Holistic Wellness
Holism: "The principle that an organism, or one of its actions, is not equal to merely the sum of its parts but must be perceived or studied as a whole."
Holistic is an often- misunderstood word. It is based on the understanding that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. In its purest form it is not medicine but a way to draw out one's own inner healing. Each individual is beyond the rational understanding of another so the practitioner must listen and perceive in ways that traditional science cannot work with. A holistic healer is one that uses both evidence based scientific medicine together with a sense of the greater whole. While the whole involves the body, mind and spirit I have found that people can perceive change better though their bodies and it is an easier way for people to experience the changes needed that may affect all aspects of their being. Traditional medicine and holistic principles are complementary and each address different issues. My goal is not therapy where I heal something that is wrong but rather helping guide people to use their own talents to heal themselves and achieve a higher state of wellness.
All science, for example, is based on the principle that you can understand something though a better and more complete understanding of its parts. All medicine works this way and massage taught as part of a medical model is non-holistic (atomistic). You are taught a set of tools for each piece or specific problem. The theory is as you know more detailed knowledge about something the better you know it. It is not only Western medicine but Eastern medicine as well. I believe that we are more than just chi. Balancing chi is based on analyzing a person much like Western medicine studies anatomical and physiological aspects of a person.
Holism contends that there is something in the study of the parts they can not add up to the whole no matter how detailed you get. Holistic perception is done by discarding what you know and opening yourself up to a level of perception that goes beyond the limits of reason. Holistic perception is opening up to the non-systemized perception. In essence purging our minds of the preconceived ideas to "see" things that go beyond.
I do not believe that the ideal of a full holistic knowing is possible because we are limited and can not possible whole perceive another person. But striving to this goal, we can perceive things that are not possible with systematized approaches.
It is an egoless form of healing. The idea of an "egoless" and a humble form of relationship with the client is different from the physician on a pedestal approach. I have moved away from traditional massage therapy because I feel that massage therapy as a field is moving to shape the profession to where they can be "respected" by the medical community rather than explore the reaches of offering help to clients whose needs are not met by medical practices .
It is about serving, see: "In Service of Life" . I don't practice 100% holistic medicine but it is an ever growing component of my practice. I believe that holistic practices need to be supported with the ability to actually fix things and help people though problems and issues that they can not do themselves. But even the methods of fixing is often to wait for the body to do its own work. Then you can open up to the concept that your interventions are just props to get the person through a problem and not a cure and that you are just a guide under the patient's control to help and serve them.
Although I have grown up in a scientific world I have come to learn the limits of science. There are things that you can do that while they can not be explained by science can produce measurable results. As long are the actions you take do not have dangerous consequences and are guided by the wisdom of the patient's own body, they are alternatives that are safer and often more effective.
Doctors used to treat the whole person. I have developed my empathic "muscle whispering" skills that medicine has bread out of modern healers which I mix with my anatomically based training.