Web of Wellness: Understanding Holistic Wellness

You can measure health in tons of different ways. All too often, though, "health" gets broken down into super-specific diagnoses and numbers that don't actually give an accurate picture of someone's mind and body overall. That's where holistic wellness comes in.

You can have a body in top physical condition but still find yourself feeling unhappy. Likewise, you might feel great mentally but wish you could find a way to eat better or exercise more. Your mind, body, and spirit all play into your wellness, and learning how to heal all three can help you be your best self.

Defining Holistic Wellness

So, just what is holistic wellness? It's a multi-disciplinary approach to your overall wellness that looks at the whole person, not just individual parts or symptoms. And it's not just the whole body that holistic wellness considers. The approach incorporates your body, mind, and spirit, often involving multiple complementary practices to achieve a mind-body connection. Instead of treating a symptom in a singular way, holistic practices consider health in terms of:

• Physical wellness
• Emotional wellness
• Social wellness
• Spiritual wellness
• Intellectual wellness

Day-to-day life can feel stressful. That manifests in different ways in different bodies. Holistic approaches can get you relief from physical symptoms like tension headaches and lower back pain, but they can also help you manage anxiety and other mental and emotional symptoms. These natural approaches can also overlap with Western medicine — in other words, you can keep seeing your doctor and therapist and taking prescribed medicines while delving into holistic wellness practices, too.

Exploring Holistic Wellness Practices

Holistic wellness approaches understand that all aspects of health, not just the physical body, play into a person living in the healthiest, happiest way possible. If one area gets compromised, it's likely others will suffer as well.

Ready to start living your best life? Here are some holistic wellness practices you can start incorporating into your routine:

Meditation

Meditation is just a catch-all phrase for different ways you can get to a relaxed state of being. Just look online or check out meditation and mindfulness apps like Calm and you'll find a variety of meditation methods. You can then experiment with some different techniques to find what works best for you. Some meditation techniques include:

• Guided meditation, where you form mental pictures of places or situations that relax you while using as many senses as you can. This method usually involves a guide or teacher.
• Mantra meditation, which has you repeat a calming word, phrase, or thought silently to yourself to push out distracting thoughts.
• Mindfulness meditation, based on increasing your acceptance and awareness of living in the present moment. This technique typically involves focusing on something you experience while meditating, like your breath, as you learn to let emotions and thoughts pass by without judgment.
• Qi gong, a part of traditional Chinese medicine that seeks to restore and maintain balance by combining meditation with physical movement, relaxation, and breathing exercises.

Yoga

A low-impact, beginner-friendly way to get your body moving, yoga can help both your physical state (think: improved balance, better posture, and increased flexibility) and mental well-being. Regular yoga practice can reduce stress, increase your concentration, and even help you sleep better. The best part? It's incredibly easy to find a yoga practice that fits your level of skill and flexibility, then build your routine from there.

Reiki

Reiki is a Japanese method of relaxation. It relies on the idea of a life force energy that flows inside every person, keeping us alive. If that energy is low, you'll feel weak and unhealthy. On the other hand, when it's high, you'll have a better chance to find happiness and feel healthy. The healing practice involves a practitioner placing their hands on or close to your body. This then eliminates the negative energy that makes you feel sick. Reiki can help you relax, also alleviating symptoms of pain, depression, and anxiety.

Nutrition

What we put into our bodies has a big impact on how we feel, both physically and mentally. Incorporating mindful choices when deciding what to eat can help achieve holistic wellness. Some tips when considering nutrition include:

• Creating a nutrient-dense diet chock full of plant-based foods. You don't need to cancel animal products in your diet, but try for organic and pastured options if you don't want to totally cut out animal products.
• Maintaining a balanced blood sugar. Adulting pro-tip: Try eating meals or snacks with a mix of fat, protein, and carbohydrates every three or four hours.
• Limiting hydrogenated oils and processed foods. These products tend to be highly inflammatory, even increasing the risk of chronic disease.
• Consuming nutrient-dense foods high in omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants instead. These awesome foods help cut down overall inflammation, and they also support cognitive function.
• Incorporate more gut-healing foods into your diet. Think: foods rich in prebiotics and probiotics. A healthy gut helps lead to a healthy mind!

Exercise

You don't need to start deadlifting twice your bodyweight or running marathons to reap the benefits of exercise. Simply moving your body for 30 minutes every day in whatever way works for you will help improve your overall wellness. Everyone's exercise routine can be different, and you can develop an exercise practice suited to your skill level and what your body needs.

Psychic Healing

Psychic readings can also be part of your holistic wellness routine. The best psychics can guide you on a path to spiritual wellness, providing a support system and sounding board when you want to make actionable changes to your lifestyle and health — or just need someone to talk to when you're taking on life's tough moments.

Whether you're looking for relief from specific symptoms or simply want to boost your overall health, creating a holistic wellness routine can help you feel healthier and happier. Not sure how to get started? Speak with a psychic advisor today for personalized advice about beginning your unique holistic wellness journey.