INTRODUCTION While the resounding claims of the propagators of the Holistic Healthcare drawing listeners around the globe, there is no dearth of doubting Thomases too, who are up with the questions on its efficacy and nature of application. One cannot blame them either, as it is way apart in the nature and application from its established counterpart, i. e. , the allopathic practice. Due to its mixed bag of application and the absence of a concrete definition that could express its central idea, it is still difficult for the uninitiated to comprehend its philosophy.
This paper probes all that, before concluding in an approbatory note. Origin Even if one takes the practice of herbal medicine as its root, coupled with the intensity of human desire towards healing, it is not possible to be definitive about its origin, as there is no event earmarks the advent of Holistic Healthcare. The ideas about it, as researchers assume, might have gained momentum in the sixties with the inroad of “counterculture ideology” (Nelson, 2004).
Otherwise, it may be appropriate to say that Holistic Healthcare is a slogan stemming out of a collective will, which at best points at a collection of multidimensional healing ideas from all around the globe – ranging from Indian Ayurveda to Chinese Herbalism, where the most common chord in them is a belief in the philosophy of treating the body as a whole structure coupled with mind and spirit at every instance of ailment. Nature Holistic Healthcare, as said earlier, claims to approach the subject of healing with a focus on the whole body instead of ‘zoning in’ to the affected part of the body.
This speaks about its faith in the role of the other parts of the body in the process of healing. This idea of ‘wholeness’ forms the base of this philosophy, which also gives equal importance to mind and spirit. Accordingly, it is plagued by the accusation from the skeptics – that Holistic Healthcare intends to include ideas that are ‘non-medical’ ((Nelson, 2004). However, its supporters urge on its efficacy of healing the entire gamut of diseases in a person at one go, instead of opting for ‘one at a time’ theory of allopathic medicine.
It is because of this gulf of difference in approach to healing, there is no specific branch in Holistic Healthcare like psychiatry or orthopedics, which identifies only the affected zone and concentrates only on the recovery of that zone. Instead, Holistic Healthcare stresses on the mind-body relationship in order to achieve maximum result in healing. Array of Applications: The appeal of Holistic Healthcare lies in its broad spectrum of practice, which the researchers loosely place into seven categories: 1. Mind-body interventions 2. Bioelectromagnetics application in medicine 3.
Alternative systems of medical practice 4. Manual healing methods 5. Pharmacological and biological treatments 6. Herbal medicine 7. Diet and nutrition A plethora of applications lie between them – close to 50 in number, which includes as novel items as dance therapy or imagery, let alone the practices like Reflexology or Reiki, which are based on imaginary concept. In fact, this concept is open-ended, ready to embrace any idea of healing which would be in alignment with its theory of ‘total focus on the whole’. Some have tried to classify its methods as “genuine, experimental or questionable” (Barret, 1998).
Unique Ways of Application There are many practices that gather under the umbrella of Holistic Healthcare with different origins and practice. For example, Reiki (originated in China) is based on using cosmic energy for healing, in which the Reiki Master plays a medium or channel to that energy before passing it on to the body of the patient, who needs to be on rest in the course of treatment. On the other hand, Yoga (originated in India) contains a series of postures and systematic breathing technique, which require active participation of the patient.
CONCLUSION
Judging from the above situation, one can still have some questions on the efficacy of Holistic Healing, though not being averse to taking this root of healing. But Holistic Healthcare scores on many fronts, such as stressing on a good and controlled lifestyle, recognizing and improvising the traditional healing methods, and last but not the least, establishing the body-mind-spirit relationship in medical practice, which is backed by almost all ancient philosophies of the world. Ends.
References Barret, S. (1998). Alternative medicine. More hype than hope. In J. M.Humber & R. F. Almeder (Eds. ), Alternative medicine and ethics (pp. 3-41). New Jersey: Humana Press. Nelscon, D. A. (2004) The Philosophy of Holistic Healthcare. Retrieved 1 November, 2007. http://repositoryaut. konz. ac. nz/context/theses/article/1053/index/1/type/native/viewcontent/
Works Consulted Herbal Medicine. Holistic Online. Retrieved 1 November, 2007. http://www. holisticonline. com/Herbal-Med/hol_herb-intro. htm Holistic Practices. Holistic Healthcare in Knox County, Ohio. Retrieved 1 November, 2007. http://www2. kenyon. edu/khistory/holistic/techniques. htm.