What is holistic health? Understanding the whole person approach to wellness
Updated: Sep 14
The simple concept of holistic health
When we talk about health, it is easy to separate everything into categories. We talk about physical health, mental health, stress, nutrition, exercise, relationships, and emotions as if they exist independently from one another.
But even within our own bodies, nothing works separately. Every system is connected, constantly communicating and influencing the others.
We do not experience health as isolated pieces.
Physical health influences our emotions. Our thoughts affect how we experience life. Stress affects our bodies. Our relationships, environment, purpose, and daily choices all become part of our overall health.
The simplest way I can explain holistic health is this: it is looking at the human being as a whole.
We are not just a collection of organs, symptoms, habits, or problems to fix. Every part of us influences the others.
Holistic health looks at the bigger picture.
It asks us to consider not only what is happening, but also why it may be happening. Instead of focusing only on one symptom or one area of life, it looks at the many different pieces that contribute to our overall well-being.
I like to think of health as a mosaic. Each piece contributes to the overall picture. Nutrition is one piece. Movement is one piece. Sleep, stress, relationships, emotions, and personal growth are all pieces too.
The goal is to build a picture that reflects who you are, what matters to you, and the kind of life you want to live.
Health is an ongoing process
One of the biggest things I have learned through my own journey into holistic health is that wellness is not a place where we arrive and stay forever.
Health naturally moves through different seasons. There are times when we feel balanced, energized, and connected. There are other times when we feel overwhelmed, exhausted, or like we have lost our rhythm.
Stress happens, life changes, and our needs change too. That is part of being human. The ebbs and flows of life.
A holistic approach recognizes that health is not about eliminating every challenge. It is about learning to listen to ourselves, noticing what is working and what is not, and making adjustments as we move through life.
Sometimes we need more rest, more movement. Maybe we need to address stress, relationships, emotions, or habits that no longer support us.
The biggest goal is awareness. By becoming more aware of ourselves, we can make choices that better support our health and the life we want to create.
Looking at the human being as a whole
The human body is incredibly complex, and one of the biggest shifts in holistic health is understanding that our systems do not operate independently.
Think about a car. You can have the best tires, the cleanest interior, and a beautiful exterior, but if you ignore the engine, eventually the whole vehicle will be affected. Our health works in a similar way.
Taking care of only one area while ignoring everything else can leave important pieces unsupported. Nutrition matters, but so does sleep. Exercise is important, but we also require recovery.
Mental health needs attention, but so do relationships and a sense of purpose. Everything works together.
This is why holistic health includes so many different areas. It is not one specific treatment, diet, exercise routine, or practice. It is a way of looking at the entire person and understanding how all of these pieces interact.
The different areas of holistic health
Holistic health is a broad field that includes many different approaches to supporting wellness.
Some of these approaches come from ancient healing traditions, while others come from modern understandings of health, lifestyle, and human behavior.
Examples include:
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which focuses on balance within the body through practices such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, tai chi, and dietary approaches.
Ayurveda, an ancient Indian system that focuses on balance between the body, mind, and spirit through nutrition, lifestyle practices, meditation, yoga, herbs, and individualized care.
Nutrition and lifestyle approaches, which focus on nourishing the body, supporting healthy habits, and understanding how daily choices influence overall health.
Bodywork and movement practices, including massage, yoga, physical therapies, and other approaches that support the connection between the body and mind.
Energy-based practices, such as Reiki, qigong, and other methods that focus on energy flow and balance.
Emotional and mental health practices, including therapy, mindfulness, journaling, and other tools that support self-awareness and emotional well-being.
Holistic health is not about doing everything or following every approach. It is about understanding that different areas of health may require different tools, and the best approach depends on the individual. Depending on what you need, certain practices, resources, and approaches may be better choices to support your health and well-being.
Modern medicine aims to target specific symptoms and treat them directly. It often focuses on fast relief, which is necessary in many situations, but it can also be limiting because it doesn’t always look at what’s underneath the symptom.
For example, you might be given ibuprofen for a headache without being guided to explore why it’s happening in the first place. I’ve experienced this myself. I tried medications, saw an eye doctor and an allergist, and adjusted my caffeine intake both ways in a desperate attempt to get rid of chronic headaches. Eventually, through my own research, I found a chiropractor, and so far that’s made a big difference.
Holistic health tries to fill in those gaps. It can take many forms, like acupuncture, yoga, meditation, and breathwork, and different approaches may work better for different people. It’s about looking at the whole person rather than isolating one part.
The five bodies and whole-being wellness
We experience life through five interconnected bodies: the physical, etheric, mental, astral, and causal bodies. This framework helps explain why health is about much more than just the physical body. Each body influences the others and supporting one can create changes throughout the whole being.
The physical body
The physical body is the part of ourselves we are most familiar with because it is the part we can see, experience, and measure.
It includes our organs, muscles, bones, nervous system, hormones, and all the biological processes that keep us alive.
Supporting the physical body includes things like nourishment, movement, rest, sleep, hydration, and caring for our bodies in ways that allow them to function well.
The physical body is incredibly important, but it is only one part of who we are.
The etheric body
The etheric body is our energetic body. It connects and communicates between the different aspects of our being.
Energy is the force behind movement, change, and interaction. The etheric body is the bridge between the physical body and the other bodies, allowing all parts of us to influence one another.
Practices such as meditation, breathwork, yoga, acupuncture, qigong, and other energy-based practices work with this aspect of ourselves.
The mental body
The mental body relates to our thoughts, beliefs, understanding, and ability to process information.
Our minds help us interpret our experiences and create meaning from the world around us.
Learning, curiosity, reflection, and continued growth all support this part of ourselves.
The thoughts we carry and the beliefs we hold can influence how we experience ourselves and our lives.
The astral body
The astral body is connected to our emotions, experiences, memories, and subconscious patterns.
Our emotional health plays a significant role in our overall well-being.
The experiences we carry, the emotions we process, and the stories we tell ourselves all influence how we move through life.
Practices such as journaling, meditation, creative expression, and emotional support can help us better understand and care for this part of ourselves.
The causal body
The causal body relates to our deeper sense of purpose, spirituality, and connection to something greater than ourselves.
For some people, this may be connected to faith. For others, it may be found through nature, service, creativity, personal values, or a sense of meaning.
This part of ourselves reminds us that health is not only about feeling good physically. It is also about living a life that feels aligned.
The holistic journey
The holistic journey calls for an open mind and an open heart, and a willingness to explore the unfamiliar and sometimes uncomfortable. It invites us to really dive deep into ourselves.
It isn’t surface level, and it isn’t just information or concepts. It’s more about learning how to sit with yourself and understand what’s going on underneath everything, taking time to understand the five different bodies and how to support them. This will look different for everyone.
It involves trial and error and paying attention to your own signs and signals, because they are there if you give them a chance.
At its core, it’s the idea of the whole being. We are not separate systems operating independently. We are layered, and all of those layers interact, so you have to care for them all.
Authentic living and holistic health
Whole-being wellness centers around a few core functions: love, learning, and creativity. These give life movement and meaning.
Love includes relationships, but also the love of hobbies and activities. This connects to learning, because what we love is what we’re drawn to learn. From there, creativity naturally builds. If someone loves learning to paint, their creativity may show up in their art. This looks different for everyone, but all three are important to have in our lives.
Woven into this are the transcendentals: truth, beauty, and goodness. These shape how we experience life and understand ourselves and the world around us.
A large part of holistic health is learning to live in a way that feels authentic to who you are.
It is easy to become disconnected from ourselves when we spend most of our time meeting expectations, managing responsibilities, and simply getting through the day.
Authentic living means taking the time to understand yourself — your values, your needs, your strengths, your challenges, and what brings meaning into your life.
Your authentic self is not about becoming someone new. It is about creating alignment between who you are inside and how you live each day.
When we live out of alignment with ourselves, it can affect our overall well-being. When we begin making choices that better support who we are, we create more balance.
The person you are today is not wrong. Your current self is the result of your experiences, your habits, your environment, and the choices you have made along the way.
But growth invites us to ask a different question:
Who am I becoming?
Every choice, habit, relationship, and action is shaping that answer.
Instead of trying to “find yourself,” think of this as intentionally creating a life that allows more of who you truly are to come forward. Each decision is an opportunity to move toward the person you are becoming.
This does not mean life becomes easy or that every challenge disappears. It means we become more aware of ourselves and better able to make choices that support the life we want to create.
My role as a holistic health coach
When I think about my role as a holistic health coach, I do not see myself as someone who comes in and creates a plan for someone else.
You are the expert on your own life. My role is to talk with you, listen, ask questions, provide education, share resources, and help you understand the connections between your choices and your health. Together, we look at the bigger picture.
We talk about your lifestyle, habits, challenges, goals, and what has or has not worked for you in the past.
From there, we work together to create a realistic plan that fits your actual life.
Sometimes that means making small changes. It could mean experimenting with something new. Sometimes we adjust when something is not working.
That is part of the process. The goal is not for you to need me forever. The goal is for you to gain the knowledge, confidence, and awareness to eventually take ownership of your own health journey.
I am here to guide, support, and advocate for you, but you are the one in the driver’s seat.
Holistic health
Holistic health comes back to one simple idea: you are a whole person.
Your physical body is important, but your thoughts, emotions, relationships, and purpose matter too.
When we stop looking at ourselves as separate pieces and start understanding how everything connects, we can begin to see our health in a completely different way.
Health is a mosaic. Every experience, every choice, and every part of who you are contributes to the bigger picture.
The goal is to create a life and approach to health that reflects your values.
Maureen Zeiter is a holistic health coach who meets with clients virtually, one-on-one, to talk about their lifestyle, health, and goals and create a realistic plan moving forward.
She incorporates the Metabolic Balance® program into her coaching, using each client’s own lab values to create a personalized nutrition plan based on what their body needs.
Regular one-on-one meetings through Teams, along with email and sometimes text, allow her to stay connected with her clients and provide ongoing support. Whether they have questions, need guidance, or just need a little encouragement along the way, she is there to help.
Her goal is to make improving your health feel realistic and manageable, while helping clients create lasting changes that support their overall health and wellness.
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