Top tips to improve your Health & Wellbeing Holistically
Physical Health
Mental Health
Emotional Health
Spiritual Health
Social Health
These are pillars of holistic health and wellbeing, looking at yourself or a person as a whole. When we look at holistic health, we look beyond the physical body addressing physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and social health. All of these aspects affect overall health and wellbeing; when one becomes out of balance, or we become unwell in one pillar, the other pillars are affected.
For example, A psychological imbalance can cause physical symptoms, e.g., headaches, sleep problems, muscular pains etc. It also works the other way too; being physically imbalanced can cause psychological symptoms, e.g. anxiety, depression etc.
Rather than being guided by symptoms, holistic health focuses on the health of the entire body and mind rather than just parts of the body and getting to the root cause of the problem.
Although people are living longer in today’s world, they are also exposed to higher levels of stress, depression, pollution, chemicals, processed foods, less movement and busier lives than ever.
Many external and environmental factors also contribute to our overall health and wellbeing. Not everything requires a quick fix; it’s important to get to know you and your body. Listen to the feedback, understand habitual patterns, and notice physiological and psychological responses that might be linked to your symptoms. As well as looking internally, look externally too.
Let’s have a look at some symptoms that might not be directly related to the physical body:
Shoulder pain might not be caused by being sat at your desk for long periods
Neck pain might not be caused by excessive phone use
Elbow pain might not be caused by repetitive strain
Headaches might not be due to straining your eyes or dehydration
Stomach pain might not be due to intolerances or allergies
Pain and discomfort can also be created by stress, grief, fear, anger, trauma, anxiety or depression.
How can you support your holistic health & wellbeing?
Physical Health
This is what most people think about when they think of health. The physical body often shows us physical signs of symptoms of either optimal or sub-optimal health and are a good indicator that there is something else going on.
Suggestions to support your physical health:
Sleep for 7-8 hours every night – this is when the body heals, repairs cells, restores energy and removes toxic waste
Eat a nutrient-dense diet – high in organic and chemical-free plant-based foods and animal products (if you could eat it 1000 years ago, eat it in today’s world)
Move your body every day – find a movement you enjoy; this will vary from person to person
Avoid excessive alcohol consumption
Limit inflammatory foods
Drink plenty of water
Mental Health
This aspect interacts with physical and emotional health. The difference between mental and emotional health is that our mental health refers to our logic, thoughts and cognitive abilities that affect how the brain functions. Emotional health refers to our mood and emotions.
Suggestions to support your mental health:
Practice self-care – take time out for yourself each day
Working on improving self-love
Avoid excessive social media scrolling and limit the amount of news you watch
Connect with other people
Be physically active
Learn new skills
Practice mindfulness (being aware of the present moment) – you can make many things a mindful practice – walking in nature, cooking, yoga as well as a typical seated practice
Limit alcohol, caffeine and sugar
Spend time in nature
Set healthy boundaries
Show kindness and compassion to yourself
Set healthy boundaries and learn to say no
Seek a therapist or coach when needed – this support is essential to our emotional and mental health
Emotional Health
This is often hugely overlooked and is just as important as our physical and mental health. Our emotions can affect other parts of our health if not prioritised. All emotions are valid
Suggestions to support your mental health:
Practice mindfulness and meditation – if you are new to meditation, start with a 5–10-minute guided practice to get you into the flow
Seek a therapist or coach when needed – this support is essential to our emotional and mental health
Keep a journal to write thoughts and emotions
Daily gratitude – this helps focus and appreciate the good things in life
Spend time in nature
Love and care unconditionally
Show kindness and compassion to yourself
Set healthy boundaries and learn to say no
Spiritual HealtH
This is often thought of as quite ‘woo-woo’ or as a religion; however, spiritual health focuses on how you are connecting with your inner soul and the raw, authentic higher self.
Suggestions to support spiritual health:
Spend time outside and in nature
Practice meditation
Spending time alone and exploring your deeper self
Practice yoga
Build awareness in your everyday life
Find forgiveness for yourself and others
Love and care unconditionally
Social Health
The connections with friends, family and the community and the happiest people in the world have deep connections and have a sense of community. Social connection can lower anxiety and depression, improve self-esteem and empathy, regulate emotions and actually improve our immunity. However, in today’s world, we are becoming more disconnected than ever.
Suggestions to support social health:
Make time for connections with friends and family – especially during lockdown; it is important to connect. Make time for virtual connections
Set healthy boundaries for yourself (guidelines, rules, limits) that a person creates for reasonable, safe and respected ways for other people to behave towards them
Take responsibility for your own actions and emotions before taking care of others
Learn to say no to anything that doesn’t feel right or aligned with you
The mind and the body are one system, every minute of the day; the physical body reacts and changes in response to thoughts, feelings and emotions.
To start connecting to your body holistically, have a think about the following questions:
How are you feeling physically?
How are you feeling emotionally?
How are you feeling mentally?
How are you feeling spiritually?
How are you feeling socially?
Spend some time on these questions and write down whatever comes up. There’s no right or wrong; however, it is beneficial to think about how you feel over a range of time to see if there are any patterns.
For each of the pillars (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and social health), ask yourself the below questions:
How are you feeling today?
How did you feel yesterday?
How did you feel this past week?
Once you have spent some time on these questions, is there anything from the suggestions that you aren’t already doing that you can implement to support your holistic health & wellbeing?
@beccabrown7