“Your body will be around a lot longer than that expensive handbag, invest in yourself.”

Holistic means whole, and wellness- well we know what that means. Basically, holistic wellness refers to wellness of your whole self – your body, mind and spirit. So now if someone asks you if you think you are healthy, what would your answer be? I used to say yes quite confidently. I mean, I used to exercise often and I always watched what I eat, so why wouldn’t I be healthy?

When COVID hit, I remember friends telling me I have nothing to worry about because apparently according to them I was “so healthy” I could knock the virus out. Can you imagine the shock I felt when I heard about my breast cancer diagnosis? Well, at that point, I had already learned about the concept of holistic wellness and realised I had a lot of work to do to actually be healthy. Another thing I learnt is that you can still get cancer even if you are healthy. A cancer diagnosis is partly plain bad luck.

If a part of you is unhealthy, how can you as a whole be healthy? This is the concept of holistic wellness. Just because you’re not physically sick, you can’t just assume you’re healthy.

• YOUR PHYSICAL HEALTH MATTERS – Your body is a temple, you need to make sure you look after it. Surely exercising is important, but it’s equally important to know when your body needs rest and sleep too. Looking after what you eat is also essential. Understanding your body is crucial because it does give you warning signs when things aren’t going right, and if you see the clues early enough, you may be able to prevent illness.

• YOUR MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS – Being stressed out in life can be more detrimental than an actual physical illness. It can even be the cause of many physical ailments. There are many stressors in life these days. It’s important to identify the cause of your stress so that you can try to eliminate, or at least reduce it.

• YOUR SPIRITUAL HEALTH MATTERS – Spiritual health can mean different things to different people. The main concept behind it is being at peace with life- whatever that may mean to you. You need to find a sense of belonging and meaning in your life. You need to be in a state of harmony with yourself and the world around you.

With any physical illness we get, there probably is a medication to make it all better. Medication is sort of like a band-aid, it’s a temporary solution to a problem. We may seem all better, but if we don’t treat the actual cause, this problem is more than likely going to return. Why don’t we find the cause , and put an end to that?

What works for you today may not work for you tomorrow. As long as you understand that the body, mind and soul are all connected, you are on the right track. There is no quick fix, it’s a life long journey of maintaining a balance in life, and realising that this balance will need to be adjusted as life changes.