Do you find yourself feeling less than happy a lot of the time?
You don’t have to feel dissatisfied with life. Just like a broken arm or a migraine, you can fix the pain you feel and start your journey to recovery.
There are plenty of ways you can start looking at your life in a new light. One is by focusing on wellness and holistic healing, which you might have heard about. But what are these and how can they help you?
Take a look at our guide for everything you need to know.
What Is Wellness?
Although wellness is a very new word in terms of healing, the concept is ancient. Civilizations around the world have been using the key ideas for years, including Ancient China, Rome, and India. Wellness was also developed alongside conventional medicine in the 1800s as an alternative method for healing.
In the 1960s and 70s, wellness gained some traction. It moved into more mainstream therapies and has been evolving ever since. Now, a lot of people base their healing around the idea of wellness.
So, what is it?
Wellness is the idea of striving for better wellbeing across all aspects of life, including physical, social, and mental. Let’s take a deeper look into each aspect.
Physical Wellness
Focusing on looking after your body better can have a big effect on your state of mind. This doesn’t mean dieting or doing tons of exercise. Instead, it means being more careful with what you put in your body and making sure what you do eat is good for you and the planet.
It also covers what you put on your skin and taking care of your appearance. Looking after your body is a form of self-care, so don’t forget it!
Emotional Wellness
Taking the time to listen to your emotions is an incredibly important part of wellness. Reflecting inwardly can help you understand how you’re feeling and which aspects of yourself you need to focus on. Your emotions are how your mind talks to you, so learn to listen to yourself.
Spiritual Wellness
Spiritual wellness is entirely personal. It doesn’t necessarily mean religion, but anything that helps you tap into the beauty of the world and yourself, helping you cope better with everyday life.
Environmental Wellness
The relationship you have with the environment around you can have a huge impact on your state of mind. Getting back to nature can help you calm down, ground your feelings, and help you develop a better sense of self. This can include eating organic, home-grown plants, taking walks in nature, and swimming in lakes.
Intellectual Wellness
Wellness relies on education. Knowing what’s good for you can empower you to make your own choices, uncovering a whole new world of self-care. Become informed about the world around you, and the impact we have on one another.
Social Wellness
The relationships you have with others play such an important role in your wellbeing, so pay attention to them. Connect with new people, spend more time with old friends, and make sure you’re showing love to the people around you. If you have a good circle of people around you, you’ll feel a lot more supported on your journey to wellness.
Wellness Practices
If you’re interested in wellness and want to start incorporating it into your life, there are thousands of things you can do. Really, there are so many ways you can start striving towards a healthier life! For inspiration, here are just a few examples of things you can start:
Start reading informative books on wellness
Switch from processed ready-meals to home-cooked food
Try out a new sport or exercise class
Start journaling your feelings and thoughts at the end of every day
If you work at a desk, make it a goal to get up and stretch every 30 minutes
Incorporate a healthy smoothie packed full of fruit and veg into your daily diet
Take time out every day for you, focusing on something that gives you pleasure like reading, walking, painting, or playing an instrument
Create a skincare routine using products you love
Take just 5 minutes out of your day to sit, breathe, and listen to your feelings
Most wellness practices are incredibly simple, but they can have a huge impact on your mental health! Taking care of yourself, both inside and out, can be the start of an incredible journey to a happy, healthy life.
But, of course, there’s more to recovery than wellness practices. Something that it ties in well with is holistic healing, which wellness is actually a part of.
What Is Holistic Healing?
Holistic health is very similar to wellness, and the two are closely intertwined. Your holistic health refers to your whole person; body, mind, and spirit.
The idea of holistic healing is that if one part of that whole person isn’t working properly, the whole being will be off-balance. To get you back on track, that root cause needs to be found and treated.
So, for example, if you’re having problems with your skin, commercial medicine may find a cream to heal it. But a holistic doctor will look at factors in your life that could be causing the skin problems, including your diet, how you’re sleeping, and what stress you might have in your everyday life.
When it comes to holistic healing therapies, your therapist will do more than prescribe anti-depressants. Instead, they’ll delve into the complexities of your mental state, trying to find the root cause of how you feel. They’ll focus on your whole self, rather than just the part of you that’s hurting.
Holistic therapists will focus a lot on wellness too. They’ll take a look at your current life and help you transform it into something that’s working for you rather than against you.
How Could Holistic Healing Help You?
A lot of people actually enjoy holistic healing as it’s non-invasive and proactive, helping you take action in your life. A therapist can delve deep into your person, discovering the issues you hold, and helping you resolve them. They can then work with you to create a more positive life, creating real change for you.
Holistic healing can cover a range of mental health problems, including depression, stress, and anxiety. They can help you re-discover self-love, prioritize your wellbeing, and provide you with coping mechanisms when negative feelings arise.
They can also help with your physical problems. A lot of people with mental health issues can see their pain manifest in their body, especially if they’re dealing with trauma. A holistic therapist can help you resolve your inner pain and take actionable steps to ease your physical pain simultaneously.
Holistic Healing Treatments
There’s a huge variety of holistic healing treatments that your therapist might use. They’ll adapt their approach based on your needs, making sure you get the help you’re looking for. But there are few methods you can expect if seeking out holistic therapy.
The first is education. Your therapist will help enlighten you on the holistic approach, educating you on the importance of looking after all aspects of your being.
They can also educate you on things such as how your diet may be affecting your mental health and ways to improve your relationships. If you’re interested in taking a spiritual approach to healing, they can guide you on your journey whilst letting you take the lead.
You can also expect a heavy focus on holistic self-healing. Your therapist will give you plenty of ways you can start healing your mind, body, and spirit at home, without their help. Self-care is a prominent feature in holistic therapy.
Massage therapy, acupuncture, and chiropractic care may also be offered depending on your issues. These can help heal both your body and mind, helping you feel more balanced.
As with most therapies, your holistic therapist will also want to focus a lot on your thoughts and feelings. If you have trauma, they’ll help you talk about it in a safe, comfortable environment. They’ll then give you the steps to follow to help resolve your trauma and free yourself from the pain you’re holding.
Start Your Holistic Healing Journey Today
If you’re interested in holistic healing, don’t wait to start. Your mind, body, and spirit are waiting for you to take action and bring your life into balance, so find peace with a therapy that really works.
If you want to learn more, feel free to get in touch with Paul Hannah, a trained healer who wants to help you find your own journey.