The Holistic Body and Mind

Abstract

In the wellbeing domain, ill health is frequently understood as a matter transcending the biomedical emphasis on physiological symptoms. Forms of alternative medicine are, furthermore, argued to be different from conventional medicine because of the attention paid to the whole person: body, mind and spirit. The endeavour to address more than the biomedical body rests on conceptualizing individuals, in illness and in health, holistically; people are understood as interconnected beings, complex creatures consisting of a body that is intertwined with a mind and, at times, with a spirit. Not only are the mind, the body and the spirit viewed as interlinked. Connections with the broader environment and other people are seen to matter as well. This holistic manner of conceptualizing a person is also often argued to generate more comprehensive insight into the causes, and cures, of illness.

how someone thinks, and what their opinions are and their belief systems are, these are in the body. And we can’t get into their mind so easily. So we work really with their body to contact their thinking.

(Rebecca-apractitioner)