The Best Holistic and Organic Holiday Gifts

Posted on by

Holistic and Organic Holiday GiftsThere are folks today who prefer to receive green, natural and organic gifts over the more commercial, expensive and sometimes electronically complex ones. My family and friends now expect to receive such gifts and are actually disappointed if I don’t deliver.

In case you have a similar group of friends and family, here are some nice presents you can give that are not only green, and healthy but are also not expensive.

Natural gifts to consider giving this season:

  • Home baked natural or sprouted flour breads and cookies: The gluten free variety is so popular that baking a tin of delicious non-allergenic cookies or cakes will make you someone’s favorite Santa.
  • Handmade quilts: Talk about one of the best handmade gifts to receive, and a quilt is high on the list. Quilts are so popular that they are used for raffles at fundraisers and bring in huge piles of raffle revenue. Most handmade quilts also sell for hundreds if not thousand of dollars.
  • Live herb plants: Wonderful for growing on windowsills and to use in cooking. Aloe Vera is a great plant to keep on hand for any kind of burns or skin irritations. Simply break off a leaf and rub the healing liquid from the leaf on the burn or irritation.
  • Teas, Tea Pots and all thing related to this welcomed and health-filled brew: A wide variety of healing, soothing and delicious herb teas, in beautiful gift baskets can be found in health food and general grocery stores in the produce section.
  • Coffee grinders: This is a truly coveted gift for the coffee lover. Add a pound of organic free-trade coffee to make it the perfect gift.
  • Herbal Candles: Everyone enjoys the glow and aroma of a herbal or aromatic candle. They are beautiful, healthy and sensual.
  • Natural facial or massage gift certificate: Treat that hardworking friend or relative to a full body or facial massage. With so many natural herbs and wraps to choose from, they will want to make a day of it.
  • Pedometer: This handy device can let the user know just how far they have walked through the course of their day or exercise period to assist them in staying on top of their fitness.
  • Wellness baskets with nuts, dried fruits, tea, honey, dark chocolates, mustard, spices or salsa, fruits, veggie drinks and anything else you can imagine. These make beautiful and festive gifts as well.

Giving the gifts of health can be as fulfilling as receiving them, so think outside the box this season and surprise friends and family with these helpful and healthful presents.

Happy Holidays!

You may also be interested in theses NIWH Blogs:

12 Steps For Handling Difficult Relationships During The Holidays

Posted on by
Avoiding Conflict During The Holidays By Georgianna Donadio of National Institute of Whole Health

Thanksgiving is approaching, and the December holidays are on the horizon. Some say: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” Or is it? For many of us, the holiday visits back home to family members are something to be dreaded.

While we look forward to the pleasure of celebrating these festive times, there is also the memory of past conflicts and the very real possibility of new confrontations that we find ourselves anxious to avoid. We can tell ourselves that this is the year we will not get stressed out or upset with visits to or from our families.

This is what we strive for yet, most often, not how things turn out. So, how can we better navigate difficult relationships during the holidays in a way that is beneficial, and not harmful, to our whole person health?

Difficult Family Dynamics

According to Dr. Jeffrey Fine, Ph.D., director of the American Foundation for Conscious Parenting, our families can be “a breeding ground for repressed resentments and hostilities left over from childhood.” We might anticipate that once we have grown up and moved away to create our own lives and families these feelings would diminish, but, as many of us experience, unfortunately they do not.

One potential solution to transforming the holidays from stressful to joyful is the application of identified communication skills that have been researched and shown to facilitate changing difficult relationships. Behavioral Engagement is a 12-step set of communication skills that has been the subject of hospital pilot studies over a 2-year period.

The outcomes of these pilots showed the participants experienced a significant improvement in their relational outlook and attitude after interacting with the communication skills model. Originally developed to enhance relationships between whole health oriented doctors, nurses and patients, the model was also applied and studied with business and family relationships.

James Prochaska, Ph.D., renowned researcher on behavior change and author of Change for Good — the Six Stages of Transtheoretical Change says of Behavioral Engagement: “The process of Behavioral Engagement has the potential to transform relationships that are suffering or struggling to ones that are thriving!”

Generally, one of the most recommended approaches to staving off holiday conflicts is to “try and accept family members or friends as they are.” Unfortunately, this good intention can be easily sidelined without specific communications skills that can help keep us on track.

Easy 12-Step Model

The 12-Step Model of Behavioral Engagement offers specific, easy-to-learn communication skills that have been proven effective in changing conflicted relationships into compatible relationships based on the understanding that we all want to be valued, respected and listened to. The steps are based on physical, psychological, hormonal and neurological aspects of human relationships and communication. They start with the understanding that while we cannot change others’ behavior we can change our own behavior in how we relate to others, which can result in a transformative outcome for all participants.

Handling Difficult relationships during the holidays by georgianna donadio of national institute of whole health

We can do so by using specific, simple communication skills and following the steps that have been shown to be effective in creating greater receptivity and generating more positive emotions in relationships that have previously been conflicted or stressful.

If you have experienced or are anticipating challenging relationships during the holidays, you may wish to apply these easy steps and see if they can assist you in having happier and even healthier holidays.

Step One: Be physically comfortable when communicating. This removes discomfort that can distract from the conversation. Distractions reduce your attention, focus on the person you are speaking with, and decrease the conversational rapport and receptivity.

Step Two: Understand what you want. Our intentions are powerful behavior motivators. Understanding what we want from an exchange or a relationship can assist us in communicating more clearly our thoughts and feelings, inviting greater understanding and intimacy. Example: “I really want to understand what you are upset about.”

Step Three: Centered body posture. Uncross arms and legs and present open, receptive body language. To send the message that you are respecting the conversation and giving the other person your fully attention, do not play with your watch, glasses, hair or continually look away from the person you are speaking with. Committing to being focused is an important element in communication and sends the message that you care. We can all feel when someone values being with or speaking to us.

Step Four : Sustained, soft eye contact has been shown to stimulate oxytocin, which opens emotional centers of the brain and enhances trust and feelings of love and intimacy.

Step Five : Respectful inquiry. Asking rather than telling or directing and using “I” statements rather than “you” statements creates a safe, non-judgmental environment for the other person to communicate openly.

Step Six: Responsiveness. Using appropriate responses, such as facial expressions, smiling, head nodding and so forth, indicates you are listening and understanding what the other is saying without interrupting or interjecting. This acknowledges the value you have for their communication.

Step Seven: Pauses between responses. Instead of immediately speaking as soon as the other person is finished, allowing for appropriate pauses when someone has shared a thought or feeling with you creates for them the experience that they are being respectfully listened to, and that you are truly present to them.

Step Eight: Non-judgment. By not allowing yourself to focus on your unspoken mental and emotional judgments you eliminate the unconscious communication that is sent through subtle and gross body language. Unconscious, non-verbal body language is something most of us pick up on and they can make or break the communication.

Step Nine: Leave the ego at the door. Eliminate the push-pull or power struggle of previous relationship interactions by letting go of taking control of the communication and allow for equity between you and the other individual.

Step Ten: Re-centering when you start to lose focus. Mentally repeating simple words you identify as prompts to get you back to the focus of the conversation is a quick and effective way to get yourself re-centered in the exchange. Example: “Back to focus” or “Get centered.”

Step Eleven: Collaborative mindset. Working toward having a win-win outcome eliminates conflict and improves the quality of the relationship in both the short term and the long term.

Step Twelve: Sacredness of relationship. Sacredness means “worthy of respect.” When we are aware of appropriate verbal and behavioral boundaries within our communications, we hold the other person in high esteem and create fulfilling, lasting relationships.

When dealing with family holiday conflicts it can be helpful for us to try simple, proven communications skills but also to reflect on the wisdom of the question: “Would you rather be loved than be right?” Often times when we elect love over being in control or being right relationships shift for the better.

Gratitude For Better Health

Posted on by

What a wonderful gift Thanksgiving, a day for giving and expressing thanks, is for all of us. Anyone and everyone can participate in this day of gathering family and friends to share food and well wishes, taking time to reflect on the things we have been blessed with and are thankful for. This giving thanks stimulates healing.

Giving thanks is a healing and healthy act that many of us have sadly reserved for this one special time of the year. Ignatius, the renowned scholar and saint, offers us a powerful insight into the nature of why we suffer – and as it happens, it relates to giving thanks.

Ignatius said that “all suffering starts with ingratitude.” When we lose our appreciation for all that we have and the many blessings each of our lives is bestowed with, we begin to seek, want and covet what others have been blessed with. We put our own gifts aside, much like children do when they see their friend’s or sibling’s shiny new toy.  This gratitude opens the heart and removes “stress” that comes from fear of not having:

– Everything that we want

– Everything that we think we need

– What we see others have

– What we think is due us

– What we believe will make us happy

– What we believe will make us important or loved

Giving thanks for what we have, rather than wanting and longing for things we do not have, is a simple act of love that fills us with the humble pleasure of realizing how the universe cares for us – and is taking care of us. And taking care of your whole self is an essential component of good health.

Even when things are difficult and we are suffering, when we take the time to reflect on all the good things we also have in our lives, we suffer less, worry less and feel happier. This can stimulate real, holistic healing—the cornerstone of whole health education. The spirit is healed when we release the resentments we carry. The body is healed when stress is reduced, stress that puts strain on the heart. We know that the physical and the emotional are closely connected. That’s why this application of gratitude is so essential.

Perhaps Ignatius is on to something very holistic when he encourages us to remember the biblical wisdom found in I Thessalonians 5: 18 that recommends to us – “in all things give thanks.” For in this we will find our hearts full and our fears dissolved.

Happy Thanksgiving Holiday Season.

You may also be interested in these articles:

How Stress Affects Male and Female Brains Differently

Posted on by

How Stress Affects Male and Female Brains DifferentlyAn article appearing in the Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience  journal (SCAN) on the research study being done at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discusses the difference in how the male and female brain responds differently when dealing with stress.

The researchers and Dr.J.J.Wang, PhD, Assistant Professor of Radiology and Neurology and lead author of the study, claim to have found different areas of the brain which activate and function in different ways for men and women when they are dealing with specifically performance-related stress.

The findings suggest the stress responses are a fundamentally different function in men and women. The male being referred to as “fight-or-flight” and “tend-and-befriend” in women. As a result of evolution, over time, males generally confronted stress by either dealing with it head on or fleeing from the situation.

Female, generally, may have instead responded by utilizing a nurturing approach and aligning themselves with social groups as a coping mechanism during times of adversity.

In Dr. Wang’s study, 32 healthy subjects (16 men and 16 women) were given MRI brain scans at different intervals of a challenging mathematical task that was performed under stressful circumstances.

The researchers escalated the stress in this experiment by frequently prompting participants to go faster and faster and would ask them to restart the task if their response was not correct.

The researcher also created a low stress control condition, where they asked the study subjects to count backwards, but applied no stress or pressure to the task.

The researchers found through the MRI tests that for the males the stress resulted in increased cerebral blood flow in the right pre-frontal cortex and reduced blood flow in the left orbito-frontal cortex.

In the females, under stress the limbic system was stimulated and activated. The limbic system is located in the mid-brain and is the first part of the evolutionary human brain where emotions formed. One very interesting observation in the study is that while both men and women’s brain activation lasted beyond the stress task, the activation lasted longer in females.

Dr. J.J. Wang claims, “Knowing that women respond to stress by increasing activity in brain regions involved with emotion, and these changes last longer than in men, may help us begin to explain the gender differences in the incidence of mood disorders.”

This study can help all of us to understand the HE/SHE difference a bit better and hopefully help us to create better communication with the opposite sex.

The study report can be found at:  http://ts-si.org/neuroscience/2729-using-brain-imaging-to-demonstrate-male–female-differences

You may also be interested in these articles:

Does That Morning Cup Of Coffee Affect Your Health?

Posted on by
Coffee and your health

Coffee is controversial. Depending on who you talk to, it’s either a lifesaving beverage, or a dangerous, addictive poison. Coffee contains caffeine, which is a stimulant and can cause issues in some people, including sleep disturbances.

Despite the potential for addiction and the precautions that should be taken when drinking coffee, there are many good things to be said about it. In a June 2016 report, the WHO officially lifted coffee from the list of potentially carcinogenic foods. It went on to commission coffee as a potential defender against cancer of the uterus and liver. Coffee can boost energy, mood, and its active ingredient, caffeine, is one of a few natural substances proven to aid in fat burning.

Coffee Can Help With Energy And Performance

Pretty much everyone is familiar with the energy-boosting effects of coffee. Caffeine blocks an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, which causes a stimulant-like effect, temporarily improving energy, mood, memory, and brain function overall. A study commissioned by the National Coffee Association surveyed 3,000 Americans about their coffee drinking habits. It found that 64 percent of Americans drink at least one cup of coffee every day, with many opting to consume caffeine regularly through the convenience of personalized coffee subscriptions rather than going on the daily Starbucks run.

Caffeine has been proven to help burn fat, and specifically increases fat burning by up to 10% and can boost metabolism from anywhere between 3-11%. For this reason, it is found in almost every commercial fat burning supplement on the market. Stopping for coffee on the way to the gym could actually be beneficial to your workout. In addition to stimulating the nervous system, it increases adrenaline levels, which prepares the body for physical exertion. Perhaps the coolest benefit of caffeine for a work out is that it breaks body fat down, which frees fatty acids to be used as extra fuel. It’s been shown to improve physical performance by up to 12%.

What About Health Benefits?

Did you know that your morning cup of Joe contains some essential nutrients? One cup of coffee can contain up to 11% of the recommended daily value of riboflavin (B12), 6% of pantothenic acid (B5), 3% of manganese and potassium, and 2% of niacin. Studies have shown coffee drinkers (those who drink from 4 to 5 cups a day) to have a 25-50% lower risk of Type 2 Diabetes, a 40% lower risk of liver cancer, and a 15% lower risk of colorectal cancer. The same amount of coffee can significantly reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and Dementia, and can even lower the risk of Parkinson’s, which is the second most common neurodegenerative disease.

For many people in the US who adhere to some version of the Western Diet (comprised predominantly of processed foods, refined sugar, fats and flours), those daily cups can be their biggest source of antioxidants, providing more than fruits and veggies combined.

Everything In Moderation

Caffeine on its own has no nutritional value. It will make you feel energized, however, over time, too much can lead to withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, irritability, drowsiness, and anxiety. According to studies, it is safe for most adults to consume up to 400mg of caffeine per day. Drinking coffee on a regular basis usually leads to a heightened tolerance in most people, and factors such as body mass, age, etc. can determine an individual’s tolerance. Women should limit their intake to between 200-300 mg per day when trying to get pregnant, and keep it around the same while pregnant.

Despite the fact that some studies carried out regarding coffee and health have been observational, they have all demonstrated strong and consistent associations meaning that coffee could have a positive impact on your health, both physical and mental. However, before you pour yourself another cup of Joe, experts say it’s important to remember that caffeine is a drug, and as with any drug, there are right ways and wrong ways to use it.

You may also be interested in these articles:

How To Stop Allergies

Posted on by

The cleanliness of your home is intricately linked to your whole person health and happiness, with recent research by German and Swiss scientists showing that there is a positive association between anxiety and seasonal allergies, and between depression and perennial allergies. The exact reasons are unknown, but it makes sense that a condition that can cause a wide array of symptoms – everything from headaches to respiratory difficulty – and can wrest from the state of wholeness and balance, preventing you from being your most motivated self. If there are allergens in your home, how can you eliminate them while keeping the air quality in an optimal state?

Common Allergens In The Home

Some of the most common allergens in American homes include dust, pet dander, and (if you live in a humid area) mold. Signs that you may be allergic to these substances include sneezing, having itchy/watery eyes/nose/roof of mouth, coughing, facial pain and congestion. If you have asthma and you are allergic to dust mites, mold or other microscopic allergens, you could have difficulty sleeping and experience wheezing and breathing problems when you develop a common cold or flu.

There Is Hope For People With Allergies

Another study by M Nanda et al also indicated that children with allergies are more likely to have anxiety and depression. Those with hayfever, in particular, have three times the risk of having these mental conditions as those without allergies. Boston University academic Sandro Galea, meanwhile, states, “There is good circumstantial evidence that’s growing that a number of mental illnesses are associated with immune dysfunction.” The good news is that treatment (which sometimes involves antihistamines) can reduce anxiety and depression, by reducing the symptoms that can lead to frustration and stress. Sometimes, even small design changes can make a big difference. Testing and diagnosis are the two first steps to take before defining your personal anti-allergy strategy.

Allergy Testing Is Key

Those with persistent symptoms of allergies should be tested for allergies so they can take specific steps to lower their exposure. The usual test for common allergies like dust and pollen allergies involve prick/scratch testing, in which the doctor places a small drop of the potentially offending item on your skin. If the area becomes red and itchy within a few minutes, then it is indicative of an allergy. Often, symptoms can reduced by making a few key changes in the home – including steam vacuuming regularly and the utilization of a HEPA filter – capable of trapping dirt as small as 0.3 microns.

Testing For Mold Allergies

If mold is the suspected culprit, the doctor may recommend either a skin test or IgE blood test. If you live in a humid area, it is vital to test for the presence of spores, since they can be present in areas such as basements and other humid areas, without being visible. Mold can hide in pipes, sinks and broken HVAC systems. If you are allergic to mold, professional testing and cleaning to eliminate spores is important. The use of anti-microbial sprays, a HEPA vacuum and air scrubbers are just a few solutions you can look into.

Studies in both children and adults have shown that allergies are linked to anxiety and depression. If you or your child have symptoms such as watering eyes or an itchy throat, testing and receiving a diagnosis are vital. Sometimes, symptoms can be reduced through simple changes in the home. For others, antihistamines and/or other treatments can stop allergies from interfering with your whole health and quality of life.

Author Credit: Allie Oliver

You may also be interested in these articles:



What Is The Role Of A Health Coach?

Posted on by

By Georgianna Donadio, MSc, DC, PhDwhat is the role of a health coach?

Everywhere you look these days you see references to “health coach certification.” What exactly IS a health coach and what can they do for your health? The word coach means “to bring out the best effort or aspect.”  A health coach is someone who facilitates your identifying lifestyle behaviors that bring out your very best health outcomes.

Coaching enhances your health and wellness by facilitating your focus and awareness on what you want to do and how you want to do it. The health coach certification process focuses on where are you now and where you want to go. Your intentions are viewed as the main motivating factor in the choices you make and the behaviors you exhibit.

Because this is a young specialty, it is important to be sure to work with a well-trained and experienced professional. There are many programs that now offer health coach certification, but unless you are working with a health professional who is licensed or certified in their medical or health specialty and also trained by an accredited health coaching program, you could find yourself very dissatisfied with the services you receive.

If you want to utilize a health coach to assist you with your weight loss for instance, you may want to find a nutritionist or a weight loss specialist or counselor who is also trained as a health or wellness coach. The health coach’s role is to assist you in identifying your goals – goals that are realistic and sustainable for you to achieve your desired health outcomes and maintain them.

Health coaching is an exciting addition to the many health and wellness services out there today. As with all health related care, be sure and explore the credentials and reputation of the individuals you work with. It is your time, money and health that’s depending on you working with the right person.

You may also be interested in these articles:

What Patients and Healthcare Providers Should Know About Placebo Effect

Posted on by

By Georgianna Donadio, MSc, DC, PhD

What Patients and Healthcare Providers Should Know About The Placebo Effect Given the way the health sciences have been taught in nursing and medical schools, it is perfectly understandable for physicians and nurses trained more than 25 years ago to think the placebo effect didn’t make sense and was perhaps a popular explanation for sudden healing – or a “spontaneous remission.” It is a leap for many to understand how a person think or believe something and that simple act of belief could heal them. That’s why the National Institute of Whole Health is using this article to explore what health coaches and nurses should know about our reality and the placebo effect of belief.

Researching Placebo Effect

Up until the last twenty or so years, research scientists did not have a grasp on how the brain and our emotions worked to create our reality. The subject of emotion has been and still is very much “uncharted waters” in behavioral science. However, what is well documented today is how the various brain waves function and portions of the brain control and stimulate thoughts, beliefs and feelings.

The “beta waves” are the brain waves that allow us to focus on the words in this blog and comprehend, in the moment, what is intellectually being communicated. These waves are produced in the frontal lobe, which is the seat of intellectual functioning. Thinking, analyzing, reasoning and so forth occur in this part of the brain.

The “alpha waves” which are the slower brain waves originate in the mid-brain and are the brain waves that allow us access to our unconscious thinking or what some refer to as the soul. All thought processes, be it from the beta wave or alpha wave region of the brain, are actually chemical reactions that produce specific proteins which communicate with our immune cell membranes and other cell membranes of our body.

Thoughts Are Powerful

The specific thoughts we think and the region of the brain they originate in have an identifiable chemistry that has been shown to create dramatic changes in our physical bodies. In Dr. Paul Pearsall’s groundbreaking book “The Hearts Code,” he tells many amazing mind/body stories.

One in particular is a striking example of how powerful thoughts and images are. This story is about a schizophrenic patient who demonstrated completely different disease states depending on the personality she was exhibiting. Ultra sounds, cat-scans, lab tests all confirmed that one of her personalities had a massive cancerous tumor and yet when she went into a different personality state all of her previous pathology disappeared as well.

Our brains are the ultimate manifestors of matter. The chair you are sitting on was a thought before if became that chair. Thoughts are “things” – and thoughts in action are what manifest reality. A previous blog discussed a woman who was cured of her stiffness after the sham surgery. Her mind manifested a different set of thoughts through her hope and expectations for the outcome of the surgery. Her brain waves and proteins created positive chemistry, which communicated with her immune system through its cell membranes. The results – she became healthier and could “stride across the room.”

The idea of mind over matter is a powerful one. This science, and our understanding of its amazing chemistry, is in its infancy stage. In the future we will take the possibility of healing ourselves with thought and imagery for granted just as we now do about people having an organ transplant – which was unheard of not that long ago.

In the meantime, we can all improve our health coaching and nursing success by encouraging our clients and patients to improve their “self-speak,” reinforcing their bodies and minds with positive words, thoughts and images.

 

You may also be interested in these articles:

How To Detoxify Your Environment

Posted on by

By Georgianna Donadio, MSc, DC, PhD

Detox Your EnvironmentWe are bombarded every day with hundreds of chemical toxins in our environment. Plastic particles, heavy metals, pesticides, cleaning toxins, air pollution and hundreds of other chemicals find their way into our lungs, blood stream, immune system and body systems.

Here are 10 easy tips from the National Institute of Whole Health, to help de-toxify your environment and purify your body, preventing illness and even early aging.

Tip #1: Protect your body from pesticides by thoroughly washing your fruits and vegetables to remove most of the pesticide residue.
If you can find, grow or afford organic produce, this is your best assurance against ingesting unwanted pesticides.

Tip #2: Use cotton, polyester or hemp over plastic bathroom shower and window curtains. Plastic emits toxic chemicals easily eliminated by using alternative materials

Tip #3: Don’t inhale gas fumes when you are filling your tank and avoid exhaust fumes when jogging or walking in a heavily trafficked area. We know that gasoline contains lead and other pollutants and should not be inhaled>

Tip #4: Use only natural body creams or replace them with olive or walnut oil. The chemicals found in body creams and lotions as well as makeup and other beauty products can be carcinogenic and should be avoided.

Tip #5: Avoid all second-hand and third-hand smoke. Exposure to second- or third- hand smoke kills over 50,000 people every year.

Tip #6: Keep over the counter pill use to a minimum. Studies show a direct correlation between high over the counter drug use and liver and brain damage, as well as an increase of Alzheimer’s disease.

Tip #7: Wipe your feet or take off your shoes of before coming into your house. This will reduce the amount of lead dust and allergens you can bring into the house from your shoes.

Tip #8: Lather up. Using soap liberally when you are showering or bathing is the best and most natural way to eliminate environmental toxins from your skin, which is the largest immune component of your body, and also the part of the body most in contact with the external environment.

Tip #9: Eat low mercury fish. By choosing cod, flounder, wild Alaskan or Pacific salmon – as well as clams and shrimp – you can avoid mercury rich foods. Swordfish, mackerel and tuna fish all have higher levels of mercury than the white fish mentioned.

Tip #10: Replace highly chemical house cleaners with the now popular green cleaners that do not irritate the lungs or skin.

By following these 10 simple ways to detox your environment, you can save your liver and immune system the work of detoxifying these chemicals out of your body. This will, over time, prove to be a “life saver” – literally!

You may also be interested in these articles:

The Origin of Whole Person Health Care

Posted on by

By Georgianna Donadio, MSc, DC, PhD

The origin of whole person healthcare

There is no doubt that today more and more people are turning to whole health and alternative modalities for their health concerns and disease prevention. This popular movement, winning one out of every two Americans as converts, may seem to some like a new idea or a “health revolution”. In reality, it is in a return to period in time, over 400 years ago, when health was seen from a more whole person, integrated and even spiritual perspective.

Early Health Care

Until the early 1600’s, the realm of human health was believed to represent a person’s spiritual state. If one was healthy that meant they bore not demons. If one was sick, that meant they needed to purge sickness, which was seen as “possession” or a spiritual incorrectness that had to be remedied. The prevailing church of the day, ruled by the Vatican, exerted a huge influence over the medical community and how people viewed the cause and cure of their disease.

A Declaration

In 1612, physician Rene Descartes, a powerful, influential physician and scientist, declared, “I think therefore I am” , stating that the mind and body were two separate, unrelated parts of a human being, and as such the study and treatment of the human being needed to be separated into the mind or spirit portion and the physical bodily portion.

Descartes lead the political movement to separate the body from the soul, a separation in which he and his peers literally brokered a deal with the Vatican, which was reluctant to give up control over its flock. However, the “scientific revolution” was gripping the culture and the church knew it was prudent to agree. Thus, the division of mind and body began and the practice of medicine started down the slippery slope to where we find ourselves today.

Since this division set up a medical system that treated only physical health, it became considered, by the mass majority, that this form of medicine was the only legitimate form of health care. However, over the course of the past 50 years people have grown sicker and increasingly dissatisfied with the medical system.

The Start Of Whole Person Health care

This led to an increase in the use of “untried” remedies and treatments which offered success and often cures for varied ailments. These “alternatives” treatments attempt to address the whole person rather than just the physical body. Because of the success of alternative treatments, and their resultant popularity, we are currently experiencing a renaissance of the “whole-person” body, mind and spirit approach to healing.

You may also be interested in these articles: