The Fundamentals of Holistic Health: Build a Lasting Foundation

Introduction

Welcome to Intended For Wellness, where we help women overwhelmed by restrictive wellness programs and confusing health advice rediscover clarity and balance. We focus on building a personalized, supportive holistic health lifestyle that nurtures your body’s natural drive toward healing and honors your unique starting point. By prioritizing simplicity, mindfulness, and flexibility, we empower you to break free from cycles of perfectionism and restriction, creating a sustainable approach to wellness that feels empowering, freeing, and truly your own.

Understanding Holistic Health Foundations

In this first post, I want to establish what I believe to be the fundamentals of holistic health. Above all, as we work together to build a wellness foundation, nothing is more important than mastering the basics. 
Building a strong health foundation, rather than diving into flashy trends and intense protocols, is the one thing that will allow you to stop starting over and start moving forward. 

It can be incredibly overwhelming to consider the ways wellness culture asks you to overhaul your life in pursuit of health. Additionally, we get lost when we forget that almost all lasting results come from a solid foundation. I am here to provide a comprehensive resource that you can use to build your personal base of lasting wellness. No overwhelm, no falling off the wagon, no perfection required. 

What is Health?

We live in a time when the healthcare system is a multi-trillion dollar industry and wellness is a multi-billion dollar business. There is no shortage of focus on health. Yet, despite this focus, very few understand what health means.

One of the most accepted definitions comes from the World Health Organization (WHO): “A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” I especially appreciate how the WHO later expanded this definition to state that health is a resource for living, not the goal of life itself. 

This is compelling because I’ve seen how small life can become when we make health the goal in itself. When wellness is a way of living, life expands, allowing for joy, fulfillment, and balance.

A Holistic Approach to Health: The Five Pillars

The American Holistic Health Association defines holistic health through five key pillars: Physical, Mental, Emotional, Social, and Spiritual. These pillars don’t act in isolation—they work recursively to form the whole person. Achieving wellness means nurturing each of these essential principles of holistic wellness and recognizing that they are interconnected. 

This is how I interpret the five pillars and the health-promoting behaviors that support them:

Physical Health

Physical health goes beyond fitness, weight, and the absence of disease. It is energy, vitality, and the ability to move through the world. Fostering this area of health involves consuming a balanced, varied diet of whole, minimally processed foods. It also includes sufficient hydration, regular physical activity to support cardiovascular endurance, strength, mobility, and deep, restorative sleep. Preventive care and regular checkups are critical in maintaining long-term physical health.

Mental Health

Mental health is about resilience, learning, and growth. A mentally healthy person practices stress management and views challenges as opportunities for growth. They make time for intellectual stimulation, lifelong learning, and hobbies that bring them joy. Mental health also involves empowered time management to create space for these activities.

Emotional Health 

Emotional health is the ability to understand and process emotions. This means cultivating self-awareness, deciphering and communicating thoughts and feelings, and developing empathy. It also includes seeking professional support when needed to navigate emotional challenges.

Social Health 

Social health focuses on relationships and community. A socially healthy person cultivates meaningful connections, maintains support systems, and actively participates in their local community. Engaging with the world consciously and responsibly fosters this pillar of wellness.

Spiritual Health 

Spiritual health involves the connection to something greater than oneself. Although it may seem inaccessible to some, spiritual health is for everyone. For some, this is a religious practice; for others, it may be a transcendent sense of purpose or connection. A spiritually healthy person lives in alignment with their core values and maintains practices that nurture this connection.

Holistic Health as a Journey

There’s no single picture of perfect health. Each person’s optimal health is unique, defined by their needs, circumstances, and the season of life they’re in. There is no endpoint relevant to all of us. Instead, I’ve found it more helpful to think of wellness as a series of health-supporting behaviors tailored to you. Over time, these behaviors will lead to sustained, authentic well-being.

Most promoters of holistic health claim that balance is the cornerstone of sustainable health. But the goal isn’t to have everything in perfect balance at all times—that’s an unrealistic and unhelpful expectation. 
When I obsess over balance, I start to chase perfectionism, and that never leads me to a good place.
Wellness is about having the flexibility and freedom to adapt as life inevitably changes. What works for you today may look different in the next season of life, and that’s okay. 

In my health journey, I have identified mindfulness, autonomy, and resilience as the cornerstones of what I like to call Intentional Wellness. 

My Holistic Health Journey: From Biohacking to Basics

When I began my health journey, I believed focusing on the basics wasn’t enough. I wanted to hack my way to peak performance, emulating the extreme habits of those I thought were at the top of their game. With a background in structural engineering, I should have realized that nothing can stand on a weak foundation, but I resisted this truth.

I chased every new protocol and program, only to find myself constantly starting over. Eventually, I had to be honest with myself: I was collecting information, but I wasn’t taking meaningful action. I was waiting for the perfect plan, but I was setting myself up for failure by expecting perfection. Honestly, I had to stop chasing perfection and start mastering the basics.

I shifted my focus to health-promoting habits that were simple but effective: eating nourishing foods, moving my body in ways that felt good, and prioritizing rest and recovery. Now, I see wellness as a joyful, nourishing part of my life, not a desperate pursuit of something unattainable.

The Power of Consistency

Of course, I haven’t achieved perfection, but instead, I finally learned that perfection is an illusion. I’ve achieved a sustainable, peaceful relationship with food and exercise. I no longer restrict my eating or obsessively over-exercise. I’ve reached and maintained a stable, realistic health state.

But getting here required sacrifice, raw honesty, and endurance. It didn’t just happen—it took consistent action over time. I can help you get there too, but it won’t be easy. It’s one of the hardest things you’ll do, yet more simple and rewarding than you might expect.

Overcoming Setbacks on Your Holistic Health Journey

When it comes to a holistic approach to lasting health, there are many obstacles and setbacks that keep us from thriving. 

We struggle with overwhelm and confusion as we trudge through conflicting health advice. We deal with bitter comparison as we never measure up to the picture-perfect wellness ideals in the media. All of us trudge through hard days when we don’t have it in us to do the things we know will make us feel better in the long run. 

As we fall short of the ideals we have created, we give up and start crafting the next plan for how we will get it right next time. 

These are the things I am here to help you work through. These are the things that make or break our health journeys. With a holistic framework, we can see these mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical resistances and gently untangle them.

Getting Back to Basics: The Only Sustainable Approach

I will dive into specific and actionable strategies in future posts. For now, I want to leave you with a timeless truth: health doesn’t need to be complicated. Sometimes, the most powerful strategies are the simplest.

Consider this short poem by Wayne Fields, What the River Knows:
“The best six doctors anywhere  
And no one can deny it  
Are sunshine, water, rest, and air,  
Exercise and diet.  
These six will gladly you attend  
If only you are willing  
Your mind they’ll ease  
Your will they’ll mend  
And charge you not a shilling.”

Your Journey to Holistic Health and Wellness

Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts on holistic health. I’m committed to helping you start your forever wellness journey and leave the cycle of starting over behind. But remember, your part requires consistent action—over time, the results are more than worth it.

Now I’d love to hear from you: What does health mean to you? What does it look like in the season of life you’re in? I’m here to support you every step of the way.

Wishing you well,  
Meghan

Disclaimer: the information provided on the site is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice.