Holistic healing (medicine) seriously considers the whole person, not just the body or mind. It is healing that brings appropriately functioning body, mind, spirit/soul to the person in the quest for optimal, balanced wellness and health. Directly, it is bringing balance between body, mind, and soul to function appropriately and synchronized. Holistic practitioners can use the treatment of conventional medicine combined with an alternative emphasizing spiritual, mental, social, and environmental factors as contributing factors for treating condition or disease. Why is holistic healing (medicine) different from all other forms? Holistic treatment includes fixing the cause of the state/condition, not only alleviating the symptoms; a patient is a person and not just a disease; all people have inner healing power. Undoubtedly, holistic healing (medicine) is teamwork, including a holistic practitioner, a patient, and considering exploring all aspects of a patient’s life, mental status, spiritual, social, and other factors.
No doubt, the human mind-body-soul possesses an outstanding innate ability to heal. It is grounded mainly in the conserved systems of the brain and body through human evolution; it looks like nature appears to function as the fundamental source of wellness along the two vectors of attention and relaxation (Kaufman J.A., 2018). Generally, our species is moving away from nature at a time when humanity is just beginning to rediscover its benefits. Exposure to environments may provide a resource of healing that can be extended through a continuum of intervention through many holistic interventions and treatments. The result might be an improved ability to promote greater functioning. The time has come for a more holistic medicine guided by the hand of nature (Kaufman J.A., 2018).
As Fan D. and colleagues stated in 2017, Western (conventional) medicine had encountered unprecedented problems associated with substantial changes and movements in nature, society, and environment and new human quests for survival, longevity, and health (Fan D., 2017). In the meantime, the development of conventional medicine (Western medicine) faces tremendous challenges resulting from the over-division, narrow sub-specialization, and the fragmentation and separation of medical knowledge. Indeed, one of the strategies to construct a new medical system that is more suitable for human health and disease treatment in the 21st century would be incorporating holistic and alternative medicine as a part of integrative and functional medicine, which represents a more broad approach. It considers the human body a holistic entity, including body-mind-soul/spirit, spiritual section, and environmental and social factors. It integrates the most advanced knowledge in every medical field of conventional medicine and the most effective practices in various clinical specialties to revise and adjust based on social, environmental, psychological, and spiritual conditions (Fan D., 2017).
According to Burke A. and colleagues, meditation provides an easily accessible self-care resource that has potential value for mental health, behavioral self-regulation, and integrative medical care (Burke A. et al., 2017). According to their data, 74% of people use meditation for wellness and prevention purposes. It was a more common reason than used to treat a specific health condition (30%). Common reasons for using meditation included stress management (92%) and emotional well-being (91%), and support for other health behaviors. In addition, meditation was viewed positively because it was self-care-oriented (81%) and focused on the whole person (79%) (Burke A. et al., 2017).
The disease occurrence is closely related to one’s mental, physical, and spiritual health, society, social and economic factors, culture, and environment. Therefore, it is not enough to approach medicine in a manner that merely eradicates symptoms; the psychosocial aspects of disease and its mind-based possible causes must be a primary consideration. Holistic care involves harmonizing all these elements mentioned above, and the Buddhist philosophy offers excellent insight for the physician (Kalra S. et al., 2018).
Simkin E.R. and colleagues exhibited that meditation and mindfulness techniques produce neurobiological changes in the brain and physiologic improvements in body function that are enduring for patients who continue to practice these techniques. In addition, the authors have stated that no significant adverse effects have been identified. However, the authors reported that providers who offer these techniques should be well trained to ensure the best results (Simkin E.R. et al., 2014).
There is substantial evidence demonstrating positive benefits from meditation in some clinical populations, especially for stress reduction, anxiety, depression, and pain improvement. However, future research would benefit by addressing the remaining methodological and conceptual issues. Meditation research continues to grow to allow us to understand more significant nuances of how meditation works and its effects (Brandmeyer T. et al., 2019).
How can meditation help with specific diseases and medical conditions?
Scientific medical, complementary, integrative and functional medicine provided substantial research data related to meditation as a part of holistic treatment in many pathological conditions. Recent scientific medical research data showed that meditation could be an excellent addition to conventional medicine as a complementary, integrative treatment for many medical conditions and diseases. Current scientific data exhibited that meditation can be a helpful supplemental treatment for diseases and conditions such as pre-surgical and post-surgical treatment, major depressive disorder, severe depression and treatment-resistant depression, hypertension (particularly systolic), obesity, multiple sclerosis, geriatric depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, migraine, as a supportive treatment for patients on dialysis, and bodily distress syndrome. In the next blog, we will discuss all these new scientific data. Meditation is a common type of therapy as a supplemental therapy in complementary, integrative medicine or separate, individual treatment in alternative and holistic medicine. It is encouraging, and the evidence for its usefulness for health promotion is growing. According to a recent study by Upchurch D.M. and colleagues, women are more open to this type of treatment (Upchurch D.M. et al., 2019).
References
Kaufman JA. Nature, Mind, and Medicine: A Model for Mind-Body Healing. Explore (NY). 2018 Jul – Aug;14(4):268-276. doi: 10.1016/j.explore.2018.01.001. Epub 2018 Apr 27.
Fan D. Holistic integrative medicine: toward a new era of medical advancement. Front Med. 2017 Mar;11(1):152-159. doi: 10.1007/s11684-017-0499-6. Epub 2017 Mar 2.
Burke A, Lam CN, Stussman B, Yang H. Prevalence and patterns of use of mantra, mindfulness and spiritual meditation among adults in the United States. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2017 Jun 15;17(1):316. doi: 10.1186/s12906-017-1827-8.
Kalra S, Priya G, Grewal E, Aye TT, Waraich BK, SweLatt T, Khun T, Phanvarine M, Sutta S, Kaush U, Manilka, Ruder S1, Kalra B. Lessons for the Healthcare Practitioner from Buddhism. Indian J Endocrinol Metab. 2018 Nov-Dec;22(6):812-817. doi: 10.4103/ijem.IJEM_286_17.
Simkin DR, Black NB. Meditation and mindfulness in clinical practice. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2014 Jul;23(3):487-534. doi: 10.1016/j.chc.2014.03.002.
Brandmeyer T, Delorme A, Wahbeh H. The neuroscience of meditation: classification, phenomenology, correlates, and mechanisms. Prog Brain Res. 2019;244:1-29. doi: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2018.10.020. Epub 2019 Jan 16.
Upchurch DM, Johnson PJ. Gender Differences in Prevalence, Patterns, Purposes, and Perceived Benefits of Meditation Practices in the United States. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2019 Feb;28(2):135-142. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2018.7178. Epub 2018 Dec 13.
Dr. Miroslav Sarac, M.S., Ph.D., PDF, D.D., has a master’s and doctoral degree in genetics/pathology, a postdoctoral fellowship in biomedical sciences, and numerous certifications in complementary, alternative, and holistic healing. Additionally, he has a doctoral degree in divinity and is a dully ordained spiritual minister and initiated second-degree spiritual priest. Dr. Sarac is a long-time spiritual practitioner for over 30 years. His specialties are spirituality, end-of-life spiritual care, and natural/organic cosmetic science – skincare, perfumery, and aromatherapy. Dr. Sarac lives with severe disabilities. His motto is “Bringing balance to the soul and body to function appropriately and synchronized. Helping is healing.”