical health. What science calls the placebo effect is proof enough of the power that the mind has over the body. It follows then, that this wellspring of positive vibrations (thoughts have energy and vibrations too) can be tapped and healing, set in motion. This precisely is one of the aims of certain types of holistic therapies. Once relaxation is induced and the mind focused on the body or breath, calmness follows and the positive effects of a calm mind can never be over emphasized.

The aim therefore of all therapeutic interventions should be to address the whole being, understanding and acknowledging full well that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and that the human being is nothing but a cosmic blue-print of sorts.

There are steps individuals can take on their own as well, to prevent illness. Meditation, yoga, creative visualization and Tai chi as we all know, are only a few examples of how this can be done. A contented mind is indeed a continual feast if what that translates into is great health and a consequent high quality of life.