Interestingly, in his book Wholeness and the Implicate Order [published by Routledge & Kegan Paul London Boston 1980 p.48], David Bohm writes that “the word ‘health’ in English is based on an Anglo-Saxon word ‘hale’ meaning ‘whole’ that is to be healthy is to be whole. Likewise the English ‘holy’ is based on the same root as ‘whole’. All of this indicates that man has sensed always that wholeness or integrity is an absolute necessity to make life worth living. Yet, over the ages, he has generally lived in fragmentation.”
Going by the above, the term ‘holistic health’ is actually a repetition, albeit in different forms, of a single word, whole, whole!
Apparently then, if we were all aware of the true meaning of the word health, there would be no need to speak of holistic health. In truth, however, we assume health to stand for our current state of wellness, whether good or not so good. Hence the need arises for a phrase that encourages us to turn our attention to wholeness or harmony.
Leave a comment