PHILOSOPHY
characterised by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the symptoms of a disease.
MEDICINE
characterised by the belief that the parts of something are intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole.
The focus is on maintaining balance and harmony. Your body is made up of five different dimensions: physical, spiritual, social and mental and emotional (psychological). In a holistic point of view, these dimensions should be balanced and working in harmony for you to achieve overall well-being. As one dimension suffers, the rest are also negatively affected, which is why healing strategies should look at all dimensions to address the root problem.
The word “holism” was coined by philosopher Jan Christiaan Smuts in 1926. Smuts stressed that it is impossible to gain a complete understanding of the whole by merely knowing the parts because (as Aristotle said), “the whole is more than the sum of its parts.”
What's unique about this way of living is you observe everything as a whole. You don't look at sickness and say it's something physical, you observe the entire picture - the connection that it has with the other dimensions. It's about living a more mindful lifestyle and being able to connect with 'what' works for us and learn how to use that and get all the benefits and support from our own environment.
The holistic interior design approach considers the health of the mind, body and soul of people as it comes to the process of designing the interior of a building with the goal of achieving and maintaining a state of wellness.
Traditional Interior Design focuses a lot on aesthetics and function. Meanwhile, a holistic approach goes beyond just form and function and strive to create environments that are harmonious with the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of the client. Their WHOLE story... which incorporates the mind, body and space.
When the energy and design of a space feels just right, flows correctly, and is in proper balance, it improves the quality of life.
' THE WORLD NEEDS MORE TEMPLES. NOT FOR WORSHIPPING, BUT FOR EATING, SLEEPING, WORKING AND MAKING LOVE '
- Marc Peridis
Holistic interior design is an alternative approach that emphasises the interconnectedness of all three elements- physical, emotional, and spiritual. Finding harmony within all three creates a peaceful and rejuvenating environment, allowing the client safe haven to become their best self.
A holistic designer looks at a space, it’s flow, energy, natural elements, finds out where the client is mentally, physically and spiritually. Design solutions connect these elements to provide a home that is both aesthetically appealing and to bring them home and the client in balance and harmony. The goal is to create a place that is emotionally and physically nourishing to the mind, body, and soul.
HOLISTIC INTERIOR DESIGN IS MORE THAN COLOURS AND LOOKS WHEN IT COMES TO DECORATION.
While colour theory and colour psychology is very important for every design, here’s is the point with holistic interior design: you use the colours to get the energy YOU need from YOUR space, not the energy that THE SPACE/THE OBJECT HAS TO HAVE. Holistic Interior Design can offer the feeling you want your space to emit, not just what looks good in a photo at the end.
HOLISTIC INTERIOR DESIGN IS MORE THAN “GREEN” AND “SUSTAINABLE”.
You don’t put plants to your space because you have to. Also not because green is good, or because of your consciousness about the environmental problems. On the contrary, you choose the plants YOU need for your X Purpose. That’s the holistic approach. For example, some plants are more air purifying than others. Some need less care, some may affect your pet if you have a fur baby in your home. Which plant you will actually buy, depends on your needs.
HOLISTIC INTERIOR DESIGN IS MORE THAN FENG SHUI AND HEALING CRYSTALS.
It’s about them, too. But not in the manner that we used to know. Buying a bunch of crystals just because they look aesthetically pleasant in a corner of our room it's not the point. Each crystal have a meaning, an energy that we can benefit from, depending on what WE ARE LOOKING FOR.
The energy changes, their energy, your home energy and of course, YOUR OWN ENERGY.
So if not used correctly, they will have no other purpose in our home, and loosing all their potential.
Same goes about Feng-Shui, it's not about mirror placing and moving cats.
I am lucky enough to have a close friend, Raluca Paun, that has seen the benefits of a holistic lifestyle on her own skin. Both coming from an architecture background - the energy that we put in our spaces it's not something that we learn in school. Having some troubles herself, she decided to give this 'whole new world' a try and the benefits not only improved her life, but got her decided to change her approach when working with a space and becoming a Feng-Shui and Acupuncture specialist as well.
Here is her thought on Feng-Shui:
"I don’t even call it Feng Shui. The name is not important. What really matters is that people understand their spaces, the energy that surrounds them, the way it flows and gathers and how to work with it. For instance: if you operate an office building, you need the energy of that building to support people’s productivity, right? But what if your offices are rented to a creative industry business? Or IT? They each pertain to different types of energy, they need different resources and configurations. You already know this as an interior designer working with concepts adapted to your clients needs.
What the study of Metaphysics teaches us is the different quality energy may have and that it’s neither good nor bad, but appropriate or inappropriate for our specific needs. Like the quality of the light during a 24h time frame. From sunrise until midnight, the intensity and colour of the sunlight changes. Some of the activities we can do daytime, need adjusting after nightfall. It’s more natural to work during the day and to sleep at night. The energy of our environment supports that. In a similar way, we can talk about the energy we capture, create and use in our artificially built environments: cities, streets, office buildings, homes, etc.
If we’re at home and want to relax, recharge our batteries, the way that happens will differ from one person to another. Some people recharge by sleeping, therefore they need a more yin environment, an energy that is pacifying in nature, closer to the Water element that brings stillness. Other people relax by doing handy work and that needs a more dynamic energy and also some creativity, so we would think of spaces that are connected to the Wood element. Of course, in reality things are not linear or binary, but the reasoning behind it has to be simple and you have to know what you want. '
For each, we are different and so needs to be our habitat. We won't all thrive in the same environment as we don't have the same needs. By knowing yourself and meeting where you are at, you will know what you actually need and what makes you feel WHOLE.
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