What Does Holistic Mean?
It's Not Pachouli and Chakras
Voltron
Holistic has become an oatmeal word. I call it that because oatmeal is bland and doesn't carry much taste itself - it tastes like whatever you put in it. The word holistic has become a bland term as terms that are overused often do. Let's for a moment refer to the base definition:
ho·lis·tic/hōˈlistik/adjective
characterized by the belief that the parts of something are interconnected and can be explained only by reference to the whole."the solution demands a holistic approach and a strategic vision of what can be achieved"
characterized by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the symptoms of an illness.
Being holistic then is not about alternative, Eastern, traditional, New Age or any other thing that thinks it's THE thing. Holistic is about interconnection between parts. how those parts work together to get summary outcomes, and that that is a fundamental truth of the reality we live in not excluding the biology that drives our health and performance. If we accept this as a basic premise of biology than any solution to any problem that reduces this holistic system down to singular causes and effects is by definition incomplete and often incorrect.
If we want to increase our chances at producing more certain outcomes is imperative that we focus more and more resources on learning how the parts interact with each other and less and less on what single serving mechanisms and protocols deliver.
Captain Planet
So then if we want solutions to what seem like, or in some cases actually are big problems, reducing them down to their constituent parts alone won't do. We must bring the whole picture back into focus. In practice this means that one person, group, or solution might not receive singular credit. But instead the combined efforts meld together to generate the total outcome. That sounds a lot like teamwork. "With your powers combined..."
Of course on a team there are linchpin players that may move the needle with more magnitude or frequency but without all of the other component pieces to interact with the effectiveness of that team or system is greatly reduced. One could argue - no Pippen, no Jordan, no legendary Chicago Bulls.
When it comes to how we solve human health and performance problems holistic doesn't just mean Alternative Medicine, non-allopathic solutions. It doesn't mean kettlebells and animal flows are better because they're not sagittal or that any particular exercise style is better than any other (to be totally honest I've seen them all executed like shit on the training floor).
Megazord
If we are going to be truly holistic we ask ourselves what role does this particular thing play in the context of all the other parts and does its inclusion support or detract from the outcome? If I add or take away a Power Ranger, can I still make the Megazord?
If we take this idea of being holistic to practical application that means that it's not enough to know the ailment, injury, medicine, and repair. Truly holistic health practices are about the person in front of you, not the ailment you're treating or the performance outcome you want.
If you are reading this post and are not a practitioner - find practitioners who don't just treat the problem, they treat you. If you are nothing but a collection of data and numbers to the person in front of you, in my opinion they're going to miss important contextual clues that will make the difference in lasting health and performance.
If you are a practitioner - you are treating a human being. Humans are the most complex biological system every devised. People do not only have sport and injury histories. They have cultures, families, personalities, and preferences. They have a story. You don't need to sit down and get the entire story to do a good job - but you do need to recognize that they have one.
Nag Champa and Reiki
Burning the right incense, meditating, and using essential oils does not make for a holistic approach. Thinking about how the parts relate to each other does. Understanding that your performance longevity approach needs redundancies in movement approaches, in mindset, and in nutrition and sleep.
Holistic is knowing that to most consistently achieve an outcome, in this case performance, the various parts need to synergize towards that outcome. Ask yourself how to my thinking, feelings, and relationships relate to how my body works and feels. To how I sleep? To how I eat? I don't know those answers for you. But beginning to ask how they work together (or don't) is the beginning of taking a truly holistic approach.