Why It’s Important to Try Holistic Healing First

Pain, injury and disease can be absolutely devastating to your lifestyle. When you’re constantly dogged by pain, it can feel next to impossible to achieve your previous level of happiness, contentment and fulfillment. It can feel like a struggle to even get out of bed in the morning, let alone accomplish your goals with enthusiasm.

So what solutions are available to you? One common answer is to visit your doctor, and that’s an important place to start. However, many doctors jump to cover the problem with pills and send you back on your way.

Drugs are the Default Approach

This isn’t to say medication doesn’t have its place. Many conditions can only be treated with medication. It’s not necessarily always something to fear or scoff at.

However, the problem occurs when drugs and pills become the default method of treatment for almost every condition, regardless of whether or not they represent the best approach. One excellent example of this problem is the huge surge in Xanax usage among Generation Y.

The problem with drugs is they often treat symptoms without addressing the heart of the problem. Or in some cases, they address one single facet of the problem while leaving other elements untouched. An alternative approach that seeks to heal both mind and body together is known as holistic healing.

Engage your doctor in conversation the next time they offer medication as the only option for treatment. Ask if drugs are the only way to treat your condition and what other options may be available. If they seem open to other possibilities, continue the discussion. Perhaps they may prescribe a holistic healing treatment for you, or they may be open to some combination of this and traditional medication.

Here are some of the holistic healing methods to talk about with your doctor as potential alternatives to medication.

1. Meditation

While your injury or pain point may reflect directly to the body, your mind may suffer a similar amount. And while the body is comparatively easy to heal, the mind is often the more difficult puzzle to piece back together.

Meditation is a wonderful practice. It allows you space to find inner peace and healing by looking inside yourself and reflecting honestly, or by coming to a place of stillness and acceptance. The healing that can occur from these places is extremely powerful.

Enroll in a meditation class led by an expert, follow along with YouTube videos or simply meditate by yourself in the quiet of your own home.

2. Botanical Medicine

This category encompasses all forms of medicine or supplements made from herbs, bark, seeds, roots or other purely natural sources. While these may not always pack the same punch as manufactured drugs, and are no supplement in serious situations, these natural remedies can go a long way toward moving your healing process along.

Because these remedies are created from the natural world around us, they are not foreign substances to our body. They are neither abrasive nor damaging, and work to heal our bodies gently, without introducing any manufactured chemicals into our bodies.

3. Physical Therapy

You can incorporate physical therapy as a recuperation strategy if recovering from a physical injury. A physical therapist is a doctor trained to help your body re-learn how to function. Sometimes, this means re-teaching your body how to gain back its full range of motion. Other times, it means learning to cope with new limitations on mobility. Either way, it’s an important step in the healing process.

Most often, physical therapy will consist of exercises completed by oneself, with the help of an exercise machine or with the help of another human being. In all likelihood, your doctor will prescribe these exercises to you, demonstrating the correct technique and telling you how many times to repeat the exercise on your own at home.

By way of these gentle exercises, the limits of your body slowly stretch and grow as you continue on your journey toward healing and regaining your life, whether that looks exactly like it used to or whether it looks a little different now.

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