Whole Health: Understanding the Basics

Whole Health: Understanding the Basics

Whole health is focused on the entirety of an individual and encompasses all elements that make up someone's health, such as physical health, mental health, environment, relationships, and much more. The idea is to include all aspects of an individual’s life and consider how each aspect contributes to their overall health. It involves restoring, promoting, and empowering individuals, families, and communities to help improve their health from within the body (NIH). Whole health is a way to balance your well-being by healing it from within the body itself. 

The deliberate focus on whole health connects closely to whole-person health. It means improving an individual's health in multiple areas and considering the different factors that promote either health or disease. It's important to understand that health and disease are connected by one path, and unhealthy behaviours can disconnect the path and create two different directions (NIH). Factors such as poor diet, sleep, and social aspects can lead to chronic diseases (diabetes, depression, joint disease) (NIH). 

Self-care and behavioural interventions may help nurture the balance between the mind, body, and spirit and help improve overall health outcomes and the well-being of the whole person (Welkin Health). The condition of a disease may be managed by addressing these behaviours at an early stage and leveraging a wide range of alternative outcomes to help restore health and stop the progress of the disease (NIH). 

Holistic Health 

Holistic health is an approach to life that can encourage individuals to recognize the current state of health that involves the whole-body system of their mind, body, and spirit (The Well Co). This includes health decisions and healing processes that target the wellness of the whole person’s health. Including a wellness-oriented lifestyle that focuses on physical, mental, emotional, social, intellectual, and spiritual healing traditions helps achieve higher levels of wellness to prevent diseases (Western Connecticut State University). 

Movement such as dancing, singing, praying, and meditation are some approaches to use as energy therapies. Herbs, supplements, teas, and essential oils can aid chiropractic care, yoga, and any other energy therapies that are meant to improve the health and wellness within the body (Western Connecticut State University). The importance of holistic health is supported or impacted by an individual's overall health and wellness, and it will be important to address this systematic way of health in the future (The Well Co).  

Holistic health goes beyond the physical body and has many external and environmental factors that could be supporting or impacting overall health and wellness. It’s important to understand that holistic health is the idea of blending conventional medicine and using therapies through a combined approach, which can enable a person to live their healthiest and happiest lifestyle possible (The Well Co). 

Physical 

Physical wellness includes more than physical signs and symptoms that are seen in either optimal or sub-optimal health (The Well Co). Supporting physical health can include appropriate sleep, hygiene, and a healthy diet, which can make a vast difference in overall well-being. Some tips include (Roger Williams University): 

1. Exercise: Walking 30 minutes a day or playing catch with a loved one can greatly improve an individual's health. This can be incorporated daily into your routine and help you relax and wind down at the end of the day. 
2. Rest: Getting at least 6-8 hours of sleep every night and avoiding screen time for at least 30 minutes before bed can aid in falling asleep at night. 
3. Eating healthier without skipping meals: Try to include fruits and vegetables in your diet and drink lots of water. Remember to take breaks during the day to fuel your body with a nourishing meal. 

Emotional 

Our emotional health is just as important as our physical health. This encompasses the ability to balance and manage your feelings (Ask The Scientist). Some tips include (Roger Williams University): 

1. Maintaining a positive attitude and understanding all sides of the situation before coming to any negative thoughts. 
2. Finding people you can openly talk to and seek therapy when needed. 
3. Practicing mindfulness and journaling can help manage stressors. 

Social 

Social wellness is a connection of support from people you can trust. Surrounding yourself with a healthy community that allows you to have the ability to access support when needed is what will help provide a connection that can support your social health. Some tips include (The Well Co): 

1. Making time for the people you trust and keeping that close relationship to strengthen bonds. 
2. Recognizing any unhealthy relationships and setting boundaries with people that could cause negativity as they can affect your health and increase stress.  

Spiritual 

Everyone’s spiritual wellness can look different, and it does not need to be connected to a belief system. Connecting with your inner soul and gaining that sense of purpose, direction, and meaning, and personalizing your journey is the approach to strengthening your spiritual health. Some tips include (Ask The Scientist): 

1. Prioritizing time for self-care – meditation, praying, or relaxing. 
2. Journaling to help clear the mind and writing words of affirmation. 

Looking Ahead 

Focus on aspects of holistic health in daily life and start identifying issues in your health from a whole-body perspective (The Well Co). Transform your healthcare through whole-person care and understand what your mind and body need.   

Connected health platforms, such as the Zamplo App, allow individuals to track their whole health journey. By using a connected health platform, you can document changes you make and see the impacts those changes have on your overall health. For example, to see the impact regular journaling and yoga can have on your overall health, you can document them as an activity and create a graph to see any changes that occur in relation to them. 

Learn more about how Zamplo can help you start tracking your whole health journey.