Is Holistic Medicine Legit? Three Ways to Know if You’ve Got What It Takes.
What Is Holistic Medicine and Why Should You Care?
Do any of these sound familiar?
If anyone around you is sick, you know you’re next.
You’ve had more antibiotics in your lifetime than you can count.
You’re tired of a one-size-fits-all approach to medicine.
Your energy is drained… who has energy anyway?
You have zero loyalty to one specific doctor because they don’t remember you anyway.
I get it! I’ve been there. If someone was sick near me, I looked at my schedule 3-5 days later because I knew I’d be fighting off whatever that person had. When I did catch a cold, it always turned into a sinus infection and I was quick to seek an antibiotic to get over it as quickly as possible. I had the script perfected ensuring the doctor would hand over the goods. It didn’t matter what doctor I went to, they didn’t know me anyway and they rarely asked me any questions attempting to learn more. All that mattered was finding the fastest fix to return to my normal fast-paced life. Who cared how it may be affecting my insides or future repercussions?!
That used to be me until a breast cancer diagnosis at age 35 forced me to take a good, hard look at my lifestyle. A multi-year journey opened my eyes and changed my approach to medicine, healthcare, and whole-body wellness.
Wondering if alternative forms of medicine are right for you? Keep reading to find out!
This is Not for the Faint of Heart
I can say with complete certainty that this is not the easier route. Choosing the alternative healthcare track takes far more grit than obeying the recommendations of conventional medicine. However, alternative approaches tend to have the opposite reputation. They’re considered soft, woo-woo, hippie stuff, or just plain weird. If one wants to be considered logical and tough, one would associate with the one-size-fits-all conventional approach. How did that come to be? Sigh, a topic for another day. Today, we’ll explore the three traits required for a successful holistic wellness journey.
Is holistic medicine legit? Only if you partner with it!
#1: You Must Have Patience
Patience: quite a loaded word in today’s society. We know good things come to those who wait, yet our culture continually tells us otherwise. Amazon Prime has trained us to expect things overnight, having to wait 3-5 days for something now feels just plain rude. How many times have you switched an item in your Amazon cart that wasn’t exactly what you needed, but was available for next-day delivery?
Raising my hand here too, guilty.
The same goes for our society’s current expectations surrounding health. How many advertisements for getting fit quickly have you seen lately? Or an ad ensuring this one pill will solve all your problems? More than you can count, I imagine. But with integrative, long-lasting holistic approaches, it takes time. And really, it should! The beauty of holistic wellness is treating the root issue, not just the symptoms. This does not happen overnight and depending on the root issue it can take months. This isn’t to say you won’t feel better along the way, but you won’t feel better as quickly as, for example, an antibiotic. Choosing to take an antibiotic for something your body can heal from independently hurts you in the long run because it kills the good bacteria in your body (along with the bad), wrecking your gut and causing all sorts of other issues… most importantly leaving you more susceptible to future illness.
If you don’t allow your body time to adjust to the new, healthy holistic practices you’re integrating into your life, it simply won’t work. This is exactly why holistic medicine doesn’t work for so many… they give up too soon. So, if you’re going to go down this path, and I sincerely hope you do, your biggest hurdle will be retraining your brain for the long game.
“Have patience with all things, but, first of all with yourself.” - Saint Francis de Sales
#2: Holistic Practices Require Curiosity
Curiosity may have killed the cat, but in the world of integrative medicine, it saved the human. I miss the good ‘ol days when a primary care physician took the time to get to know their patients. I’m basing this on hearsay from prior generations, I’ve never had this experience personally.
I don’t know about you, but when I go to a primary care physician they:
Are rushed
Are quick to prescribe
Don’t ask many questions
Don’t remember me
Of course, there are exceptions to this generalization, but recently during my annual visit, I was scolded for arriving at 2:03 for my 2:00 appointment. “With the time left, we’ll see if we can get to all we need to do today,” they told me.
I get it, they’re busy! We all are. But based on their earlier comment, I felt unable to ask them the questions I had planned, yet I was leaving the doctor’s office by 2:28. Seems as if there was time for those questions, but I felt rushed out of there like I was checking out in a grocery store line an hour past closing!
I left feeling like a number, rather than a person and somehow shamed for my three-minute tardiness even though they were done early. I’d like to believe that my doctor wants to learn more about me so they can better treat me.
Sounds too good to be true, right? Wrong! Since switching to the world of alternative medicine I’ve been blown away by the thoughtfulness and attentiveness of my holistic practitioners. For example, my acupuncturist came in on her weekend to treat a chronic neck issue that flared up and my NET (Neuro Emotional Technique) chiropractor texted me after hours an at-home remedy for my bronchitis.
They treat me as an individual with unique needs:
They ask in-depth, intriguing questions to get to the root cause of the issue
They listen to the answers and take notes
They remember what I said the visit prior
They schedule an appropriate amount of time so I never feel rushed
They look at the body as a full entity, not just zero-ing in on one part
If something seems odd, they get curious and dig in. And then they treat you based on your needs, not the average person’s needs. Yours.
“Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning” - William Arthur Ward
#3: You Must Be an Active Participant
This might be the most important point of all: you’re in this with them! If you’re not interested in having a role in their treatment plan, it won’t work for you. Period. Harsh? Maybe. True? Absolutely. Early days I remember my acupuncturist giving me some tough love when I pushed back on what she was asking me to do at home… “Teresa, this is holistic medicine”. In other words, shit or get off the pot! She didn’t want to waste her precious time with someone who wasn’t committed to the process. I respected that. Since then, my results became more pronounced because I was a partner in the process.
Think of your body as a garden. It may seem like those carrots just magically started popping up on their own. I mean, those tiny seeds look like you’re planting a speck of dandruff rather than something you’ll later consume… it does feel like magic! But those carrots need a partner: the gardener.
Someone who:
Puts nutrients into the soil
Spaces those seeds the correct distance apart
Waters them the appropriate amount
Harvests them just at the right time
Without a partner, those carrots wouldn’t have a chance of making it to your dinner table and the garden would feel chaotic. Similarly. the human body can feel chaotic without someone nurturing it each day. Your practitioner, holistic or otherwise, is only with you for a very short amount of time. It’s up to you to do the daily work. If you’re not ready for that commitment, it’s ok. But when you are ready, get ready for some magic of your own.
“Nothing will work unless you do” - Maya Angelou
Ready to Commit to Your Health?!
If you want the “quick fix” then holistic medicine probably isn’t for you.
But, if you want to:
Change your life for the better
See long-term, lasting positive effects
Understand your body and how it all works together
Have partners in your healing journey
Experience the magic of whole-body wellness
Then holistic medicine is here waiting for you with open arms and a kind heart. And you, too, will see that yes, holistic medicine is legit.
Want to Learn More?
Interested in leading a more holistic lifestyle, but not sure where to start? It can feel daunting and overwhelming to step into newness… I’ve been there! Let me help by highlighting simple holistic practices you can integrate into your daily life. Sign up below!
