Holistic Health - October 2007
What is Holistic Medicine?
by Archie Underwood, BA, HHP
In the city of San Diego we have the HHP designation, which stands for Holistic Health Practitioner. This title is given to massage therapists and bodyworkers with over 1000 hours of training and who have also passed a certification exam. Many of these practitioners do indeed provide holistic services; their approach to the body is designed to enable a natural healing response and to harness the power of intention. This recognition of the whole person is both refreshing and unique in our specialized and compartmentalized culture.
“Holistic” is a word that is thrown around often in alternative and complimentary healthcare professions. The word in and of itself can relate to different fields of study and practice. Many have used holistic methods in the past, from Hippocrates in Greece to the Yellow Emperor in ancient China. Although the meaning and theories that fall into this realm of healthcare are evolving, the basic tenets remain the same. “Holistic” refers to any method that treats the whole person. Some choose the spelling “wholistic” to emphasize the whole-person ideology. This way of thinking embodies the power of nature and harnesses the patients’ belief in the therapy. A faint understanding of this concept is beginning to emerge in modern Western science.
Hippocrates practiced medicine around 400 BC in ancient Greece and is known as the “Father of Medicine”. He believed in the healing power of nature and the body’s innate ability to heal itself. In this way, he treated the whole person. He also recognized the need to nurture the body’s homeostasis, or balance, through a humble and passive treatment methodology known as Humorism. A profound legacy has been left to Western medicine and the world in the form of his ethical tenets, enhanced professionalism and cleanliness. These practices live on today as reminders of Hippocrates’ influence.
For ages Eastern medicine has seen emotion and the mind as playing an important role in health. The writings of the Yellow Emperor, dating back to 2686 BC, laid out the major points in traditional Chinese medicine. He postulated that all our organs correspond to a specific emotional state and each have an energetic pathway through the body called a meridian. These meridians carry energy and can be affected by emotional states or physical ailments. This energy is called “chi” and when it’s flowing freely we are healthy and happy. Acupuncture seeks to open up blocked energetic channels in the body with the use of carefully placed hair-thin needles, herbs, heat, and even lifestyle changes. Positive visualizations and energetic manipulations seek to enhance and direct this energy flow through movement practices such as Qi-Gong and T’ai Chi.
In Western medicine, the placebo effect is now taken very seriously. Studies have shown that if you give someone an inert substance (a placebo) that has no legitimate physiological effect on their system and tell them it will make them feel better or heal a disease, there will be some percentage of success. This is not because the substance did anything to these patients’ bodies; rather, the patients’ belief in the healing effect caused their system to respond positively. Acceptance of this fact in the scientific community is widespread and opens the door to developing a more holistic approach in Western medicine by recognizing the power of intention.
I liken the placebo effect to the ability our mind or consciousness has in regulating our body. The human being is constantly trying to find homeostasis even down to the cellular level. Holistic medicine takes this into account and aims to relieve blockages in the body and/or mind to achieve this aim. Physical, emotional or mental blockages don’t support the body’s ability to heal itself. The power of intention and the role of nature are both forces that can shift someone closer to, or further from, healing and wholeness.
A holistic approach is needed today more than ever. As a culture, we have lost touch with a certain level of humanity and nurturing that these alternative approaches truly embody. We can look to the past and also to current methodologies for answers as to which path to take towards health. Ultimately, however, the answers lie within you. After all, the heart of holism is simply asking the body what it needs to be “whole”—and responding appropriately.
Archie Underwood, BA, HHP is a Rolf Structural Integration and Deep Tissue Massage practitioner. He maintains a holistic practice in San Diego focused on relieving pain in the body and increasing awareness of posture and movement. Contact Archie at: 619. 861.3232 or
www.rolfsi.com