What life is like for many of us

• You’re afraid of having another year of chaos and regret, but you aren’t sure what EXACTLY needs to change.

• You’re frequently sick.

• Fatigue and exhaustion are often your default feelings.

• You’ve tried too many times to set goals and resolutions, only to lose momentum a few weeks later…because life got in the way.

• You want to make changes in your life, but you don’t know where to find the internal motivation to make new habits stick.

• Your fuse is short. Your patience almost nonexistent. Those closest to you get the worst parts of you.

• Numbing out on Netflix marathons, alcohol, or food are normal parts of life.

Read to the end: Don’t leave before reading the 13 ideas to help you start holistic living right now!

I thought I could handle it until I landed in the ER.

I’ve been there. Totally stressed out and overwhelmed.

For decades, my life was all of the above and more. I wasn’t too worried about the effects of stress, though. Stress and chaos felt like good motivators for a procrastinator like me. Without pressure, I would never accomplish anything, I mistakenly thought.

How else would I prove to myself that I was competent and worthy, without spinning all the plates and juggling all the responsibilities?

I was homeschooling my kids, working as a teacher part-time, running a photography business, and freelance travel writing on the side. Oh yeah, did I mention, I’d also just bought a new house and was running an Airbnb?

I didn’t understand that living a life with big dreams and no limits, didn’t mean IGNORING my body’s limitations.

It wasn’t until I found myself lying on a gurney, awaiting test results in the ER, that I finally comprehended the stakes.

Why are we so hard-headed when it comes to practicing self-care? Why do we so easily betray ourselves and what we need when we’re trying to build the life we want?

Living a frenzied, stretched-thin life ALWAYS has consequences. Feeling rushed, stressed, and barely able to catch your breath (before doing the next thing) ALWAYS takes a toll.

Here’s the bigger problem.

I didn’t know that I was stressed out and running thin.

I knew I was busy. I knew I was exhausted. But I felt like those were normal for an ambitious entrepreneur. I was all about the hustle, paying my dues, and not complaining. During a typical week, I’d stay up until 2:00 am or later, multiple times, to work on my side-gigs.

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No excuses. No quit. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. These were my mantras.

My mind wanted one thing. My body was begging for something else. I was unaware that there was a massive disconnect.

And finally, my body gave out.

Why is a holistic lifestyle important?

A holistic lifestyle is concerned with keeping you centered and living your best life. It is more than a simple remedy for treating illness, like rubbing garlic on the soles of your feet when you have a cold. A holistic lifestyle aims at living your most authentic self and having THAT radiate health to all aspects of your life.

Sound too fluffy?

It shouldn’t. It should sound deceptively simple.

A holistic life is one where your insides match your outsides.

Your life should not be producing “outward results” but feel like death inside. If that’s happening, there is a distinct and dangerous mind-body disconnection. And living with this disconnect is a risky way to walk through life.

Why is a holistic lifestyle especially important in 2020?

A holistic life is important every year, but especially important in 2020. Why?

This year is an election year.

Social media will be like a cockfighting ring. Our country is about to enter a season where discourse means grenades lobbed from each side. Many will say we live like this already. But it’s about to rev up to a whole new level of intensity. And all sides feel like the stakes are high.

We learned from the last election how volatile our social landscape can be. The election can impact our relationships. It won’t just stay on TV in the land of endorsed commercials. It has the ability to implode our dinner tables, our family gatherings, and our places of worship.

The skills learned and practiced as part of a holistic lifestyle will strengthen you at your core.

• Connecting to your breath.

• Pursuing peace.

• Healing past traumas.

• Being aware of triggers.

• Fueling your body.

• Actively seeking moments of rest during your waking moments.

• Becoming aware of negative energy drains.

• Finding quiet moments in your day to prioritize and meditate.

• Practicing gratitude.

These skills will be life-giving to you amidst any chaotic external environment, whether that’s a presidential election, an overwhelming work schedule, or toxic relationships.

When you can practice these life-giving habits routinely, you can offer the best version of yourself to the world around you, no matter how tumultuous life may feel.

You can live above the fray.

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So, can holistic living affect your physical health?

Absolutely.

Holistic health is addressed by looking at the whole of who you are.

A holistic approach to health is focused on preventing disease and providing a way for optimal health.

A holistic approach is important because: it is concerned with trying to move toward understanding the root cause of whatever you’re experiencing. A commitment to holistic health means a renewed commitment to avoiding these two harmful practices:

1. medicating and masking symptoms

2. living by default

What is meant by holistic health?

Holistic health is an approach to life. It’s more than natural remedies and a healthy lifestyle. It is an understanding of the connection between mind, body, spirit, and social needs. It’s becoming aware of the fact that your health is not just your weight or your diet, how much sleep you get, or how much water you drink. It’s ALL OF IT, and more.

It’s multi-faceted. It’s your community. It’s how you handle pressure. It’s how you’ve dealt with previous trauma in your life. It’s how you set boundaries. It’s how you conserve your energy. It’s how you breathe. It’s all the things that affect who you are — as a whole.

Still doesn’t make sense? Here’s a pretty common example of a holistic approach to health.

Let’s say you have a physical symptom like chronic headaches. A holistic treatment would address the whole you. Understanding that the headaches may have a physical root cause OR it may not would be an initial starting point.

The chronic headaches could be caused by other factors like emotional toxicity, stress, diet, or environmental factors. Exploring and eliminating would be a typical holistic approach. After evaluating a variety of factors, remedies would be recommended, which may or may not include traditional medicine.

In addition to traditional medicine, other clinically proven holistic remedies may be recommended to treat a person with chronic headaches, like:

- acupuncture

- massage

- yoga

- exercise to release endorphins

- avoiding foods that cause inflammation

- meditation

What a holistic lifestyle is NOT

Healthy, holistic living isn't a checklist of things you must do. It isn’t a 21-day fix. It isn’t a temporary diet. It’s an evolving lifestyle of growth. It’s incremental changes that inform your life choices.

The main focus is not about physical health, although that is an important byproduct. When you practice caring for yourself, changing habits that do not serve you, or giving yourself permission to explore mindfulness, improved health is often a result. But holistic health is about so much more than just staying there.

It’s about becoming the best version of yourself spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically, and interpersonally. That doesn’t happen by only eating veggies or getting enough sleep.

What can YOU DO TODAY, if you want to begin to change how you’re living? Here are 13 extremely practical places to start.

1. Become aware of the negative drains in your life.

Protect your energy. Take a look at the relationships that leave you feeling stressed and stuck in negative thoughts. Maybe it’s time to make a shift toward other relationships that fuel you.

2. Determine where you will put your attention.

I found it helpful to make a list of what gets my full attention, what gets my peripheral attention, and what gets no attention. Seeing it on paper was an eye-opening experience. Going back and consulting that list when I felt stressed helped me prioritize if I was giving my energy and attention to appropriate things.

3. Clear your mind.

Do a brain dump. I didn’t realize how much I held in my head throughout the day. I just didn’t want to forget things. So, I held it all, doing a mental juggling act that left me feeling depleted without even understanding why. My brain was like a computer—stuck on that “Loading” screen, never really able to move forward. Get a notebook and write it all out—the to-do lists, your concerns, your feelings, whatever is in there. And yes, you could put it all on the same page because it’s not about organizing those thoughts, it’s about getting it out of your head. There are no rules. Just empty your brain, so you are not draining your energy with spiraling thoughts.

4. Recognize there is a higher power, a bigger picture.

Seeing yourself in a bigger picture helps elevate you to a new place of living. For some, it is religion. Others use nature. I use my faith in my Creator. Whatever you choose, I have found that this faith and perspective anchors me when things don’t make sense, when people are hard to love, when healing feels impossible, or when I feel out of control. Becoming your best self is key, but I’ve found this is more easily done when that life is connected to a source that’s bigger than themselves.

5. Honor your limits.

The first step is to become aware of your limits. The next exercise is to honor them. The limits may be on your time, the people you choose to care for, the number of tasks you can handle. However, the holistic approach is not about living a life of limitation. Rather it is about honoring your boundaries, no explanations required.

6. Find your breath.

That sounds wacky, but it is foundational to healing and wellness. Your body follows your breath's lead. It tells your body if you are safe. It determines if you are at rest, or if you are in fight-or-flight mode. It is often the starting point of awareness and change.

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7. Honor your mind-body connection.

Your body is fighting to tell you what it needs. When you listen to it, you love it. When you ignore its messages, you betray yourself, and the body has to work even harder to get its messages across. This is how we usher our bodies into dis-ease.

8. Accept others' perception of you.

We all have those spaces and people in our life where we feel like we have to prove our worth, hustle for acceptance, strive for approval...prove that we're worthy of love. Stop. Doing so leads to stress in your body. Healing says: I accept your perception of me, as inaccurate as it is. I do not have to defend or make you believe that I'm worthy.

9. Become aware of "old stories" that cause the health-depleting, debilitating, and exhausting emotion of guilt.

Guilt is often an emotion we hold, without even being aware of it. Be curious about the times when you find yourself being motivated by guilt or feeling bad. Start to dig a little deeper and see where that’s coming from. Most likely, it’ll point you to beliefs you need to start exploring.

10. Acknowledge that peace and happiness exist in one place.

Happiness exists inside you in the present moment. That’s it. If you base your sense of happiness on external circumstances, then when the $h!t hits the fan, life will feel out of control, and you’ll inevitably move toward hopelessness. I don’t believe we are necessarily the source of our happiness...I count on a higher power for that, but happiness and peace is not outcome dependent, and I’m 100% in control of choosing happiness or peace for myself. No one can force me to feel unhappy. It isn't based on material things. It doesn't exist in "one day" from now. It is present for me internally...and right now…all I must do is choose to accept it.

11. Actively practice ways to rest and regenerate.

What makes you feel restful and rejuvenated? Do those things! Get in touch with what you need to recharge. These small things affect your biochemistry and emotional landscape. Do you need to get in bed before 10 pm, wake up at the same time every morning, drink green tea, avoid screens or stimulating shows prior to bed? Whatever it is, start being intentional about adding these to your life. Don’t let the excuse that “you don’t have time or money” keep you from restful practices.

12. Lessen the feelings of “rushing” in your daily life.

Don’t mute out your body’s needs by living in a state of overwhelm and exhaustion. If you’re living every day with a sense that you are drowning, stop normalizing that. You were not made to exist in that state daily.

13. Become aware of how you hold ambition.

Are you hustling? Good. But at what expense? Here’s the truth: rest and ambition can coexist. It may take a lot of work to discover how, but it is possible.