What Holistic Healing Really Means — and Why It’s Not “Woo”
I’m Selene Awen, a licensed massage therapist and founder of Veluna Wellness…
A few years ago, someone told me that energy work was “just a placebo.” They didn’t mean it cruelly—they were trying to understand. But their tone made it clear: they thought I was a little out there. Maybe even a little lost. And honestly? I get it. “Holistic healing” has been lumped in with crystals under pillows, TikTok spell jars, and vague Instagram advice that promises you’ll unblock all your trauma in a weekend.
But here’s the thing: the work I do—and the work I’ve witnessed in others—isn’t about floating above your pain. It’s about going into it. Deeply. Intentionally. With your feet planted on the ground and your nervous system on board.
Holistic healing isn’t bypassing. It’s integration. It’s not some glittery cure-all or magical thinking. It’s a full-bodied, full-hearted approach to caring for your health in a way that honors every layer of who you are—physical, emotional, energetic, and spiritual.
I wanted to write this because I know there are people who are quietly curious but cautious. Maybe you’ve heard the word holistic and thought, “That sounds nice, but is it actually real?” Or maybe you’ve felt that tug—that intuitive pull that says there has to be more to healing than prescriptions and symptom management—but haven’t known where to start.
This post is for you. We’re going to break down what holistic healing really means, how it works, and why it’s far more grounded than people give it credit for. No fluff. No jargon. Just truth, connection, and the real reason this work matters—especially in a world that often asks us to split ourselves into pieces to function.
What Is Holistic Healing, Really?
When people hear the word holistic, they often picture something vague—maybe soft music, essential oils, someone waving their hands over a body, or a wellness influencer sipping mushroom lattes. And while some of those things can be part of a holistic lifestyle, the word itself is a lot more grounded than it gets credit for.
At its core, holistic healing means tending to the whole person—body, mind, emotions, and spirit. It’s not about choosing one over the other. It’s about acknowledging that we’re complex beings, and healing happens in layers, not silos.
Most conventional approaches to health are built around specialization. If you have chronic pain, you go to a doctor. If you’re anxious, maybe a psychiatrist or therapist. If your digestion is off, it’s a GI specialist. Each system is treated separately—sometimes even in isolation from the person experiencing it.
Modern medicine is valuable (truly—it saves lives), but it often focuses on symptoms, not root causes. It asks, what’s wrong here, and how do we fix it? Holistic healing, on the other hand, asks:
What’s out of balance? Where is the body asking for attention, and what’s the emotion underneath the tension? What story is living in the tissue?
When we start to see how emotions live in the body, or how chronic stress impacts digestion, sleep, inflammation, and immune function, the mind-body connection becomes impossible to ignore. And when we stop viewing spiritual or emotional experiences as separate from physical ones, healing begins to take on a much deeper shape.
Some examples of holistic approaches:
Supporting trauma healing through nervous system regulation.
Releasing physical tension while exploring emotional patterns.
Using breathwork or meditation to reconnect with the body’s messages.
Holistic healing doesn’t ignore science—it adds context. It widens the lens. It honors the truth that our systems are designed to work together, not in isolation.
“This isn’t stillness for stillness’ sake. This is listening. Reconnecting. Reclaiming.”
Breaking the “Woo” Stereotype
Before diving into practices often labeled “woo,” it’s worth exploring the deeper roots of holistic healing and how the East-West divide has shaped public perception.
Modern Western medicine is largely grounded in scientific materialism—prioritizing what can be measured, studied, and quantified. This approach has undoubtedly advanced healthcare in life-saving ways. But it also tends to overlook or devalue the wisdom of ancient systems that view the body not as a collection of parts, but as a dynamic, interconnected whole.
Traditional Eastern medicine systems—like Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Ayurveda, and Japanese energy-based healing—have long recognized the interplay between body, mind, and spirit. They emphasize prevention, energetic balance, seasonal rhythms, and the root cause of dis-ease. Practices like acupuncture, herbalism, breathwork, and energy alignment were foundational long before modern biomedicine began to adopt similar ideas—often without acknowledging their origins.
Some scholars and healers argue that the Western wellness industry has appropriated Eastern traditions while stripping them of their cultural context. For example, mindfulness, now widely promoted in the U.S. as a stress-reduction tool, has deep roots in Buddhism. Acupuncture and herbal remedies have become common in integrative clinics, yet often without full acknowledgment of the systems they come from [4][5].
This matters—because understanding where these practices come from helps us respect their depth, avoid commodification, and build a more ethical approach to healing.
Acknowledging the contributions of Eastern medicine doesn't mean rejecting Western approaches. It means honoring the lineage, wisdom, and cultural roots that have shaped how we understand wellness today.
“Before there were charts and scans, there were jars and roots. Wisdom isn’t new—it’s remembered.”
So when people roll their eyes at “energy work” or “meridian flow,” it’s often because they’ve been taught to value data over lived experience—to see science as superior to tradition. But the two aren’t at odds. In fact, some of the best healing happens when they work in partnership. Let’s just name it: the word holistic tends to stir up skepticism.
Depending on who you’re talking to, it might conjure images of incense smoke, vague spiritual platitudes, or someone claiming they can “unblock your energy” with a crystal and a prayer. And for some people, that immediately shuts the door on curiosity. Holistic healing gets dismissed as “woo”—a catchall word that’s often code for unscientific, unrealistic, or a little out there.
But here’s the thing: most of those assumptions come from surface-level exposure, or from how some holistic practices are marketed—not from what’s actually happening in the body.
What many people don’t realize is that a lot of these so-called “woo” practices have legitimate, growing scientific backing. They're not magical thinking. They're somatic, neurological, and physiological in nature.
1. Mindfulness & Meditation
These are no longer fringe practices. In fact, mindfulness is regularly used in clinical settings for stress, anxiety, depression, and even chronic pain. A 2014 meta-analysis published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that mindfulness meditation can have moderate effects on anxiety, depression, and pain, especially when practiced consistently [1].
2. Myofascial Release & Therapeutic Bodywork
Touch is one of the most underrated forms of medicine. Myofascial release works with the fascia—the connective tissue that wraps around every muscle and organ in your body. Studies have shown that manual therapy targeting fascia can improve mobility, reduce pain, and even influence emotional states [2].
3. Energy Work (Like Reiki or Cranial Sacral Therapy)
This is usually where some people check out. But energy work isn’t necessarily about believing in invisible forces—it’s about listening to subtle cues in the body. Cranial sacral therapy works with the rhythm of the cerebrospinal fluid to gently release restrictions. Reiki brings presence and regulation into the healing space. A 2017 review found Reiki can reduce stress and anxiety, particularly in palliative care settings [3].
Holistic ≠ Anti-Science
A lot of people assume that choosing holistic healing means rejecting conventional medicine. But in reality, it’s not either-or—it’s both-and. A doctor may treat a symptom. A holistic practitioner asks why the symptom developed and what’s needed for balance.
There’s room for herbs and hospitals. For breathwork and bloodwork. For logic and intuition. Because not everything that works needs to be explained by a clipboard. Some of it is felt—and sometimes, that feeling is enough to start believing again.
“Not just scent—memory, emotion, safety. Aromatherapy is ritual, not routine.”
Why Holistic Healing Works
There’s a reason people leave a session feeling lighter—not just physically, but emotionally, sometimes even spiritually. And it’s not because something mystical happened (though it can feel that way). It’s because the body, mind, and spirit are finally working together instead of against each other.
Chronic stress embeds itself in our tissues, not just our minds. Breath shortens. Muscles tighten. Digestion slows. Sleep suffers. And over time, we forget what it feels like to really relax.
Touch, presence, and regulation aren’t luxuries. They’re fundamental to our ability to heal. Therapies like bodywork, breathwork, and guided meditation help the nervous system shift into parasympathetic states—those states where true repair begins. That’s when the magic happens, slowly and steadily.
Healing isn’t a quick fix. It’s a return—to your body, your rhythm, your truth. And it doesn’t have to be dramatic to be profound.
What This Looks Like in Practice
Every session is different. Every body is different. But here’s how this work tends to unfold:
Myofascial Release: Slow, sustained pressure releases tension in the fascia. Clients often report not just physical softening, but emotional clarity.
Lymphatic Drainage: A gentle detox that supports the immune system and helps you feel lighter and clearer—physically and emotionally.
Intention & Aromatherapy: Scent speaks directly to your emotional brain. When combined with breath and bodywork, it becomes an anchor for presence.
Energy Work & Guided Presence: Subtle, intuitive support that helps your system settle. Sometimes it’s words, sometimes it’s silence. Always, it’s grounded.
Who This Work Is For (and Who It’s Not)
This work is for the seekers. The sensitive. The self-aware. The ones craving reconnection—to their body, to their intuition, to something real.
It’s for those navigating burnout, grief, emotional overwhelm, or transitions. For those who want something deeper than a temporary escape. For those who want to feel whole again.
It may not be a fit if you’re looking for a one-and-done fix, or if you want something purely clinical. That’s okay, too. Healing takes many forms.
But if the words “integration,” “regulation,” or “reconnection” make your body exhale just reading them? You’re in the right place.
“Not just crystals and symbols—these are reminders. Of energy, of memory, of the quiet power that lives in the unseen.”
Final Thoughts: Reclaiming the Sacred & the Science
Holistic healing doesn’t ask you to pick a side. You can believe in science and intuition. You can honor logic and your gut. You can follow a treatment plan and listen to your body’s whispers.
Sometimes healing is data. Sometimes it’s breath. Sometimes it’s lying on a massage table with tears running down your cheeks because something just let go.
You don’t have to believe in energy work. You just have to believe in your own capacity to heal—or be open to discovering what that even means.
This work is quiet. Subtle. Sacred. It brings you back to yourself. And that’s not “woo.” That’s you—reclaiming your wholeness, one breath at a time.
Ready to Experience It for Yourself?
If you’ve made it this far, chances are something here resonated—whether it was the idea of reconnecting with your body, healing through intentional touch, or simply giving yourself permission to explore a different kind of wellness.
You can book a session or explore my services to learn more about what I offer—from myofascial release and lymphatic drainage to energy work and intuitive body-based care.
Want to know more about me and the vision behind this work? Visit the About or FAQ pages.
Wherever you are on your journey, just know this: you’re not too late, too much, or too far gone. Healing meets you exactly where you are. All it asks is that you show up.
References
Kumagai, A. K., & Lypson, M. L. (2009). Beyond cultural competence: Critical consciousness, social justice, and multicultural education. Academic Medicine, 84(6), 782–787.
Sivaramakrishnan, K. (2006). Ayurveda and the making of the modern Indian nation. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 20(3), 325–341.
Lee, M. S., Pittler, M. H., & Ernst, E. (2008). Acupuncture for chronic pain: A systematic review of randomized clinical trials. British Journal of General Practice, 58(552), 76–80.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10(2), 144–156.
Goyal, M., et al. (2014). Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine.
Ajimsha, M. S., et al. (2015). Effectiveness of myofascial release in treatment of chronic low back pain: A systematic review. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies.
Baldwin, A. L., et al. (2017). A systematic review of the effectiveness of Reiki for managing symptoms. Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine.
van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.
