What Holistic really means
Do you know what holistic means? It may not be what you think.
I was surprised recently when a good friend and fellow holistic therapist brought my attention to the amount of confusion and misunderstanding there currently is attached to this word.
It's a word I used on a daily basis here on this blog and my YouTube channel as Holistic Vegan and also in my business name Angel Wings Holistics, so I felt it was time to put the record straight any just clear up some of the questions you might have about it.
First of all I want to bust a few myths about what is doesn't mean because personal experience this year has taught me that there is a lot of fear and assumption attached to it, that I must confess, I was blissfully ignorant of.
It's not a Religion
As somebody who really doesn't get on with any of the world religions and abhors dogma, this is an important one to clear up first.
A few years ago, back in 2011, we had a census here in the UK, and one of the questions you are asked on the long and complicated form, is your religion. A holistic therapist friend made contact with me to tell me that there was a contingent of holistic therapists who were putting "holistic" down as their religion in what I believe was an attempt to have it formally recognised as a religion in the UK.
I was rather taken aback by this, and whilst I could see that they meant well, it felt very wrong to do that, so I personally didn't. I can only assume that my holistic therapy colleagues were trying to protect their position from unnecessary or stifling regulation or persecution.
"Holistic" is not a religion! It's an adjective used to describe many different things, but it is certainly not any sort of religion and to claim that it is, is just misleading.
Whilst I could understand their feeling, I could see that they were coming from a place a fear and disempowerment, and were simply doing the wrong thing for what they considered the right reasons.
In my opinion, they had no right to falsely hijack the word for the sake of what they may have considered a chance to gain a modicum of legal protection for their business activities, however well meaning they might have been.
I don't believe they were successful in their endeavour, but with another census due in 2021, who knows what the future will hold.
The Dictionary Definition of Holistic
Holistic essentially means whole. It implies that everything is interconnected as part of a larger reality.
The Oxford dictionary defines it as:
"Characterized by the belief that the parts of something are intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole."
and in medical terms
"Characterized by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the symptoms of a disease."
It's not new-age, alternative healing nonsense
I call myself a Holistic Therapist because I am professionally trained in a number of these techniques. I don't consider myself "new-age" and I find many parts of this movement rather distasteful. (I really can't abide tie dye or white people with dreadlocks, but let's just gloss over that for a moment.)
Holistic Therapy is simply an umbrella term to describe many, many varied techniques and forms of healing and wellness that treat the recipient as a whole being, taking into account the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of them as a being.
Many of these techniques are very old, while others are more recent or newer versions of traditional treatments like the well known Indian Head Massage which is a westernised massage system loosely based on ayurverdic traditions.
Holistic does not imply new-age or even alternative, it just means you are treated as a whole being, unlike some treatments and therapies, which may only look at a single bodypart or health issue, without taking larger factors into account that may also have an impact on the wellbeing of the individual.
What is Holistic Living?
Holistic living means honouring all parts of yourself, including mind, body, spirit and emotions, and your connection to the entire human race, all life and the universe itself.
There is also a contingent in the spiritual community that believes it is all about love and light, and again that's a rather short sighted view. Not everything is black and white, light and dark, there are many shades of grey.
Another interesting point is that I recently discovered that there are some parts of society who are actually afraid of the term and what it implies and certain institutions and corporations now have allegedly have an unofficial but blanket policy of not employing anyone who is involved with any holistic therapy or spiritual work outside of mainstream religion.
It may seem curious, but I can see why businesses that perhaps are not as "white hat" as they would like us to believe might be cautious of a person who is aware of all parts of themselves and may have the psychic ability to discern some of what goes on behind the scenes...
But back to my original point - Holistic essential means WHOLE and Holistic Living it implies living as a whole integrated being, honouring all aspects of yourself, and that's how I try to live my life.
And yes, as you may have guessed I do follow a vegan lifestyle.
I'll talk more about myself in future blogs and videos, but for now I hope that has helped to clarify the correct meaning of the word holistic.
Holistic just means whole. And whole is how we were meant to be.
Wishing you much love, peace, joy and tofu.
