What is holistic living? How do you live a holistic lifestyle?

Holistic living can be a healthy and sustainable way of living a balanced life. It involves making intentional choices to care for ourselves mind, body, and soul.

Taking a holistic approach to health involves seeing the “bigger picture”. For example, it’s recognizing that different parts of a person connect to a larger whole.

Over the past few years, I’ve been studying holistic living and mental health in college. There’s a common misconception that holistic living only involves using natural remedies. To me, a holistic lifestyle goes so much deeper than that.

Holistic living is a mindset and a way of life. It goes far beyond using plants for healing (although that can be part of it).

Important disclaimer:I don’t believe there is any “right” way to live a holistic lifestyle. What works for one person, may not work for another. There are no strict rules. Like anything, take only the parts that feel right for YOU! This is a judgment-free zone.

In this guide, we will go over everything you need to know to decide if holistic living is right for you.

What is holistic living?

Holistic living means taking care of your entire self; mind, body, emotions, and soul. It’s having the awareness that each of these areas connect and influence one another.

For example, a chronically anxious person may develop physical symptoms like headaches or stomachaches. A certified holistic doctor or therapist will aim to treat not only the emotional issues, but the physical ones too. Treatment might include things like practicing deep breathing techniques, mindfulness, and journaling.

Another example is a person who is struggling with depression. Rather than just focus on the symptoms of depression, a holistic therapist may want to understand their family systems, relationships, and social issues that might be impacting their depression.

This is because from the holistic perspective, it’s important to see the “big picture” and understand that many factors can influence one another.

Another important aspect of holistic living is being intentional with your thoughts, words, and actions.

After all, your thoughts tend to dictate how you experience your entire world. Your thoughts impact your self esteem, the way you interpret events, and ultimately, your happiness!

Holistic living means being intentional in your life, starting with your thoughts. How do you speak to yourself? Are you kind and compassionate with yourself?

For me, living a holistic lifestyle means regularly incorporating:

• Self care
• Self-awareness and mindfulness
• Healthy, sustainable habits
• Education and personal growth

Taking a holistic approach to healing is remembering to nurture every part of our self and our lives, because we know each part is connected and important.

What are the benefits of holistic living?

Holistic living can have many benefits. Some of which include:

• Increased mental clarity, happiness, and energy
• Decreased stress, anxiety, and overwhelm
• More self awareness and alignment with highest version of yourself

How do you live a holistic lifestyle?

Find healthy emotional outlets

Whether it’s seeking out a therapist, playing a sport, or creating art, find a way to express your emotions. When we go through difficult things without a way to express it, it can get bottled up inside and cause us to get angry or sick.

Writing has always been such a therapeutic practice for me and such a great outlet. Find what works for you, and make time for that thing as much as possible.

Some other ideas for allowing emotional outlets include:

• Writing in a journal
• Dancing
• Working out
• Singing
• Building something
• Making crafts

Be proactive in your growth

In what ways can you learn, grow, and improve? What choices can you make to push past your comfort zone, take action, and strive towards your best self? For me, part of living holistically is following my intuition and doing things in the service of my growth, even if they are really scary and leave me feeling vulnerable.

Sometimes we have to push ourselves to leave our comfort zone and take that new job position, or travel some place new, or speak in front of a crowd. Take opportunities for personal growth and development.

Practice mindfulness & meditation

I think an important part of holistic living is the ability to be present and aware in the ‘here and now’. That’s something I struggle with, and often find myself looking towards the future instead of being present in the moment.
But learning to practice mindfulness and meditation have made such a huge difference.

Mindfulness helps bring awareness to my body, my emotions, and my thoughts. It helps me feel grounded, connected to the universe, and calm. I know it can be intimidating and difficult to start a mindfulness practice, but I encourage you to try out some guided meditations to start out.

Continue to learn

Read books, listen to podcasts, take courses, and never stop learning. There is an infinite number of ways to challenge your mind to grow and expand. Have conversations with people you don’t know very well and ask them questions about their life. I believe there is something valuable and interesting you can learn from each person on this planet.
I believe continuing to learn about ourselves and learn about others is so important.

Create healthy habits

Part of holistic living is creating healthy habits! Find healthy habits that are both sustainable and enjoyable for you. Maybe it’s physical exercise in the form of hiking, a yoga class, or swimming. Or maybe it’s cooking and eating your favorite healthy foods.

It can be difficult to create healthy habits to stick to, which is why I love the power of a good routine. For example, you could create a bed time routine or a morning routine that involves healthy habits like exercise, meditation, and relaxation. Having these habits scheduled into your routine makes them easier to continue.

Treat your body with natural, healthy foods & remedies

Since I’ve started embracing holistic living, I’ve started to be more intentional with the ingredients I’m eating and the household products I’m buying.

I try to eat more natural, whole foods in my diet. I also try to buy products, like cleaning supplies, that use natural ingredients. It’s crazy how many harmful chemicals you can find in every day products. These chemicals can impact our bodies and emotions. So when you can, opt for natural foods and remedies.

I’m aware that sometimes medicine is a better option than natural remedies. If that’s the case, always do what’s best for you and consult with your doctor or therapist.

Indulge in regular self care

I’m a huge self care advocate! Regular self care is the best way to prevent burn out, stress, and exhaustion. A huge part of living a holistic lifestyle is listening to your body and treating it with love and respect. If you’re body needs a break, let it rest. If you need energy, go for a run. Do the things that help you feel your best!

If you struggle making self care a priority, check out these free printable self care checklists I created!

Be intentional with where you place your energy

Are you spending hours watching TV or scrolling on social media every day? Are you allowing small inconveniences to ruin your entire day? Are you getting stressed out about things you can’t control? Be aware of where you place your energy and where you give your attention.

Your time and energy is precious and you shouldn’t waste it on things that don’t matter. So do what feels most important to you, and focus on those things.

A holistic lifestyle might mean different things to different people. There is no one “right” way to live a holistic lifestyle. But at it’s core, holistic living is caring for your entire self; mind, body, emotions, and soul.

It’s being mindful of how the different parts of your life interact as a whole. It’s also being intentional about the choices you make every day.

I hope this beginners guide to holistic living was helpful. Feel free to leave a comment with any questions!

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