As we take our first steps towards a healthier lifestyle, holistic health embraces a mindful approach to wellness. It looks at us as a whole, considering our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual selves to identify healing and growth. Holistic health helps us focus on restoring balance and harmony in our lives by introducing lifestyle changes to naturally support mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. Through holistic health, we can adopt sustainable practices to nurture ourselves, our bodies, and our spirit.
1. A Shift to Holistic Wellness
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to profoundly impact the world’s health, mental and physical wellness has become increasingly important. To tackle the complex effects of the virus, it has become increasingly clear we need to take a holistic approach to wellness.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, it has become apparent that mental health plays a major role in overall wellbeing. Without proper understanding of mental health we cannot address other issues such as physical inactivity and poor diet. Holistic wellness recognizes the critical relationship between physical and mental wellbeing, and provides an approachable way to improve both.
Finding Balance in Diet
Social distancing has led to a lack of access to quality health nutrition. For many people, convenience and cost are now deciding which foods they purchase and consume, leading to a potential nutritional crisis. It’s important to find the balance between what is easy to access and healthy. To prevent continuing pandemic effects, individuals must ensure they find a balance of their dietary intake.
Creating a Routine
A key factor in any holistic approach is creating and adhering to a routine. Setting routines that include daily physical activities such as yoga, and also include mental health activities like journaling, can provide an answer to how to balance wellbeing.
Creating habits do not need to be expensive or time consuming, simple activities such as listening to a guided meditation before bed can be easy to incorporate into our routine. Additionally, setting aside 10-20 minutes a day for a low – impact workout from the comfort of our own home is a great way to stay active and healthy.
Utilizing Resources
Fortunately, there are a lot of easy and accessible tools we can use to improve our physical and mental wellbeing. Utilizing online educational resources, such as online fitness classes, guided meditations, and weekly virtual mental health check – ins with other individuals in the same situation can greatly improve an individual’s mental and physical wellbeing.
A Holistic Approach
Adopting a holistic approach to wellness has become more important than ever. Balancing physical and mental activities, creating and maintaining a routine, and utilizing low cost online resources can drastically improve an individual’s health. This approach ensures that all aspects of an individual’s wellbeing are addressed and nurtured.
2. Wellness for Mind, Body, and Spirit
Achieving wellness in mind, body, and spirit takes dedication, creativity, and the willingness to step outside the box. Taking an holistic approach helps us to better understand our inner and outer worlds – how we interact with each other, how we interact with our environment, and how to optimize wellness in all three areas.
Wellness for Mind begins with reflection, recognition, and celebration of our mental health. It can mean learning easy breathing exercises, meditation, or visualization techniques that help us cultivate relaxation and calm. Wellness for mind also involves taking nonjudgmental stock of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and reflecting on how they impact our lives.
Wellness for Body includes physical exercise, healthy eating habits, and getting quality sleep. Physical activity gets our blood flowing and stimulates the release of endorphins, fueling us for a productive day. Eating nutrient-dense meals helps us to better digest and provide our bodies with the energy needed to function properly. Regular sleep cycles, on the other hand, give us the rest necessary to power through our day.
Wellness for Spirit focuses on the deeper, spiritual side of our well-being – the meaning and purpose in our existence. It’s about connecting to something bigger than ourselves, and being able to hold onto spiritual elements throughout our life journey. This could include different activities:
- Having a meaningful conversation with a close friend
- Taking a spontaneous day trip to a nearby park
- Exploring a new religion or philosophy
- Exploring a new hobby or craft
- Engaging in creative writing or poetry
Achieving wellness in mind, body, and spirit doesn’t look the same for everyone. It takes time and effort to understand and be mindful of our inner and outer worlds. While the journey to wellness may not be easy, it is a journey worth taking.
3. Reaping the Benefits of Holistic Health
Holistic health is a powerful approach to overall wellbeing that involves taking care of the mind, body, and spirit. By making lifestyle changes, focusing on nutrition, and engaging in stress-reduction activities, the practice of holistic health can have a significant impact on physical and emotional wellbeing.
- Physical Benefits
The physical benefits of holistic health cover a wide range of areas, including sleep, digestion, physical energy, and immunity. Well-planned nutrition habits can lead to a balanced intake of vitamins and minerals, which in turn, has a positive effect on health. Additionally, physical activities such as yoga and Pilates help to improve muscle strength and flexibility, as well as reduce the chances of developing chronic illnesses as we age.
- Mental Benefits
Mental benefits are a core component of holistic health. Regularly focusing on relaxation techniques has been linked to improved cognitive abilities, lower stress levels, improved quality of sleep, and enhanced emotional wellbeing. Meditation and deep breathing exercises help to clear the mind and reduce stress. Increased feelings of self-worth can come from incorporating positive affirmations into your daily routine, and developing a clear understanding of one’s self.
- Spiritual Benefits
Lastly, spiritual benefits plays an integral role in holistic health. Taking time for introspection, making the space to experience joy, and creating time to listen to music and take walks in nature can help nourish us on a spiritual level. It’s important to make time for activities that spark joy and inspire peace and serenity. The spiritual well-being of ourselves and those around us can have a more positive outlook on life.
The practice of holistic health brings with it many benefits, some of which can be felt almost immediately. With the right mental and physical approach, as well as a dedication to self-care and spiritual exploration, the rewards of holistic health can be truly life-changing.
4. Taking the First Step Towards Wellbeing
Feeling overwhelmed by the issue of emotional wellbeing can be intimidating, making it difficult to know where to start. Here are some initial tips to take that first step:
- Recognize the impulse to do nothing: Understand that your feelings of overwhelm may be paralyzing you and preventing you from taking the necessary action to improve your wellbeing. Acknowledge that these feelings are temporary, and that you can take action without being overwhelmed.
- Take one small step: You don’t need to do everything at once. Taking one small step will give you the confidence to take the next. This could involve a simple act of self-care such as doing a stretch or taking a few moments to meditate.
- Prioritize rest and relaxation: Taking a break from anything that feels uncomfortable is essential. You don’t need to ‘push through’ all the time – sometimes, the best thing to do is just to take a break and come back to it when you are better rested and energized.
- Minimize stress: Stressful activities often make us feel worse. It can be helpful to take a mental and physical break from anything that causes stress. This could be anything from listening to calming music, deleting notifications, or avoiding conversations that may be difficult.
- Focus on the present: Remember, you don’t need to ‘fix’ everything at once. Instead of being overwhelmed by the past or worrying about the future, focus on the present and take it one step at a time.
Learn to listen to your body and nurture yourself appropriately. Start with small actions such as going for a walk, eating a healthy meal or doing some light exercise. Don’t underestimate the power of making these small changes – over time, these can add up to some serious progress.
Your state of emotional wellbeing is an essential part of leading a healthy and happy life. Taking the first step towards improved wellbeing is sometimes hard, but it can be the most important part of the journey. Once you take that first step, you’ll find that every action you take will give you the strength to take the next.
Holistic health offers a comprehensive approach to living a healthy lifestyle. By focusing on wellness of the mind, body, and spirit, it helps to cultivate balance in all areas of life. Take the first step to your own holistic health journey: embrace wellness and bring balance to your life.
