Holistic health considers four key areas of life that influence our health and well-being. These four areas are:
Physical Factors
Psychological and Emotional Health
Environmental Factors
Relationships and Social Influences
In each of these areas of life, there are positive things we can do that will benefit our lives. There are also potential negative elements in each of these areas that will adversely affect our health.
What are the physical factors affecting health?
These include the things we eat, ingest, and consume, the physical activities we engage in, and genetic components as well.
Any physical thing that we consume including food, air, water, medications, herbs, cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol can be included in this category. Additionally, physical activities such as exercise, or lack thereof, are included in this category since they are physical things we do to our bodies. If you sit too much or don't walk enough, these could be included in physical factors that affect our health.
Other physical components that influence our health include our genetics and physical constitution. If you have a slow metabolism due to an underactive thyroid, this is a physical factor that will affect your health, energy levels, and weight.
When we talk about food, nutrition, and diet we can either choose wholesome foods that nourish our body or foods that are unhealthy. As foods are substances we consume they are included in this category. Food can also affect our moods and feelings, but the food itself is a physical thing.
Psychological Influences on Health and Well-Being
Our minds, emotions, moods, and behaviors play a major role in our health. If we are full of negative belief systems, adverse emotions, or have been conditioned to bad behaviors then our health will suffer. Conversely, if we cultivate positive behaviors, feel confident, practice gratitude, meditate, or practice mindfulness those things benefit our psychological health.
Traditional counseling works on the level of mind and emotions, whereas medical doctors are typically more focused on the physical factors that are related to symptoms and disease processes.
What is the Mind-Body Connection?
This is a field of health and medicine that acknowledges the inseparable link between our minds and bodies. For instance, if you feel pain it will affect your mood. When you stub your toe there is physical pain, but there is also an emotional reaction that causes many of us to get upset and even cuss. For those in chronic pain, it can cause depression, anxiety, the inability to concentrate, and other psychological reactions.
this is a field of health and medicine that acknowledges the inseparable link between our minds and bodies. For instance, if you feel pain it will affect your mood. When you stub your toe there is physical pain, but there is also an emotional reaction that causes many of us to get upset and even cuss. For those in chronic pain, it can cause depression, anxiety, the inability to concentrate, and other psychological reactions. s.
What we do to our bodies affects our minds, and what we feed our minds influences our physical health.
Environmental Influences on Health
Our surrounding environment affects our health more than most of us realize. However, if you have ever suffered from a headache as a result of being in a noisy environment then you can understand what I am saying.
Perhaps one of the biggest environmental influences on our health has to do with our office and work environments. If you spend your time sitting all day, and do not have a good ergonomic design, your physical health will decline, Many people suffer from conditions like back, neck, and shoulder pain because of their working environment.
The places we spend our time, the air we breathe, and the time in nature or city environments all influence our health in profound ways.
Comments