What is Holistic Health?
Through massages, body work sessions, chiropractic care, homeopathic and herbal remedies, diagnostic health analysis, biofeedback, meditation, yoga, nutritional counseling, guided imagery and other forms of self-nurturing, you can take responsibility for your well being. Relaxation, meditation tapes, and books on wellness are also available. Practicing preventive medicine is a conscious choice and can lead to a longer, happier, healthier life.
Massage and Body Work
There is nothing quite like a good massage, but there is more to it than meets the hand. The art of massage has been around for thousands of years, and used by ancient Greek and Roman physicians as a means of healing and soothing the sick. For many of us, stiffness, pain and stress have become a way of life with too much of our energy consumed by tension. Massage can offer you relief and enhance the function of your body and increase a greater sense of well being. Of all of our senses, touch is the first to develop — and the most essential for life and development. In recent medical studies, patients denied skill contact reported felling isolated and cut off from human warmth and touch. It’s clear that how much we are touched in a caring way, affects self-esteem and how much we value our lives.
Massage by qualified therapists is a system of manipulating or kneading and applying pressure to the soft tissue of the body to induce a state of total relaxation. There are many types: Swedish, Neuromuscular, Miofacial Release, Foot Reflexology, Shiatsu, Planiopsychotherapy and Plaratherity. Massage works mainly on muscles, ligaments and tendons, and affects the body fluid balance of blood and lymph. All forms of massage can be effective as preventive medicine, and assure a “pick me up” for all who feel run down or burnt out.
Guided Imagery
Guided imagery has been used by artists, writers and performing artists to enhance creativity. By athletes to achieve high levels of coordination and skill for peak performance. By salespeople for increased sales. By executives to become more relaxed. But what is guided imagery? It’s a process that uses all the senses that communicate with the mind: sight, hearing, smell, taste, the sense of movement, position and touch. Through the use of guided imagery, changes of physiology such as increased heart rate, breathing rate and blood pressure have been scientifically documented. It has been shown to create a positive influence on the body’s immune system and even more powerful effects have been documented where it’s been used to assist cancer and burn patients to improve the body’s capacity to overcome disease, pain and scarring. As you can probably imagine, the applications are sessions that are extremely relaxing and last about one hour. Together with professionals trained in guided imagery, you can experience the effects of beautiful, uplifting and stimulating imagery designed to benefit your body, emotions, mind and spirit.
Natural Healing
The goal of natural healing is to eliminate the cause of disease and raise oneself to a better standard of health by simply returning to the basics in nature. It sounds more complex than it really is. It requires getting back to the basics with the help of professional naturopathic practitioners though personalized diet, breathing and exercise programs, various counseling, nutritional, botanical medicine, physical therapy and lifestyle modification programs. Majorotherapy is a system oriented medicine which stresses the maintenance of health and prevention of disease. It dates back to the alternative healing system of the 18th and 19th century Europe and flourished in the early 20th century America. Today, it’s an elected medicine using traditional European, Native American and African remedies. It’s complimentary to conventional medical practices and training is similar requiring at least four to five years following a bachelor’s pre-medicine program. They are trained herbalist through the modern pharmacology of plants. Ultimately, the goals are to educate and empower the client to make more informed decisions toward health care.
Selecting a Practitioner
How do you choose the Holistic Practitioner who’s right for you? How to determine where to go and who to go to for medical or therapeutic help of any kind? Do you call a friend? Look in the yellow pages? Perhaps you try all kinds of remedies and vitamins, spending all kinds of money and finding you don’t know if it’s right for you. Here are some helpful hints that might help you choose the Holistic Practitioner for you. First, determine your primary purpose: are you looking for health maintenance or treatment? Select one or more types of treatment appropriate for your goal or problem. Get a referral from a source you can trust. Check the practitioner’s background, training and experience.
Ask questions and get names of clients to contact. Interview the practitioner. It’s a good idea to attend the introductory lectures or free consultations offered. Observe their operation and surroundings. Is the environment clean, pleasant and conducive to practicing medicine? Are you being treated in a concerned manner? Your Holistic Practitioner should be willing to consult with your medical doctor and conduct a thorough history and diagnostic process. When possible, consult with several practitioners before beginning treatment.
And remember, it’s your responsibility to participate and share the decision making on what’s best for you. Your health is important.
