What Are We Talking About?
"Does a holistc approach to health mean choosing acupuncture instead of in- vitro -fertilization? Or could it mean, as I and so many of my students have discovered, a choice between decisions based solely on statistics and other people's opinions, and action based on everything we know and discover about ourselves. When faced with a diagnosis, or a life crisis, do we turn a deaf ear on all the helpless voices inside us calling out for help, or give each one the attention it deserves? Do we perpetually search for someone to fight our battles, or learn what it takes to become our own fiercest allies?"
-from The Fertile Female
Below is a description of various holistic modalities. An important note: Engaging advisors -- whether they're physicians or acupuncturists or therapists -- can be eminently useful as long as we don't see them as anything more than our esteemed consultants. When we leave ourselves out of the equation; when we do not participate fully in our own treatment, we simply replace the experts at our fertility clinic with the experts in Chinatown. Thus the most valuable source of information and healing is lost to us.
Holistic therapies are treatments that place equal value on all aspects of an individual (physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual). They are based on a deep understanding of each person as a unique whole, which implies a treatment for the total person, not just for one part or organ. (We don't carry our ovaries in our pockets). Holistic therapies look at symptoms as a sign of the organism trying to heal, and offer remedies that stimulate the body's own healing mechanism.
The most important factor in holistic healing is not which therapies we choose but how we choose them. We are the ones who need to understand what has to be done, because the changes take place within our bodies, minds and souls. Instead of placing all authority and decision making outside of ourselves, we begin to give ourselves the authority to decide what does or doesn't make sense, what is or isn't possible for us.
Examples of Holistic treatment options:
- Homeopathy:
The basic system was devised and verified by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann , a German physician, nearly 200 years ago. Treatment is based primarily on symptoms verbalized by the patient after careful self-observation, as well as physical signs detected by the prescriber. A homeopath may also use laboratory tests to diagnose and monitor problems. The law underlying homeopathy is the law of similars: whatever substance produces symptoms in a healthy persons will cure those same symptoms in a sick person.
- Nutritional and Lifestyle Changes:
Diet is an important factor in shaping our health and the only major determinant of health that is completely under our control. Improving our diet, supplying our bodies with nutrient-rich whole (as opposed to processed) foods, can often be an important step toward restoring balance in our bodies, and increasing our overall level of health.
- Herbal Remedies:
Herbs can assist in correcting the underlying factors of disease and reverse some of the health-inhibiting conditions.
- Craniosacral Therapy:
The craniosacral system is a semi-closed hydraulic system that encloses the brain and spinal cord, and consequently has a powerful influence over a wide variety of bodily functions, the endocrine system, and the hormones that it secretes. The craniosacral therapist uses gentle massage and pressure to release blocks and restricted movement of the cerebrospinal fluid, which inhibit craniosacral system function.
- Mental Imagery:
By repeatedly calling up images in your mind you rewire the circuits of your mind toward a realization of those images. The remarkable feature of imagery work is that it can be accompanied by physiological changes.
All of the above suggestions are, of course, tools that effect the whole-person.
Working on your diet could help lift you out of depression. Meditation can have a profound physical effect.
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