What is holistic health? The benefits for our well-being

Holistic health is an increasingly popular approach to looking after our well-being.

But what is holistic health? We're delving into everything you need to know about holistic healthcare and its benefits.

What is holistic health?

Holistic health care is an approach to wellness, which simultaneously considers all aspects of your health, including physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual components. This may be used as an approach when in a care setting, or can be implemented by you, to look after your health in your day-to-day life.

Holistic health care looks at all aspects of health together, rather than independently, as is more common in mainstream healthcare. It’s about the interconnectedness of the different components and highlights the importance of looking after your whole of body health.

For example, we may look after our physical health by eating a healthy, balanced diet and getting regular exercise. A holistic health view would also consider how our mental health and our emotional health links in with this. Getting regular exercise releases endorphins, which makes you feel good, and can in turn have positive benefits on your mind and mental health. Exercise may also be an outlet for increased social interactions, which links in with your social health, and so on. 

Holistic health can be used in a way to prevent health issues or treat existing conditions. It can address underlying causes that are the root of the problem, which may come from a different element of your health.

We’ve all probably heard the phrase “healthy mind, healthy body", but it truly is so important. Prioritisng our mental health has a knock on effect on our physical health, and vice versa.

Some examples of the mind-body connection include:

• Stress - Being stressed affects our mind at first, but chronic stress can lead to high blood pressure and an increased risk of heart disease.
• Gut Health - Bad gut health can also cause negative impacts on our health and body, these include: digestive symptoms, such as gas, bloating and constipation, insomnia or poor sleep, unintentional weight loss or gain.

What are the elements of holistic health?

There are five main elements of our health that make up what is considered holistic health. These include physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and social health.

Physical Health

Our physical health plays a massive role in our well-being. If our physical health isn’t up to scratch, it can affect other elements of our health, as well as how we feel on a daily basis.

Our physical health links with all the other aspects of holistic health. If we have poor physical health, or problems with our bodies, this could affect our mental health. For example, suffering with pain could cause negative affects on our mental health or our ability to be social.

Some key ways to look after your physical health include:

• Eating a healthy, balanced diet -Including vitamins and minerals helps to aid our bodies and keep them functioning as they should. 
• Getting regular exercise - The NHS recommends 150 minutes of exercise a week. Exercise and physical activity helps us to stay strong, helps our cardiovascular system and can reduce risks of chronic diseases.
• Getting enough sleep – Prioritising our sleep is so important. Having enough good quality sleep each night can actually help to regulate blood pressure, heart rate and boost our immune system.

Mental Health

Our mental health is the state of our mind. When you have poor mental health, you may struggle with things like anxiety, depression or low moods.

Having poor mental health can affect other aspects of our health. For example, you may find less pleasure in getting physical exercise or socialising, which play a huge part in our well-being.

Additionally, if you do lack social connections or don’t get enough physical activity this could affect our mental health negatively. Especially as exercise releases endorphins and spending time socialising is good for our brain and well-being.

You can prioritise your mental health by:

• Trying to stay active - this can help to improve mood and release endorphins which make us feel good
• Try to stay social - Regularly keeping in touch with friends and family or get involved in hobbies that involve meeting people and being sociable 
• Practice mindfulness and meditation - which can help with how we deal with certain situations and to better handle stress

Emotional Health

Emotional health can often be confused with mental health. However, the two do differ. The World Health Organisation (WHO) define mental health as a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn and work well, and contribute to their community.

Emotional health has been defined by The National Institute of Health as, the ability to successfully handle life’s stresses and adapt to change and difficult times.

So our emotional health focuses more on how we deal with our emotions, thoughts and feelings and how we can better control them.

Emotional health can affect physical conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.

Some ways to improve emotional health include:

• Trying to reduce stress in your life - Some ways to manage stress better include: journaling, meditation and yoga.
• Prioritise good quality sleep - Getting enough sleep allows us to deal with and manage emotions better in day-to-day life.
• Being active - helps to stimulate the brain as well as improving emotional health. Engaging in outdoor activities or being active often brings a sense of accomplishment and clarity to the mind.

Social Health

Our social health focuses on relationships and communicating with others.

It's an important element in helping us to live a happy, healthy life and fits in as a component within the holistic health view.

More research is beginning to prove how socialising can help us to live healthier and better lives and even potentially live longer.

Social health also has an effect on our brain health, staying social and engaging with others is good for our brain. Socialising is a great way to improve life expectancy.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) people lacking social connections face a higher risk of early death.  Social isolation can also be linked to health issues such as anxiety, depression, dementia and increased risk of stroke. 

Ways to improve social health include:

• Making time to socialise - with friends and family which can also benefit your mood and mental health
• Find new hobbies or activities - that offer opportunities for social interaction 

Spiritual Health

Having good spiritual health means being connected with your soul and generating feelings of peace within your life.

Spiritual health focuses more on your sense of purpose and meaning in life. It can affect our health and well-being in many ways, including:

• Lowering anxiety and depression
• Helping us to manage stress better and be more resilient
• Encouraging us to build strong, purposeful relationships with others 
• Lower blood pressure, due to involvement with things like meditation
• Influencing us to eat well
• Increase our satisfaction and happiness

Spiritual health focuses more on the mind but plays an important role to overall holistic health and well-being.

All these elements play a big role in our health and well-being and all interlink.

The benefits of prioritising holistic health

Being aware of your holistic health as a whole can be a form of self-care. It helps us to be more aware and in tune with your mind and body. Taking steps to prioritise your well-being is great for our self-care. 

Having a wider understanding of all elements of our health and well-being can also help to improve our quality of life. It can help us to understand how our body works with our mind and then we can act proactively to put our health first. 

A holistic approach allows us to create an awareness of the different aspects of our well-being, and understand how to look after each one. It can lead us to make informed lifestyle changes and address root causes of issues to improve our health.

What holistic health care is available?

There are a range of holistic health care treatments available in the UK. The approach is become more available and practiced within healthcare to help get to the root cause. Its focus aims more to look at the person rather than the illness/injury. 

The approach aims to improve prevention, offer lifestyle modifications, and have a patient-centered approach to care. 

Some common holistic health care approaches include:

• Physiotherapy
• Osteopathy
• Massage Therapy
• Acupuncture
• Alternative medicine
• Reiki

You’ll often find some of these holistic healthcare approaches are included in health insurance policies with leading insurers.

Putting your health and well-being first can encompass many elements. Considering health insurance can not only give you access to quicker treatments in a private facility, but come with a host of benefits that can help you to improve your health and well-being in your day-to-day life.

Some commons approaches available with insurers include:

Vitality: You have the opportunity to add-on therapies to your cover, which would include: chiropractic treatment, osteopathy, chiropody/podiatry, acupuncture, homeopathy following GP or consultant referral. 

The Exeter: Your core cover with The Exeter will provide up to 3 sessions of post-operative out-patient physiotherapy. You can also choose to add-on therapies cover, which includes GP or specialist referred treatment by a physiotherapist, chiropractor, osteopath and acupuncturist.

AXA: Adding therapies as an extra with AXA would get you acupuncturists, homeopaths, osteopaths and chiropractors with no yearly limit on fees.

Aviva: Aviva offer extra add-ons to enhance your cover. This includes the possibility to add on therapies including osteopathy, physiotherapy and chiropractic.

Ready to put your health first? Why not have a free, consultation with an expert adviser? We compare the UK leading insurers to help you find the best policy for your needs. Our service is completely free of charge and no obligation.

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