The Sum of Our Parts: Why Nothing Short of Holistic Health is Health at All

By Nicole Martin

February 9, 2017

I always knew I wanted to work with people but wasn’t sure what was the best fit. At one point, I decided that I wanted to be a physical therapist. I loved to exercise, I’d spent a lot of my childhood training as a figure skater, dug science… it seemed like a pretty natural fit.

So, I started working with physical therapists and then figured out that I didn’t like it.

And the reason I didn’t like it wasn’t the work itself or any of the people I worked on or with. No, all of that was great.

The issue was because a physical therapist is only allowed to work on the one part of the body that the patient has come in for.

If you came in for PT for a sprained ankle, I would be able to treat it. If the rest of you was on fire at the same time? No dice. I had to concentrate only on the ankle.

So, after talking with many physical therapists that had transitioned into working as personal trainers, I went out and became a personal trainer. At least then I could help people with their whole bodies, right?

Right. Except…

You weren’t allowed to talk about nutrition. At all. So, if one of my clients was working out five days a week while eating three boxes of Cheez-Itz simultaneously, I could only focus on the exercise part of it. I might have been able to make a case that he quit getting crumbs all over the Nautilus machines, but that was about the extent of it.

All of which, once again, left me frustrated.

So, the happy ending to this story is that I now have the opportunity to work with Dr. Dangovian at the Wellness Training Institute, where our literal job description is to help people live a better life through a fully holistic process. There’s the body itself, the mind, the soul—and all the subcategories that include cultivating awareness, diet and movement, breathing and yoga, stress reduction, and, in fact, even relearning how to sit, stand, and stroll!

It’s a focus on the parts, with the whole always in mind.

And that’s where true change happens.

Not in silos, where everything is completely compartmentalized and common sense has to take a back seat to compliance or regulatory issues.

True change happens when one of our members finally understands that the key to health is simply one thing: Nutrition.

Because nutrition is whatever fortifies us, preserves us, grounds us inside our own lives, and helps us grow. Nutrition is whatever gives us life.

Breath is nutrition. Mindful movement is nutrition. Actual food, yes, is also nutrition.

Once you realize that—that there are no parts, only the whole—you’ve just taken a big step forward in understanding why your habits matter and that every day gives you another chance to choose death…. or choose life.

And that’s what gets me out of bed every morning.