Holistic medicine describes a type of treatment that considers the whole human as a mind, spirit, emotions, and body. The term “holistic” comes from the Greek word “holos” which means whole. The main approach of holistic medicine is obtaining balance in the body. Modern medicine treats a specific problem in the body, but holistic medicine works on healing every part because everything is connected. If one part is not working properly, that means there’s a problem with every other part. The idea of healing the body as one giant connected piece started in China 5000 years ago. They viewed the human body as a small complex universe that was ruled by two power forces “qi,” or life force, and “shen,” or spirit. In India, herbal medicine, or Ayurveda, originated in the 6th century B.C. by Sushruta, who was known as “the father of surgery.” It focuses on the five elements of the universe, the seven elements of the body, and the three “doshas” or biological energies that each element represents.
Western herbalism originated in Ancient Greece and Rome, then spread to Europe, then North and South America. The first National Conference on Holistic Health came in California in 1975. Holistic medicine has been used in nutrition, massage therapy, chiropractic medicine, homeopathic medicine, and acupuncture. This type of approach to health issues may seem unrealistic for some people because many of us are hardwired to find solutions that take a lot of effort. The holistic approach to problems is not exclusive to health issues, but global issues as well. In 1960, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi predicted that one percent of a population practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique would produce measurable improvements in the quality of life for the whole population. Our thoughts and emotions have waves that can be pictured as light coming off our bodies and creating events. Maharishi started putting his theory into practice. He gathered a group of people and made them focus positively while meditating on a specific city, and then measured the crime numbers before and after. The results showed a decrease in the crime number and economic improvement. It might be hard to gather 1% of the world and make them direct their positive focus into the whole planet; however, there’s a type of meditation called The Twin Heart meditation which might have the same effect because it invites the person to focus the energy of love of kindness to the whole planet. All of these methods are tend to take the individual as a whole or “holos” and have the most fulfilled, balanced experience on Earth.
