If you're anything like me, then you've got a certain picture in 
your mind of what "holistic" is supposed to be. For me, it's 
conjured up pictures of holy men, or shaman, doing a ritual dance
while chanting mantras, and rubbing "energy crystals" in an 
effort to remove evil spirits from your life. It wasn't until I 
started doing research for my new book, "5 Keys To Health: A 
Holistic Approach" when I realized that my preconceptions 
couldn't have been more further from the truth.

I had originally planned to write a book on fitness. I know 
that's a pretty general term, but I intended it to be about how 
one can achieve health through physical fitness. It wasn't going
to be anything fancy. It was going to be a guide for the busy 
person, and how they can get fit, and stay that way while still 
being able to live a busy lifestyle.

I’ve always been interested in health and fitness. As a matter of
fact, I think I’m in pretty good shape. I work out with weights 
at least 3 days per week, and I engage in some sort of cardio-
vascular activity at least 2 days per week. I eat right; I 
stretch after every work out. I don’t smoke or drink excessively.
I thought I was doing pretty well.

That is, until through the course of my research I came to 
realize that there’s a lot more to being healthy than being 
physically fit, and eating right. That’s when I ran into the word
"holistic." In the past, it’s always had a negative connotation 
for me. I’ve always thought of it as something used by 
metaphysical crackpots trying to sell snake-oil. As it turns out,
holistic is not what I thought it was.

The real meaning of holistic is looking at the whole system 
rather than just concentrating on individual components. So, when
it comes to being healthy, it looks at every aspect of health 
instead of just the physical. Do you realize that when we 
consider health, we usually look to see if our diet is right, or 
how often we exercise? There’s so much more to consider.

I found out that there are several aspects you must work on in 
order to consider yourself truly healthy. Among them are the 
obvious physical, but there’s also the mental and the spiritual
to consider. If any of these is deficient, it could have serious
repercussions in your life.

Ask yourself this, "Am I really healthy?" 

Yes, you work out religiously. Yes, you eat chicken breasts, and
egg whites, and you take your vitamins, and do everything else a
"healthy" person is supposed to. But is there anything you’re 
missing? 

Let me ask you this: how often do work on relieving stress from 
your life? How often do you work on building positive 
relationships? How often do you seek to build spirituality in 
your life?

These are just some of the aspects you must work on if you’re 
searching for true, and total health. Holistic doesn’t have to 
have a negative meaning. It can simply mean a philosophy of well-
being that considers the physical, mental and spiritual aspects 
of life as being closely interconnected and balanced. I cover all
of these points, and several more in my book, "5 Keys To Health: 
A Holistic Approach." 

I show you how to apply the holistic approach to health without 
any of the metaphysical mumbo jumbo. You can check it out at 
http://5keystohealth.com.

Take it from me, a one-time skeptic. "Holistic" doesn’t have to 
be a four-lettered word. It can be something positive that will 
help you create a fuller, healthier life.