How to Nurture Your Body and Mind With Holistic Therapies
You’ve worked hard to attain your health and wellness goals, and to keep your body at its best, but what about the rest of you? The mind-body connection is an important part of your overall well-being, and while there are numerous ways to promote the health of your body (through regular exercise, healthy eating, adequate sleep), there are less obvious ways to nurture your mind. The field of holistic medicine encourages patients to take into account all aspects of the human experience—not just the physical—when seeking relief from illness or disease.
Does Holistic Therapy Work?
If you’re new to holistic therapies, or even if you’ve been practicing them for years, it can be hard to know just how much they benefit your body. If you have a specific health concern in mind or an injury that’s bothering you, talk with your practitioner about whether holistic therapy is right for you. Be sure that your holistic practitioner knows what you want out of treatment—if your goal is increased flexibility, then yoga might not be right for you (though it will definitely help in other ways). For some people, specifically athletes or those recovering from injury or illness, sports medicine might make more sense. Before getting started with any type of therapy (particularly when trying something new), start slow—exercise when possible during times when pain isn’t an issue.
Nervous System Release Therapy
This therapy works to release tension in your body, thereby alleviating pain. According to brain-body researcher Paul MacLean, there are three brains that makeup who we are: the reptilian (our fight-or-flight response), limbic (our emotions), and neocortex (our rational mind). The integration of these three brains has huge implications for how you experience stress. When all three are working well together, you have a sense of well-being.
Energy Healing
Reiki is an energy healing technique that involves channeling universal energy into your body through your hands. This helps restore balance, which translates into many positive outcomes for both your physical and mental health. Since Reiki removes blockages in your body’s energy system, it can be highly effective in treating chronic pain (including headaches), insomnia, autoimmune disorders, depression, anxiety, allergies (including food allergies), autism spectrum disorders—even cancer.
Sound and Vibration Therapy
Another big part of the physical dimension of wellness is physical activity. A combination of eating well and good exercise habits will help you get closer to a state of wellness.
Sound vibration therapy is also known as toning. It’s something you can do on your own at home, often by singing or chanting. Sound vibration therapy is one of the easiest ways to calm anxiety because it helps stimulate endorphins—the feel-good neurotransmitters responsible for blocking pain signals in our brain. The best part about it is that sound vibration therapy costs almost nothing; you don’t need any fancy equipment, just your voice.
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Meditation, Yoga & Massage
If you’re seeking holistic therapy, there are three modalities that almost always work well together. Massage therapy is an incredibly powerful way to slow down your mind and body. Emotional release therapy (also known as biodecoding) is a type of bodywork that uses touch or vibration on different parts of your body in order to release blocked energy; often, it’s used in conjunction with meditative practices like yoga or tai chi.
A great way to get in touch with your emotions is to disconnect from the modern world for a while. Doesn’t have to be for a whole year, a simple meditation for a few minutes can help you start in this path.
