Your Physical Health: What is “Holistic” Health?

Holistic health is an all-hands-on-deck approach to well-being. But let’s be wary of where we get holistic practices from.

Good Morning!

I want to take buzzwords head-on today. I’m not here to demonize anyone’s approach to health and wellness. But I think it’s important to notice when certain words trend and who tries to capitalize off of them.

Holistic health is a phrase that’s been captured by celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, among others, who markets her all-encompassing health routine as a way to achieve the same glowing energy at fifty years old that most twenty-somethings aspire for.

Holistic health itself isn’t a buzzword, but words like “Well-Being” and “Breathwork” (shown below), which are directly attached to holistic methods, have seen increased popularity over the years.

If we’re allowed to call marketing an art form, this feels like an appropriate time to invoke Picasso (if he coined this phrase):

“Good artists borrow, Great artists steal.”

- Pablo Picasso (maybe)

Paltrow’s Goop Lab, which drew criticism on Netflix years back, is a prime example of stolen marketing, or, at the very very least, repurposing. Her uninvestigated psychedelic therapy was touted as new and revolutionary, and her practice of The Wim Hof Method was supposed to be groundbreaking.

For many, it was. But it shouldn’t have been.

The reason she didn’t technically steal psychedelic marketing from the Andeans or pranayama meditation practice from Hindu culture is because those groups have never necessarily marketed it.

But her repurposing of it right before the pandemic was perfectly timed, and the lack of differing voices on these therapies only served to set back the real mission of collective well-being, as The Conversation’s Nadia Zainuddin astutely noted in 2020.

Pictured above: Google Trends search popularity for the term “Well-Being” (Top) and “Breathwork” (bottom) over the past five years.

Holistic Health and The Individual

If the charts above tell us anything, it’s that even before the pandemic — which drastically piqued the collective concern for well-being — interest is rising in wellness. The global wellness industry is headed toward a $7 trillion valuation by 2025.

That means that regardless of the method to achieve it, wellness will be in-demand for a long time. Let’s rewind and define holistic health first before we revert back to the ways in which to avoid celebrity marketing and how to achieve it cost-effectively.

Holistic health is an approach to healthcare that considers the entire person, including their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Instead of just treating one problem (I.E., a personal trainer just teaching a client a leg exercise for bigger legs), it addresses multiple facets of health (think of a trainer who teaches a client breathing techniques, recovery methods, and exercise). It emphasizes the interconnection between each facet and recognizes that each person’s goals, experiences, pscyhology, and values are unique, and that these things all impact their health.

That last sentence is the one I really want to focus on for the next few paragraphs. When considering that every person is unique — the way they eat, sleep, relax and play — it would make sense that holistic health looks different for everyone…right?

Holistic healthcare measures like acupuncture, meditation, saunas or cold-plunges, massages, facials, and therapy are all bound to grow in popularity. And they should. It’s far past time that we start acknowledging all aspects of well-being. But when projects like Goop Lab package them together into a one-size-fits-all offer that makes an incredibly large promise by attempt to group all of the above together, I have trouble believing it’ll be sustainable.

There is no way a celebrity or public figure would drop everything to give all their attention to their customers, sit down with them on conference calls to meet them, chat with them for an hour, build rapport, and then design a holistic health program for them that is completely individualized.

What they’d rather do is sell you on the idea that because you’re missing one or two activities that they swear by, you should follow exactly as they do. Meaning the results may vary, adherence to the program will fall off, and nothing will really change.

There isn’t a whole lot of evidence to support the idea that one addition of holistic health practice can dramatically change someone’s health. There is this study from 2001 that showed unguided supplementation of certain nutrients (think about this next time you decide to chug Apple Cider Vinegar — kidding, of course) didn’t necessarily lead to any discernible health benefits.

There is, however, truth to the idea that Osteopathic Medicine, or the holistic approach to clinical care, can improve patient health when patients understand how holism ties into their biomedical health (as guided by their practitioners).

My advice on Holistic Health, as a Health Practitioner

If you’re still not sure what Holistic Health is by this point, that’s okay. The lines have been blurred, but this article from Dignity Health provides a great synopsis, in case you want to bookmark it (but you should probably bookmark my article instead).

That article also points to the larger picture, which celebrities simply can’t touch with marketing. Not even Dr. Oz. Is he really a doctor?

Holistic health should be a conversation with your primary care physician, physical therapist, personal trainer, or all three, if you have/had them. Hell, even your employer should be involved in this conversation too, as Forbes notes. This is the physical health edition of the newsletter, but there is a large mental component to holism that influences physical health, too.

It’s not just massages or walking barefoot — it’s actually checking in with yourself while doing these activities, too.

The above practitioners should be checking in with you about these things on a regular basis to help keep you in check. And if they aren’t, then start the conversation with them. It will start the process of building your holistic health team, one that can actually pay attention to you, the person.

Enjoy your weekend!