Cultures in women's holistic wellness and health
By Kimya Nuru Dennis, Ph.D.
Holistic approaches to women’s wellness and women’s health are a combination of nature, reasonable and balanced exercise and eating, meditation and resting, consistent medical and health appointments, possible need for prescription medications, and vitamin supplements. This is preventive health services and addressing current health conditions.
There is difficulty in accessing holistic women’s health resources in many rural areas and many urban areas across the nation because of the type of health services needed, access to stores with healthy food, location of the nearest health services, rural and urban designs, socioeconomic conditions, housing conditions, and transportation. In response to the difficulty in accessing women’s health resources, some rural areas and some urban areas have community presentations and event vendor tables provided by wellness organizations, mental health organizations and professionals, and physical health professionals.
It is important to encourage women to focus on wellness, physical health, and mental health. It is important to encourage women to listen to and read health discussions, utilize health resources where they live and where they are employed, and have consistent medical and health appointments.
This encouragement is not a quick and easy solution for many women. Thankfully, more women are finding virtual and in-person ways to seek balance: overall peace and wellness, a successful personal life, a successful professional life, and a healthy life. Many women are interested in health checkups, and most women have an undiagnosed or diagnosed mental health condition and physical health condition. Many women also value their cultures and culturally supportive environments.
Women’s beliefs and experiences are shaped by cultural beliefs and cultural experiences. Examples of cultural beliefs and cultural experiences include meditation, spirituality, religion, music, food, attire, and language. Culturally supportive environments include family, friends, community, and organizations. Historically and contemporary, cultures and culturally supportive environments can connect with holistic health. Connecting culture with holistic health is based on an understanding of health conditions, the need for health services, and women’s holistic health services integrating cultural beliefs and cultural experiences.
This is where women are increasingly interested in wellness and health and learning what is needed to increase availability and affordability of women’s healthcare. Having peace and balancing parts of life is difficult for women who are expected to ignore self-awareness and self-improvement. Rather, women are expected to focus on taking care of family and community and solving everyone else’s problems. Women are often successful in creating and supporting healthy families and communities. It is problematic if women are unhealthy throughout this process.
An emphasis on women’s wellness and women’s health helps women whose health
conditions are often ignored or considered unimportant. Sometimes people try to self-diagnose, self-medicate, or self-heal and, as previously, this happens to women who are told or expected to ignore their own needs and focus on the needs of everyone else.
This tendency is reduced when more families, communities, and organizations encourage women to have healthy lifestyles, to keep track of one’s own physical health and mental health, and to consider what feels relaxing and peaceful at least one hour every day.
Being mentally and physically balanced in peace and health does not mean women are not taking care of their family, not taking care of other responsibilities, and does not mean women are rejecting their cultures and beliefs. Instead, wellness and health means women do not ignore themselves, build self-awareness, self-love, and self-improvement, and can decide when and how to be a supporter for everyone else.
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