Alchemy, or the blending of methodologies, is an important aspect of the holistic approach to health and healing. Simply put, a holistic approach means ‘listening’ to and treating healing as something that involves the whole person and not just the part that ‘hurts’.
The holistic approach suits my sceptical nature. I am not a believer, in anything. But I am insatiably curious. When it comes to massage and health my interests are broadly holistic, and I specialise by selecting those techniques which I think will work best for a particular person or situation. I do not follow or fully endorse all aspects of the tradition or application of any one medical or alternative practice of healing.
Some may think this is a weakness – that one should choose a path and specialise in a certain area or technique. I believe it is a strength because health, illness and healing are never singular in nature. Problems arise for many – often untraceable – reasons. This also means that I never treat anyone exactly as I would another. It also means I never stop learning, I never take a method for granted and then apply it mindlessly, or allow it to become ritual or protocol.
The holistic approach simetimes suffers from an image problem. Many think it’s some hippie or new age mumbo jumo. And indeed, practitioners often offer up some spurious claims.
What does it mean, exactly, to rebalance your energy, or to bring harmony between body, mind and… indeed spirit?
True or not, many people are put off by what in Dutch is referred to as “zweeferigheid”, which I can only translate as floating above the ground.
In fact, it is precisely in response to this that I seek to bring things down to earth. One of my main goals in life is to attempt to bridge the gap between the sceptic and the believer, the cynic with the idealist, the hippie with the scientist, the ascetic with society, and so on. One way to abbreviate my approach is to say that I am a secular believer.
There are so many benefits to the ‘zweverig’ approach, which I try to incoporate into my work. And science helps a lot here, for it is often able to put words and often evidence that more often than not lend support to the vague-sounding claims and ideas of the more ‘spritually’ oriented healers.
(This is an adapted version of my article “The Whole Story”, which I hope will be published in full in the near future)
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