Why An Integrative Approach Is Key To Living Chronically Well - And, What That Means
What exactly is an “integrative approach” to wellness and why is it so important?
Let’s start with what I mean by an integrative approach.
What does “integrative” mean?
The dictionary definition of “Integrative” is serving or intending to unify separate things.
As an approach to healthcare, “Integrative” means utilizing both traditional and complementary approaches to maximize health. Some examples could include seeing traditional medical doctors, while also seeing a naturopath and an acupuncturist.
In health coaching, “Integrative” means working with a client to implement behavior changes that maximize their health and wellness in order to help them reach their vision of optimal health and wellness.
An integrative approach involves looking at the whole person and all aspects of an individual’s life to notice what could be impacting their wellbeing - including the physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual and environmental factors. While this definitely includes seeing healthcare professionals, it includes A LOT more that happens outside of the doctor’s office.
More specifically, this means considering all aspects of your life and finding where you are experiencing stress or misalignment with what you need or want. This could be anything from your job, to your relationships, to a specific lifestyle choice - to just about anything in your life. From there, you work on getting your life and lifestyle more into alignment with the factors that will support what you most want out of your life and health.
Why does an integrative approach work?
When we only focus on following traditional medical advice, we end up missing some things that could really move our wellness forward.
Many aspects of our lives can help or hinder our wellbeing. All aspects of our lives have the potential to work against each other to diminish our wellbeing, or they can work together to improve our wellbeing.
Why is an integrative approach so important for those living with chronic illness?
First, I am going to state the obvious - chronic illness can impact many different areas of our lives. It is not just about physical health. It can impact your energy and ability to show up the way you want for your day-to-day. When you don’t feel well, or need to spend a lot of time, energy and resources going to appointments and tending to your health, it is no wonder other parts of your life might fall out of balance.
This is a hard truth.
But, what might be less obvious, is that it is also an opportunity.
When you can make choices in your life and lifestyle that nurture your overall health and wellness, and that actually take into account the parameters of your chronic illness, you create opportunities for impactful and supportive change.
If you are following doctor’s orders to manage your chronic illness and are still feeling like you are not moving in the direction of what you want most, I invite you to consider taking a more integrative approach.
This requires examining the aspects of your life that might be holding you back, causing you stress, hindering you from taking better care of yourself and listening to your body.
How do you go about figuring out what area of your life could use some adjustment?
Here Are 5 Steps:
Step One: Take a look at all aspects of your life
General Health and Diagnosis
Sleep / Rest
Nutrition / Supplements / Hydration
Exercise/Movement
Physical Environment (i.e., allergies, organization, functionality)
Personal and Professional Relationships & Support
Personal & Professional Development
Mind / Body Connection
Spirituality
STEP TWO: Consider where you are versus where you want to be IN each of these aspects.
STEP Three: Think about the parts of your life that are not in alignment with the following:
The parameters of your diagnosis,
What is important to you,
What you need, want, and
What brings you joy and purpose.
STEP Four: Consider what is not working for you, or could use a tweak.
STEP five: consider what you can do to change it.
It might be a quick fix or a long-term project.
For example, if you aspire to get 8 hours of sleep a night, but you are only getting 5, that’s a significant difference. In this example, real life doesn’t reflect what you want. This would be an area that might warrant some change that could make a meaningful difference.
If you are looking for more clarity on what aspects
of your life may be undermining or supporting your chronic wellness journey, sign up for my free Chronic Wellness Challenge.
How Do The Different Aspects of Your Life Work Together (or Against Each Other)?
There are several “wheel of health” or “dimensions of wellness” that help to demonstrate how all of the aspects of our lives intersect. Duke Integrative Medicine uses this one. The core purpose of each of these approaches is to gain clarity on your own life by looking at what is going on in all aspects.
The way I think about any of these tools is that you are at the center of your own “wheel of health.” Our particular values and circumstances intersect there. This will look different for each of us. And, it might look different at different points in our lives and health journeys as values and circumstances change since we are not stagnant.
Each aspect of your life can impact the others. When one aspect of your life feels off balance, it will impact other areas of your life. And, conversely, when you are experiencing some wins in a particular aspect of your life, there tends to be a positive ripple effect.
For example, if you are experiencing significant chronic illness symptoms, you might experience an impact in your
Physical health and energy level;
Your work;
Relationships;
Emotional well-being;
Sense of purpose; and
Social life.
On the other hand, if you set a goal related to adding some meditation or mindfulness, you might be hoping for the outcome to be stress reduction. But, what also tends to happen is that the positive impact seems to ripple to other areas of your life - including:
More clarity on priorities,
Improved personal relationships,
Room for more healthy habits,
Better sleep, and
A greater sense of ease and well-being.
This all happens from adding one consistent habit. This is amazing to witness!
The positive ripple effect demonstrates how much agency we have in our lives. And, it shows what can happen when we make small consistent efforts, even with imperfect implementation.
DISCLAIMER:
* There is no one-size-fits all.
* This might take a while.
* It is not necessarily easy.
* It makes sense to take a step-by-step, realistic approach.
I hope that you are able to take a moment to recognize all that you are doing to keep yourself healthy and happy. And, I hope you notice how your efforts are having a positive ripple effect in other areas of your life.
Taking an integrative approach can lead to living a more balanced and fulfilling life with chronic illness. You can make this work for you, in your own time, in your own way.
What aspects of your life are supporting your chronic wellness journey?
Could you use more clarity on what parts of your life are feeling less supportive of living Chronically Well? Join my Chronic Wellness Challenge here for a free assessment.
Does this resonate?Please share this post with friends! Click the menu on the right to share on social media.
