HOLOS: Integrative, Functional & Psychedelic Medicine
It is time to heal differently.
Holos Integrative Health
The Greek word ολοσ (holos) means entire or whole.
Very little in our western culture has taught us what it means to be truly whole. In fact, most of our practices and beliefs reinforce our sense of separation.
The western medical model has long separated the mind from the body, and it has negated the spirit or soul all together. Traditional healing practices and whole medical systems (Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurvedic medicine) have maintained this knowledge, and recognize that each of us is having a whole person mind-body-spirit experience.
We believe that in order to truly heal, we must expand our understanding of what it means to be whole.
Holos is an invitation to explore this deeper connectivity. In order to better appreciate the complexity of our human experience, Holos offers us a paradigm shift in healthcare to honor and support our complete being, in mind, body and spirit, with the client at the center.
This fully integrative whole person approach to wellness recognizes that each of us is a unique witness, having a personal human experience, and yet we are all following the same patterns. All our interdependent systems are intricately connected within and without, in this larger tapestry of life.
Is it time? Can we begin to believe how things can be different?
Disconnection, stress and the artful flow back to balance
We are swimming in a sea of disconnection.
When we are lost in thought, we can become mind-dominant, and disconnected from our bodies with low awareness of how we “feel”.
We may feel disconnected from our own authenticity, our truth and our life’s purpose.
In our society, we have become disconnected from one another, our food sources, and the natural environment and rhythm of life. This epidemic of disconnect is not only impacting our personal health, it is informing how we operate as caretakers of our planet and natural environments.
Even if we may not be aware of this disconnection on a conscious level, our nervous systems and bodies are holding this information.
Many of us are on the wake/work/do/sleep repeat treadmill. We have forgotten our deep immersion and connection to nature. Away from all natural rhythms, our nervous systems are on high alert, doing their best to read the environment in order to “keep us safe”, while our thoughts pull us out of the present moment.
When our nervous systems are overly stimulated and sensitized, tuned to past thoughts and future worries, our bodies and tissues are matching this sympathetic signal in kind.
Communication of stress through our body symptoms can look like:
fatigue
insomnia
sensory sensitivity
headache
body pain
mood changes including depression or anxiety, rumination (over thinking)
digestive issues/irritable bowel syndrome
When left unregulated, this stress response over time will become the leading cause of chronic illness, dis-ease, and ultimately, death.
Our capacity for change, adaptation and healing is far greater than we know.
Deep down we know we can learn to do this differently.
Instead of approaching our health from a siloed disconnected view, we can begin to explore all aspects of ourselves.
By exploring our mind body connection, we will begin to recognize how our thoughts are influencing our physical experience. We can practice how it feels to be rooted in our bodies. This embodiment (somatic) practice is an essential aspect of healing.
By learning the practice of self regulation, we can begin to find our way back to our centres. We can learn to manage and shift our central nervous system response from stress and activation, to restoration and rejuvenation.
By joining others in small groups, we can practice the act of co-regulation, to begin healing our communities, in community.
By spending less time in our minds, and more time in our hearts, we can teach our entire being how it feels to be a connected soul, embodied.
When we feel safe in the body, we can begin exploring expanded states of consciousness from a truly grounded perspective.
Curious? Us too.
Join us.