Learning about holistic health can help you create a healthy, balanced life. This approach to helping people improve health and well-being connects various aspects. Practitioners of holistic health do not only focus on physical symptoms of illness. They also consider how factors within a person’s life can affect total wellness.
One idea holistic health focuses on is the concept of connections between mind and body. Practicing yoga can be a way to treat your health holistically. Through yoga, you can potentially find benefits for both the body and the mind. Besides physical wellness, holistic health also considers emotional wellness. Holistic health practitioners advocate interacting with people and places around you to facilitate emotional wellness. Holistic health also focuses on getting the rest needed for physical and emotional wellness.
1. Pay Attention to Your Body and Your Mind
Paying attention to the mind as well as the body is an essential part of holistic health. Holistic health practitioners consider components of maintaining physical health such as nutrition. They also consider aspects of mental well-being such as the expression of creativity. Holistic health also explores connections between the body and the mind. It focuses on noticing the relationships between thought processes and physical health.
2. Incorporate Yoga Into Your Life
Yoga can be part of a holistic wellness approach. Yoga can have benefits for both body and mind. A 2022 article in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine offers many health benefits that yoga can provide. The article presents the idea that yoga can help with managing chronic illness. In addition, the article states that yoga can “reduce the overall risk of chronic diseases.” According to the article, the health-building effects of yoga include boosting the responsiveness of the immune system. The article also states that yoga can “reduce the psychological and physiological effects of chronic stress.”
3. Make Emotional Health A Priority
Emotional health is another area of focus within holistic health. A website featuring advice from the American Academy of Family Physicians, familydoctor.org, states: “Good emotional health starts with being aware of your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.” As mentioned, holistic health pays attention to the connection between the body and the mind. For instance, the website familydoctor.org states that stress can adversely affect physical health and that lessening stress may be physically beneficial. The website also advises addressing physical and emotional symptoms in tandem when needed.
There are many active steps you can take to benefit your emotional health. One way you can actively care for your emotional health is by taking time to engage with the people around you. Take time to emotionally support others and build your emotional support system. Meet new people and appreciate the people you care about. Another way you can support your emotional health is by getting enough rest. People think better and process emotions more thoughtfully when they have slept well. These two ways of engaging with emotional health will be explored further in the next two sections.
4. Find Ways to Interact With the World
According to St. Catherine University, holistic health may involve looking at possibilities to interact with the world around. St. Catherine University states that interactions could include exploring “features of the space one lives in.” The website of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) involves taking mindful walks. Such walks can help you engage meaningfully with your environment. This meaningful engagement can improve emotional health.
Focusing on holistic health can also involve relating meaningfully to the people around you. The St. Catherine University website explores this topic. The website states that holistic health can involve finding ways you are “connected to others.” Getting to know others can foster emotional health. The website continues that holistic health considers ways connections can be “strengthened, renewed, and repaired.”
5. Make Sure to Get Enough Rest
Getting enough rest is an important component in promoting holistic health. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), finding the time to get sleep is crucial. The NIH website states that “sleep affects both mental and physical health.” The NIH also states that sleep affects mental clarity and concentration. The website offers a variety of helpful suggestions for facilitating better sleep. For instance, the website recommends having a set time to go to bed and a set time to get up. The site also suggests finding a way to relax before bed, such as reading a book.
Benefits of Incorporating Holistic Health Concepts
Looking at your wellness through the lens of holistic health could be helpful. You could incorporate small changes into your life that could improve your health and well-being. For instance, you could develop a sleep routine. A routine that works for you could help you get the needed rest. You could take mindful walks to engage with your surroundings. You could also observe how your mind and body interact to affect how you feel.
