Holistic self-care is a commitment to holistic-intentions which guide our choice-making process and lead us to giving ourselves balanced loving care and attention. This care is provided to our mind, body and spirit which are the equal aspects of our whole 'being'. Holistic self-care is the lifestyle I have designed to help any willing individual take control of how their body feels, how they think and manage emotions and ultimately find peace of mind and happiness.
"True Health with Holistic Self-Care", my forthcoming book provides the reader with basic plans for implementing the lifestyle once he or she understands the basic philosophy and commits to the 'Stages of Empowerment'.
The plan referred to as "holistic planning" focuses on the basic functions of thinking and choosing. These basic functions enable and govern the practice of holistic self-care as a whole. Whether or not one commits to making the optimal choices and provide balanced loving care and attention to each aspect of the 'being' depends on this. "Holistic planning" mainly employs the the mind and spirit; which interact to determine the process one uses to think and ultimately make decisions.
Conscious thinking is actually the process of considering, evaluating and determining options in concert with the outlook of the individual. The thought process is within control of the individual; with commitment to rational thought process one can evaluate and possibly address the feelings which form emotions. Emotions are generally the result of feelings, which are formed within the thought process and outlook; however, when the individual is applying an irrational thought process they may feel as though they are 'slaves' to their own emotions. But, with patient and persistent application of "holistic planning" one can 'take control' of thought process and outlook.
Complementing the thought process is the outlook used by one to form perceptions and reactions of everything experienced. The perception of each situation affects the amount of information gathered, the instant reaction and how this information will be recalled. The outlook of the individual varies from the undesired negativity to the positive outlook for combination with a rational thought process to implement and maintain holistic self-care.
The mind of the individual operates the thought process and outlook with a steady interaction with the body, but significantly more from the spirit. The spiritual aspect of the individual is represented to the conscious mind and physical 'being' with deeper feelings. The feelings can be found within the sub-concious or deep within the conscious and consist of dynamic states of spiritual outlook and conflict.
The state of spiritual outlook can vary from extreme control to extreme lack of control; with preference of moderate control. The resulting feelings can be happiness, sadness, anger, despair or the desired contentment. With moderate control the individual can be 'in the moment' while taking non-extreme measures to care for one's self which over time the result can be spiritual contentment.
The spiritual state of conflict is usually deeper within the person, regulalry emerging to the conscious mind when making choices or applying thought process in quickly arising situations. The state of conflict can be expressed in situations which immediately 'stress' the individual with obstacles and noticeable difficulties. The state of conflict varies as well, from extremely conflicted to extremely thoughtless and uncaring. The preferred state of conflict is one of minimal conflict referred to as peacefulness.
The spirit desires the underlying states of contentment and peacefulness; both are very even-keel with a medium temperament. The foundational principle is that the whole 'being' can reach and maintain 'optimal function' with a content and peaceful spirit. 'Optimal function' is the 'holistic health status' which forms vitality, productivity and wellness. 'Optimal function' is the goal for holistic self-care and occurs when the mind, body and spirit each reach and maintain the overall states which form this overall status.
The mind desires the state of rational thought process with a positive outlook to enable 'optimal function'. The body reaches 'optimal function' with sustained alkaline pH and adequate, balanced 'energy' flow. These require the aforementioned spiritual states of peace and contentment; which can be initiated with a few simple measures that can resonate to the deeper states of conciousness or sub-conciousness.
Patience and persistence are the pre-requistes necessary to implement these simple measures to provide balanced loving care and attention to one's spiritual self. Patience is always required in self-care because the focus is on improving the underlying conditions, which generally develop over long periods of time. Noticeable symptoms referred to as the flu or a headcold may seem to quickly arise; but the truth is the underlying conditions of the person which enable these expressions of 'challenged function' developed slowly over time. Improving these underlying conditions generally requires a period of time; there is no magic pill in holistic self-care.
The first simple measure to address the spiritual aspect is the identification of one's own ego and the overall impact this has on life as a whole. In terms of holistic self-care the ego is viewed as the aspect of the individual with self-centered intentions. The self-centered intentions are not focused on nourishing the individual, but pleasing the personality, usually in the immediate time frame expressed by "I want". Holistic self-care consists mostly of one "should" be doing (positive 'stressors'), and with persistence the "should" will become "I want" as taste buds and energy levels evolve.
Simply noticing the balance of "wants" and "shoulds" will show the powerful impact the ego can have on 'holistic health status' and self-care as a whole. The follow-up measure consists of applying the holistic self-care principle of "be kind, not right". The kindness applies to how you perceive experiences and information, how you take care of your self and how/if you judge and interact with others. Socializing is a basic function and does impact the well-ness of the person as a whole, in fact conventional studies in the United States have repeatedly found individuals with satisfying social lives to live longer and with better quality.
"Be kind, not right" can be most readily applied to socializing during regular discussions like how and what people choose to eat. Foods and drinks are routinely discussed between people and this is a practical opportunity to "be kind, not right". The food choices of many people are formed by a combination of misguided advice and willingness to please one's personality. The pleasing of one's personality generally occurs with an irrational thought process in order to justify the choice of what one "wants".
These individuals generally use the conventional medical perspective on nutrition, which can be easily misconstrued due to it's basis on 'scientific reductionism'. Holistic nutrition is quite simple to understand and practical to implement, whereas the conventional medical perspective on nutrition can be understood many ways with difficulty to implement due to reliance on 'scientific reductionism'. For better understanding of 'scientific reductionism' please refer to "In Defense of Food", by Michael Pollan and please refer to the forthcoming text "The True Health Lifestyle: Guide for Self-Care", by myself for holistic nutrition information.
When discussing foods and drinks one should not focus on "being right"; this generally does not help inspire others to implement holistic self-care. The focus on "being right" usually drives other people away from the principles discussed, and initiates an adversarial nature between outlooks on nutrition. However, one can readily focus on "being kind", by simply referring to the basic principles of 'holistic nutrition' and the intended states of 'being' within just the human body (alkaline pH with balanced, adequate 'energy' flow).
One can easily get tripped up into defending their principles and explaining the science behind them, but this generally does not inspire others to 'take control' of their lives with holistic self-care. The mind needs to be open and the willingness to improve one's self must exist within a person to consider, investigate and implement holistic self-care. When those traits surface it is usually noticeable, otherwise the best one can do is simply plant the seeds for others to empower themselves with holistic self-care.
So, make "be kind, not right" a frequent self-affirmation in your life as you commit to holistic self-care. Recall this affirmation when discussing many of the basic functions you may perform and fulfill with others such as eating, drinking and moving. Simply stating the principles behind what one does and the bodily intentions along with reserving judgment of what others do and follow will enact "be kind, not right" and lead to inspiring others to take steps towards their own holistic self-care.
Please e-mail me at truehealthservices@gmail.com with any questions, comments or feedback. I am presently completing "The True Health Lifestyle: Guide for Holistic Self-Care" which will be an easily understood and practical handbook to 'take control' of one's own well-ness, vitality and health as a whole.
"Be kind, not right", very cool! Sylvia
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