According to the Oxford Dictionary, Holistic is characterized by the belief that the parts of something are intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole.
Holistic Health refers to Medicine characterized by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the symptoms of a disease.
According to Wikepedia, Holistic Health is a concept in medical practice upholding that all aspects of people’s needs, psychological, physical and social should be taken into account and seen as a whole. As defined above, the holistic view on treatment is widely accepted in medicine. A different definition, claiming that disease is a result of physical, emotional, spiritual, social and environmental imbalance, is used in alternative medicine.
To read more aboout Holistic on Wikepedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holistic_health
Some of the practices of alternative holistic health include, but are not limited to:
- natural diet and herbal remedies
- nutritional supplements
- exercise
- relaxation
- psycho-spiritual counseling
- meditation
- breathing exercises
- acupuncture
- homeopathy
- massage therapy - including Chi Nei Tsang