The 5 Aspects of Holistic Health & Why They Matter
When I was in middle and high school, the times where I really started to become interested in health and wellness, I believed that being healthy just meant watching what I ate and exercising. This is what's advertised most in our culture, right? When you do any kind of search on health or wellness, the top things you'll see talked about are about how you're eating and exercising. There may be some mention of other things like getting enough sleep and watching your stress, but as a whole, we are made to believe that food and exercise are the most important things for our health.
But this is so skewed. Yes, how we eat and how often we move our bodies does play a role. But they're not the MAIN things to us being and feeling healthy.
Take a look at any diet and what do you typically see? In my experience with diets, you'll find lots of recommendations (or shall I say "rules") for how you should eat. Whether it's Whole30 or Macro counting or Keto. Find a book about any of these and you'll see lots of what you should and shouldn't eat. You'll also maybe find some suggestions for exercise sprinkled in there, depending on the diet (or if it's something like Beachbody which is more fitness-focused you'll see a lot on exercise). But rarely do you see anything about the other aspects that make us healthy. And if you do, it's maybe one line about decreasing our stress.
We, as a culture, put so much emphasis on food and exercise for health. Which actually points to what our culture really cares about which isn't really health but rather thinness.
Because this is the message we're fed, that healthy = how you eat and exercise, it's no wonder that we feel so out of alignment and... UNhealthy. This mindset completely skips over the other parts of us that make us really feel whole.
WHY DOES A HOLISTIC APPROACH MATTER?
We are multi-faceted and have different aspects to what makes us healthy. Only paying attention to one or two aspects of our health is like standing on only one side of the seesaw... we fall over to one side. With a holistic, or as I like to say "whole-person" approach to health, we pay attention to the other parts of us that make us healthy and find more balance. Without a holistic approach, it's really easy to fall into disordered eating or over-exercise. Again, focusing on the nutritional and physical parts of us is important. But it's like they say, "too much of a good thing isn't always good".
THE FIVE ASPECTS OF HOLISTIC HEALTH
Instead of this 2-aspect approach to health (food and exercise) which is what we've been talking about, what culture has taught us, we thrive when we consider 5 aspects that make us healthy. Here's the key...not one aspect is more important than the other. All 5 play a role in us feeling our best selves, our most aligned and well selves.
These are the 5 aspects we need to feel healthy & whole in our bodies: our physical health, nutrition, mental health, environment, and spiritual health.
Let's dive into these a little deeper!
PHYSICAL HEALTH
Our physical health consists of moving our body, getting your blood pumping, oral hygiene, sleeping, and even regularly seeing a health care practitioner. This is one of the aspects that we focus most on when we talk about health. Our physical health is important because it helps keep our body strong and feeling good, physically.
Here are a couple of ways to care for your physical health:
Move your body regularly (this could be everything from stretching or yoga to a HIIT workout or cycle class). Movement, in general, is so good for our bodies...our bodies CRAVE movement
Try to sleep 8 quality hours a night. If you're struggling with quality sleep, try a sleep-hygiene routine.
Brush your teeth twice a day.
Schedule annual well-visits with your health care practitioner.
Don't smoke.
Drinking enough water throughout the day.
NUTRITIONAL HEALTH
Our nutritional health is another aspect that we often put a lot of focus on. And while, yes, it is important. Again, it's only part of the big picture of what makes us healthy.
When it comes to nutrition, our bodies feel best with a balance of carbohydrates, fat, protein, fiber, and micronutrients. A good way to get this is to try and get a carbohydrate, fat, protein, and colorful food (fruit/veggie) on your plate at each meal. And this isn't a rule to follow, but rather what often feels really good for our bodies (it's ok if some meals don't get all of these...our bodies are really smart and will be ok!).
Balance when it comes to what we eat is more about the big picture of a couple of days to weeks rather than just over the course of 24 hours. Play around with trying to get those 4, though, and see how it makes you feel.
Here are a couple of ways to care for your nutritional health (reminder that these aren't rules but rather suggestions):
Eat 3 meals a day and snacks according to your hunger.
Make meals that consist of carbohydrates, fat, protein, and something colorful
Pair carbohydrates with protein or fat when making a snack (this helps with blood sugar regulation)
MENTAL HEALTH
Our mental health, in my opinion, is the most important part of our health. Not because it's more important than the rest but because it's really hard to feel well physically and nutritionally when our mental health suffers. In my experience, our mental health is the part of our health we pay the least attention to, but it is such an important part of us feeling whole.
Our mental health consists of our stress levels, our joy and happiness, our outlook on life. Here's where, too, your relationship with food and your body are important. There is so much fear-mongering in the health and wellness world that can really damage our mental health. Healing your relationship with food so that you don't feel anxious around food and healing your body image so that you feel confident in yourself frees up space in your mind to focus on things that bring you joy. Of course, this is one area.
Here are a couple of ways to care for your mental health:
journal
talk with a therapist
heal your relationship with food and your body image
have a morning & evening routine
breathe deeply throughout the day
spend time outside
enjoy time with friends
allow yourself to feel emotions
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
Our environment plays a huge role in our overall health. This includes everything from the products we spray in the air in our home to what we put on our skin. Again, think big picture here. This doesn't mean we need to fear scented candles or hand soap, but rather be informed and educated in just another way we can care for ourself!
Here are a couple of ways to care for your environmental health:
Try using essential oils in a diffuser or non-toxic candle vs. candles with artificial fragrance.
Use non-toxic cleaning products to clean your home.
Make the switch to cleaner beauty and personal care products.
SPIRITUAL HEALTH:
We are spiritual beings created for a deeper purpose in this world. Our sense of worth with knowing that deeper purpose is what can often propel us to still find joy in hardships.Here are a couple of ways to care for your spiritual health:
Explore your purpose on this earth
Journal/Pray/Meditate
Get involved in a community with others of your same faith
Where do you place the majority of your energy out of these 5?Are you recognizing a mis-balance of any of these in your own life? If you're struggling to find a balanced approach to health in any of these areas, that's where working with a coach can really help! Here are some ways to work with me.