What does holistic mean?

The human being is notoriously complex in its functioning, as life is itself. Some call man a multi-dimensional being, and the Indian chakra system, supported by many other beliefs, indeed talks of different layers in the human aura. Equally, what makes quality of life and well-being is a combination of different levels of care that are all essential for a balanced and fulfilled life.

A holistic treatment is one to address the whole of the person, to get to the cause of the problem rather than simply treating the symptoms, which are the ‘materialisation’ of the deeper issue. The information available about the aura talks of four categories that make human beings whole: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual, the physical being at the end of the spectrum, the “crystallisation” of the spirit. To take the definition of the word, holistic is the quality of “complete and self-contained systems, from the atom and the cell to the most complex forms of life and mind”.