How a Holistic Wellness Practitioner can help you?

So, is this term just more New Age hype?  Is there something tangible, concrete, real and down to earth to be discovered through ‘Holistic Wellness’ and it’s Practitioner? I hear you ask! …. and how can that be of benefit to me?

Holistic means encompassing the whole of a thing and not just a part, and so Holistic Wellness alludes to examining a person as a whole: a human ‘body mind spirit soul’ being. Each part existing within and because of the other, each part having a direct relationship to the wellness and the wholeness of the other.

In his book ‘The Body Keeps the Score’ Bessel Van Der Kolt’s perspective through his extensive research is that in order to heal from trauma, for example, an approach that encompasses mind, body and brain is to be implemented. That each fundamental part of our being is affected by external circumstances that are met with specific responses and expressed in and through each of those parts.

A balanced and grounded approach to healing, wellness and fitness needs to be practiced on all levels for us to fully step into our wellness and wholeness and for that to be sustained. Ken Dychtwald led a revival of ancient beliefs into a modern application of his ‘bodymind’ work, which refers to the ‘physical’ and ‘psychological’ aspects of an individual. In his book ‘Bodymind’ he explores the wisdom of the body language and uses the interpretation of that as a guidance to understanding the psychology of and assisting in the healing of a person. With profound effects.

Indeed, ancient practices much revived today such as Yoga and (here my own personal interest because of my passion for energy work and dance) Kundalini Yoga teach ecstatic awakening and expansion throughout our levels of being. A group of physical, mental and spiritual practices originating in ancient India.

Breath in particular being a formidable vehicle for physical, mental and emotional wellness as well as spiritual health. Joseph Pilates, one of our more contemporary body technicians said, ‘Above all learn to breathe correctly’. History, ancient and modern is adorned with examples of fantastic and inspirational healers and teachers of Holistic form, imploring and inviting us time and again to come into and experience ‘whole body wellness’.

And so, with modern life geared to maximise economic growth and performance our innate ‘knowing’ about our purpose as human beings, is buried under the stress of our requirement to be human doings. The dis-ease of modern life and society undoing the fine and natural balance of our Holistic being. From the most ancient of body medicine practices still used by the Kalahari to this day, to the most modern and scientifically researched, studied and devised nutritional programs, Holistic Wellness is more pertinent than ever before.

So how can a Holistic Wellness Practitioner help you?

So then, what is a Holistic Wellness Practitioner? The Holistic Wellness Practitioner will have spent time studying and practicing various disciplines that can encompass the ‘body mind spirit soul’- being in order to promote development, wellness and balance and will be able to offer you a program that will respond to and address your specific requirements and needs.

They will have a wealth of practical knowledge and experience to bring to the table as well as the skill to lead you into your journey.

When I was a young person I focused mainly on physical form from an aesthetic point of view, I knew I had lots of fun with it especially through dance. As my life grew busier and my attention turned from myself to my tribe of youngsters, my focus shifted to a spiritual one…too exhausted for the pursuit of my own fitness disciplines I was transported by the whirlwind of a supercharged family lifestyle with all the challenges, highs and lows, and tragedy and trauma that it was to bring.

I simply did not make the correlation between the physical and spiritual in a Holistic sense as I dragged my exhausted and sleepless body to bed each night finding myself awake again in yet another involuntary night prayer vigil. My search for the spiritual was one of necessary relief from terrifying spiritual manifestations in our household.

However, despite many questions, some of which will ever remain unanswered this side of life, I discovered immensely powerful healing, especially physical and emotional, which were of benefit not only to myself but to others also. And into that equation knowledge, wisdom and discernment gained from my years of scouring scripture and spiritual teachings coupled with living for over a decade within an incredible community orientated social structure in the wilds of beautiful Brittany.

However, what I did not anticipate or understand were the devastating effects of stress and trauma. How this could bring me physically and mentally to a standstill. My body broken with overwork, my mind too exhausted to function as my efforts to be sole caregiver and provider to my ever-growing family; the excruciating 90-hour working weeks representing my efforts to maintain a family life and respond single handed to the needs of 4 young people, led me eventually to a complete physical full-stop… which would leave me with serious health challenges for the next decade of my life.

And so began my journey to Holistic Wellness. ‘Fixing’ all that is physical, mental, emotional and spiritual to restore health, balance and wellness to my experience as a human being. During this time, I discovered Reiki healing, which added grounding to my healing experience, and this plus the fitness qualifications I had acquired, and my life of learning disciplines and knowledge would permit me to express my own uniqueness in the world.

I became a Life, Spiritual and Wellness coach, a teacher of meditation and a facilitator of Ecstatic Awakening Dance. Through that time getting to bottom of my woundedness and finding the true expression of ‘me’.

I then founded The Holistic Wellness School, a vehicle training body mind and soul to be WHOLE .

So, how a Holistic Wellness Practitioner can help you? In my opinion, it’s an individual who has had the courage to face the challenges and adversities encountered through their own existence, who has learned or who is in the process of learning how to be an overcomer, who has validated these experiences in a responsible way and who is qualified to hold out their hand as they relate to your own particular dis-ease, frustration and pain, responding with a plethora of honed life and academic skills empowering them to reach out their hand to, in turn, empower you to take at least your first step into your unique personal healing journey.  Please do contact me for further information.

Love and light
Lorraine Gibson