Across the seven counties of our readership, numerous holistic practitioners offer their services. Some tucked away in private homes, or offering traveling therapies, others working in cooperation with partners or within a business or sole proprietorship.
The common thread among all of them can usually be found with a few questions and a choice of open awareness. There is always a reason someone felt called to a “new” therapy or getting themselves on a yoga mat.
It is said that health is wealth; and if we think self-care is too expensive, to consider the cost of disease. Chronic illness costs our health care system $216 billion per year and it is estimated that we lose another $147 billion in lost productivity. Having lived through the effects of covid and changing health care access, more and more people are seeking ways to take responsibility for their own health back into their hands and homes.
“Alternative” therapy is booming in the United States and abroad with statistics supporting continued and expansive growth in the future. The global complementary and alternative market was valued at 117,210 million in 2022 and is expected to grow 25% from 2023 to 2030.
In the last few years, people have come to appreciate and pursue taking their health accountability back, recognizing the value of being self-prepared and having had the time to pause and observe how our emotions factor into our physical health.
Ask any holistic practitioner how or why they got started and the answer is often that of a personal nature. Someone in the family or a loved one couldn’t find an answer or the right support for an ailment, traditional medicine needed a complimentary boost to be more effective, or they found they needed to help themselves and discovered they wanted more resources.
In a culture that desires fast acting medicine and overnight cures, some are finding that looking at the whole picture of their health and slowing down to pay attention is more direct and effective with less dangerous side effects.
What used to be stigmatized as “snake oil” or “woo-woo” medicine is now being substantiated by successful testimonies, predictable progress, and remarkably- science.
My own journey with holistic health started about eleven years ago when our daughter was challenged with GI issues and reactions as an infant. As a new Mother, I found a deep desire to be able to help her in the middle of the night or when Urgent Care was closed. Knowing that the emergency room is a blessing, it is also not always appropriate to address her needs or my own.
Transitioning from nursing school to looking into Naturopathic Medicine didn’t come as naturally as one would expect. I wanted science to prove that what I felt were unconventional methods were safe and effective. I was pleasantly surprised to learn in fact, many therapies that are dubbed “new” or “alternative” have been around for centuries and can and do help people.
Join us here each month as we share more about these therapies, what it’s like to experience them, and the providers behind the services- the why, the how, and what happened to lead folks to where they holistically serve.
I look forward to sharing with you a new therapy or information about holistic tools each month that might empower you or someone you care about.
My intention is to illuminate paths to greater health and wellness, and open conversations between you and your health care providers.
Next month, we will start the conversation with essential oils.
If you are a holistic practitioner in our readership area, I want to talk with you.
Please email your contact information to me: thegiftwellnesscommunity@gmail.com
