Holistic therapy has split opinions for some time, and continues to do so in an increasingly technological world. I have known people to dismiss it as tree hugging flim flam, but there are a lot of impassioned therapists who devote their lives to it. So, who is right?
I have to admit that when I first entered the beauty world I was a great sceptic about holistics. As someone who is not particularly spiritual, it struck me as a lot of New Age nonsense. However, as with everything in life, education was the key.
My work meant that I had to understand the holistic therapies, and so I set about finding out more about them. The most important point that I learnt about holistic therapy is that its basic principle is to treat the mind as well as the body. Most of us can probably accept that someone who is happy and relaxed on the inside can begin to actually look better, so this theory doesn’t seem too far fetched.
Whether you believe in the soul or not doesn’t really matter, a holistic therapist essentially looks to treat your mood and your stresses as well as just skin or muscles. A further endorsement of the holistic field is the number of treatments that have now spilled into more traditional beauty salons. With everything including aromatherapy, hot stone massage, Indian head massage and reflexology becoming staples in most treatment menus, you begin to realise the levels of their popularity.
Whether this is down to beauty therapists enjoying the treatments, or demand from the consumer is anyone’s guess, but it certainly shows a trend that is far more widespread than just Stonehenge and Glastonbury.
Most of these treatments are based on ancient therapies established in countries such as Greece, China and Egypt and have centuries of experience and development behind them. Whilst the theories of some treatments do still cause me to raise an eyebrow or two, I can certainly say that I have learnt a lot from holistics. When you consider what treatment to train in next, it is worth remembering that beauty is a lot more than skin deep.
