What is Holism?
All elements, the whole, the path of love
Based on the holistic view, we consider a human being as a whole. Feelings, emotions, thoughts and desires are all connected. They have an effect on each other and cannot be dissociated from each other. Together they keep each other in balance. If something happens at one level, it will immediately have an effect on another level. The body is the outward manifestation of the inner self, how we feel and the way we think. The body never lies. It gives a signal when there is something out of balance. Often much sooner than we realize: a symptom will develop. Knowing how to connect the symptom with reality is the art.
When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It’s to enjoy each step along the way – Wayne Dyer
Becoming aware is part of your healing process. You may therefore state that healing is more than recovery, for it means ‘becoming whole again’. You can ask yourself the question whether your physical pain is also a reflection of psychological pain. The symptoms require you to make the next move in your consciousness-raising process.
The holistic approach treats a symptom or illness as a bodily signal that harmony and balance have been upset. It may be viewed as giving attention to those aspects of our Being which until then we could not or did not want to notice.
When providing guidance based on this approach, I do not intend to get rid of this signal as soon as possible, but to be able to guide those people to self-awareness and insight. They are the ones who ultimately can interpret the meaning of a signal.
Feeling comfortable in your skin
If you are feeling comfortable with yourself, the energy will flow. All the elements are in balance. Since people are continuously in connection with their thoughts, their social and living environment, food et cetera, they will be affected and may become unbalanced due to certain negative influences such as stress or excessive fatigue. In that case the holistic approach does not consider the independent symptoms of fatigue or stress but instead the person as a whole who is ill.
Holism versus specialism
The holistic starting point in actual fact constitutes a counterpart to the regular way of thinking where specialization and ever more specialization in niches within our society are becoming more and more important. We see this trend not only in the medical sciences but also in the legal profession. People are distinguished from others because they know everything there is to know about a specific niche subject. However, a patient may feel a victim because he is sent from one ward to another. Every doctor will analyse his part while the underlying cause is in the system as a whole. Just like the client whose problem is not solved when only a single legal part of it is fought out in court. Subsequently, the client still has to enforce the decision, while it has caused rifts at the relational level as well. The problem is still not solved.
The Whole
Holism assumes that each human being constitutes an integrated whole. Human beings are not subdivided into separate component parts. The concept of illness as a whole is a first step towards an holistic way of thinking. A human being is a complete individual that functions as a totality and that forms part of that totality. [HB: Unclear: Do you mean “…and illness forms part of that totality”? or what?] Living creatures are governed by a life force which does not only represent the totality but is also the guiding force. If this life force is disturbed the whole will be affected as a result.
Holism is also a philosophy of life, a certain outlook on life, a way of thinking.
The characteristic feature of holism is that when a system consists of many elements, an individual element of it cannot be explained without taking the other elements into consideration. Because all the elements are interconnected, it is not possible to consider one individual element separately.
The Holist chooses the path of pure Love and in all situations will ask himself: ‘What would Love do now’? To live as a holist means taking the decision to be love and happiness. Life is a growth process to be able to arrive at that sublime image of oneself via the road of investigation towards self-knowledge, which can be reached by facing confrontations with oneself via your relationship with either friends or foes.