Holistic Health coaching - Four Areas of Your Life
A holistic health coaching program needs to consider four major areas of your life, these include your body and physical health, mind and emotions, as well as social and environmental factors.
Many holistic health models concentrate on the mind-body connection, and neglect the role of relationships, our social lives, communication, and the environment.
In a comprehensive holistic health program, these four areas should be considered and are important for many conditions like anxiety, depression, lung, heart, and digestive diseases.
This approach is modeled on the works of Ken Wilber's
four quadrants. See A Brief History of Everything, Wilber.
In my approach I typically start with the health of the body, and determine what physical factors are best for improving health. For some conditions manual therapies, acupuncture, osteopathic adjustments, herbs, medications, or even surgery may be necessary. I will give you the best advice, based on my many years of medical experience.
After assessing your physical health, I will then evaluate psychological and emotional factors. If your primary concern is within the mental-emotional realm, we will explore options like counseling, Voice Dialogue, NLP, and meditation.
Social and environmental factors will also be considered, and recommendations made to address these factors if necessary.
What are your top 3 health concerns for Health coaching?
By working with your top three concerns, it can allow us to take a big picture perspective, and consider physical, mental-emotional, social, and environmental factors.
Often times physical ailments have an emotional basis, and similarly, physical interventions like yoga and exercise can improve our moods, while reducing anxiety and depression.
For other things, environmental factors needed to be assessed. For instance, neck and shoulder pain are often due to office work and sitting too much, and can often be corrected with simple movements and postural changes.
Allergies, fatigue, anxiety, and excess weight can also have strong environmental factors that contribute to the condition, and when we understand these factors we can better address the problem and find effective solutions.
What are your top 3 reasons for wanting a health coach?
The Mind-Body Connection
The influence of our minds and bodies on one another is profound, and represents a frontier in medical breakthroughs. Using simple methods like body awareness, yoga, mindfulness, and meditation, we can positively influence our health and decrease stress.
Many health conditions such as headaches, hypertension, and heart disease are being associated with high stress and unhealthy lifestyles. By incorporating mind-body practices into our daily lives, it can help us to alleviate stress and be more healthy.
One practice I teach is what I call the "Check In Practice" and it is a way for us to check in with our body's to find out what they most need. By learning to consciously listen to our body, and ask it about its wants and needs, we can increase mind-body awareness and unity.
In an integrative mind-body approach to health, we seek to understand the role of both the mind and body in well-being.
Get Your Free Health Consultation and e-Booklet on Holistic Health
In my free email consultation, I will review your top three health concerns, discuss them from a holistic health perspective, and review various therapies that can be used for each condition.
This is like getting a second opinion, and will allow you to make a more informed decision about how to be healthier, live pain free, and accomplish your health goals.
You will also receive an 11 page holistic heath booklet, which discusses various aspects of physical health, mental health, social and environmental health. This will give you a solid foundation for better understanding holistic health approaches, and what can be done to alleviate your conditions and health concerns.
I will also periodically send newsletters about key topics in natural healthcare, and give you professional advice about how to live a happy and healthy lifestyle.
Once I know your top three health concerns I can make appropriate recommendations for how to move forward. There is no fee for an initial email consultation.
I am a doctor of acupuncture and herbal medicine with over 20 years of experience.
The Physical Body and Digestive Disorders
Our bodies represent one of the four major quadrants in a holistic health model, and physical routines, practices, and treatments help to keep our bodies healthy. When we speak of the physical aspects of health it concerns things like exercise, diet, nutrition, supplements, massage, bodywork, acupuncture, surgery, physiotherapy, and the use of herbs, medications and drugs.
While some disorders may have purely physical causes, other health conditions may due to imbalances in our mind and emotions. Since the mind and body are closely linked, a holistic approach will seek to understand the role that both the mind and body play in our overall health.
In many kinds of digestive and eating disorders, both the mind and body can be involved in the condition. Digestive problems can have a very physical basis such as in cases of food sensitivities and food allergies, but for digestive conditions that are worse with stress, it can also be useful to look at the role of the mind and emotions associated with eating.
In many cases of diabetes and obesity, there may also be strong mental and emotional factors, which contribute to food and sugar addictions.
For many digestive conditions, I tend to use herbs as they provide support to correct physical conditions of the digestive system. For example, with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) we recognize several patterns.
One pattern of IBS is made worse when a person is highly stressed, and it may also occur with headaches, high blood pressure, irritability, and insomnia. For a pattern like this, combinations of herbs can be useful with mind-body practices to alleviate stress, and bring more awareness to dietary patterns.
Another pattern of IBS occurs when diarrhea is more frequent, and there may also be symptoms like bloating, low energy, and fatigue. For this pattern I would use different herbs than what I use for the above pattern that is worse with stress, and occurs with headaches and insomnia. In the pattern with more frequent diarrhea, and low energy, we want to use herbs that strengthen and nourish the body. However, for the type of IBS that is more stress related, and occurs with insomnia, we want to soothe the nervous system, calm the mind, and promote digestive functions.
For digestive conditions made worse with stress, it is important to take an integrative approach, and use both mind and body therapies.