Holistic Healing as a Route to Freedom

By Jennifer Marcenelle, MBA, BSN, RN, HBN-BC

A recent Epoch Times front-page article in the Mind & Body section caught my eye: “Could Natural Medicine Save the Health Care System?” While I’m not an expert in healthcare economics, I know that the overall quality of life in the U.S., particularly regarding health and wellness, is failing far too many people.

Conan Milner writes, “Dollar for dollar, the United States has the worst health care system in the world,” with government spending more per capita than any other country, including nations with fully public healthcare systems known for exceptional outcomes (2023). This raises a fundamental question: How can our healthcare system fail us so profoundly?

As a Board-Certified Holistic Nurse and Board-Certified Holistic Health Practitioner, I see that our reliance on pills and procedures under the assumption that modern medicine can solve everything is hurting rather than helping us. This article explores the current state of American health and why holistic approaches offer a more effective route to true wellness.

American Healthcare Spending as a Ball and Chain

With my MBA and 25 years in business, I understand how free-market systems are designed for efficiency—solving problems quickly and effectively. When a system is misaligned, the issue is motivation and orientation, not capability.

In the U.S., healthcare spending has skyrocketed while quality outcomes have lagged. For example:

• Per capita health spending rose from $146 in 1960 to $6,872 in 2005, then nearly doubled to $12,591 by 2020 (Statista, 2023).

• Life expectancy increased from 69.66 years in 1960 to 78.81 years in 2020, a mere 13% improvement despite the massive cost increase (O’Neill, 2022).

• For the median U.S. household income of $67,521, healthcare costs for a two-person household can consume nearly 40% of income, not including out-of-pocket expenses.

The system excels at conditioning belief: we are led to think that our health can only be preserved through conventional medicine. But in reality, much of this spending does not translate into improved quality of life.

Diagnosing the Problem

Ancient civilizations recognized the intersection of physical, emotional, and spiritual health, yet conventional medicine increasingly emphasizes artificial interventions such as surgeries and pharmaceuticals.

Western medicine often treats the human body as a machine, addressing chemical imbalances or “broken parts” rather than supporting natural healing processes. While this approach has yielded countless treatments, it has also diminished trust in the body’s inherent intelligence.

Meanwhile, Americans are burdened with rising medical bills, co-pays, and polypharmacy:

• 60% of adults take at least one prescription medication

• 25% take four or more (Milner, 2023)

Holistic healing recognizes that the body already possesses the tools for self-maintenance. Medical interventions remain invaluable when necessary but should not be the default first choice unless the body cannot address the root cause.

The Paradigm Shift: Holistic Healing

The documentary Heal (Amazon Prime) illustrates a growing movement: our bodies have more capacity to heal than modern medicine credits them for. By altering perception and cultivating faith in the body’s natural intelligence, individuals can reduce dependency on the healthcare system and achieve lasting wellness.

Holistic approaches integrate Western and Eastern perspectives:

• Western medicine: treatment-oriented, often compartmentalized (physical, mental, spiritual)

• Eastern medicine: emphasizes interconnectedness and empowers the individual to restore balance

Holistic healing sits at the intersection, combining the diagnostic rigor of Western medicine with the empowering, self-directed methods of Eastern medicine.

Stress: The Common Driver of Modern Illness

Stress is a primary trigger for many health issues. Work-related or emotional stress activates the fight-or-flight response, releasing cortisol and other stress hormones. While these responses are adaptive in short bursts, chronic stress depletes energy and damages the body over time.

Rather than suppressing stress with medication, holistic healing encourages awareness and validation of the body’s signals, addressing the root causes of illness and empowering individuals to create meaningful change in their lives.

The Holistic Living Support Program™: A Route to Freedom

Masking humanity to accommodate a stressful environment is unsustainable. Chronic stress drives inflammation, affecting the entire body. While conventional medicine may provide temporary relief, holistic healing offers:

• Lasting, multidimensional improvements

• Strategies to reduce stress and restore balance

• Empowerment to reclaim control over health

Through my Holistic Living Support Program™, clients learn to listen to their bodies, address stress, and achieve real wellness—physical, emotional, and spiritual—without over-reliance on the healthcare system.

Holistic healing provides a path to freedom, helping individuals thrive in ways conventional healthcare cannot.

References

• Milner, C. (2023, January 11-17). Could Natural Medicine Save the Health Care System? The Epoch Times, Mind & Body Section.

• O’Neill, A. (2022, June 21). Life expectancy (from birth) in the United States, from 1860 to 2020. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1040079/life-expectancy-united-states-all-time/

• Shrider, M., Kollar, M., Chen, F., & Semega, J. (2021, September 12). Income and Poverty in the United States: 2020. U.S. Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2021/demo/p60-273.html

• Statista Research Department. (2023, January 9). U.S. national health expenditure per capita 1960-2021. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/184955/us-national-health-expenditures-per-capita-since-1960/

• The American Institute of Stress. (n.d.). Workplace Stress. https://www.stress.org/workplace-stress