Wednesday, March 3, 2010

What is Holistic Medicine?

The field of holistic healing or medicine, often referred to as "alternative" or "natural" medicine, incorporates any healing modality that uses natural and/or non-harmful methods to assist the body in it's efforts to heal. The words "holistic" and "wholistic" both mean the same thing, and come from the Greek word holos, meaning whole. Holistic is not a religious term, rather it refers to the whole body approach to healing, including the mind, thoughts, and emotions as well as the physical body. Although the original spelling of the word is with an ‘h’, some holistic counsellors, because of our current day spelling of the word, prefer to spell it with a 'w.' They also feel the use of our word “whole” in their title, more appropriately describes their whole body approach to healing.

Holistic medicine is based on the premise that God created within man, at the cell level, the knowledge of how to maintain and repair itself. It is man's job to support this process, and to avoid doing anything that might interfere with it. Forms of support might include: proper adjustment of the spine, a wholesome diet, massage, positive thinking, dietary supplementation when necessary, taking supportive herbs, or gently stimulating the body's natural defense with homeopathy.