If you’re searching for happiness and balance through holistic healing, and want to know the 8 pillars of holistic health, then this article is for you.
Feeling unfulfilled, unsatisfied, or restless? Well, you’re not alone!
You’re a complex creature that has different facets, and each area of your life needs individual and unique attention for you to feel like you’re living as your best self.
Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist who developed various theories on the needs of humans.¹
Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ was first published in 1943, and it is a great model that describes human motivation, the requirements for a sense of fulfilment, and good psychological health which are based upon overall innate human needs.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are often arranged in a pyramid of priority, with the most fundamental needs sitting at the foundation of the pyramid. The needs subsequently continue in priority, culminating in self-actualisation and transcendence—or enlightenment.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model very closely aligns with the 8 pillars of holistic health.
Although the pillars of holistic health aren’t always necessarily arranged in the same way, they fit perfectly into the hierarchy of needs model and vice versa.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and the eight pillars of holistic health, are great assessment tools to evaluate what areas of your life are leaving you feeling unfulfilled, restless, bored, unmotivated, or unsatisfied.
This creates a great template to locate which areas of your life need attention. Using the pillars as a tool for self-evaluation allows you to holistically progress in those undeveloped areas for an overall sense of well-being and joy—whilst also contributing to your spiritual journey.
An interesting correlation between Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of needs, the 8 pillars of holistic health, and many schools of spiritual philosophy are that they insinuate that different stages of spiritual development must happen in sequence.
For example, the 8 limbs of ashtanga yoga also seem to devise a step-by-step plan for holistic healing and transcendence.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is often used to describe the pattern of human motivation. Within this theory, the motivation and ability to move into the upper stages of development can only arise when the needs in the prior fundamental stages are satisfied.
So for example, your physiological needs of food, sleep, and water need to be met before you can fulfil your quest for environmental safety or financial security.
And we often see this sequential developmental theory in a variety of religious, spiritual, and holistic wellness theories. ‘First things, first’.
There are some overlaps between the stages of the hierarchy of fundamental needs, because as with most things in life—the stages are often intertwined and are not always black and white.
But as a general blueprint, the stages of spiritual development for holistic health within Maslow’s hierarchy of needs quite often make logical sense.
However, it’s important to note, that as humans, we are complex beings and it is most likely that you will be working on a variety of these stages at the same time, with some needs perhaps being a more dominant focus than others based on your survival needs.
What Are The 8 Pillars Of Holistic Health And Wellness?
Physiological Health And Lifestyle
Good Nutrition And A Healthy Diet
Environmental Safety and Security
Financial Security And Abundance
Emotional Wellness And Emotional Security
Social Wellness And Community
Intellectual Wellness And Purpose
Spiritual Wellness
1. Physiological Health And Lifestyle
Your physiological needs come at the bottom of the pyramid because they are your most basic survival needs.
This includes things like food, water, protection from the elements (in terms of clothing), urination, excretion, sleep, light, air, heat, basic hygiene and shelter from the elements.
Physical health and lifestyle are also the first pillar of holistic health because your body is your temple.
Beyond the obvious basic needs of water, food, and shelter your body also needs to be in good physical shape. Physical exercise and good sleep are required for strength, restoration and repair.
Both rest and physical activity are equally as important for holistic wellbeing and optimal wellness.
Physical activity such as yoga helps to keep your body fit and healthy, but most importantly—it also stimulates positive energetic movement around your subtle energetic body and chakras by keeping your energy flowing freely and preventing stagnation.
Whereas the opposite is also true, if you aren’t looking after your physical health through good sleep and physical exercise, this impacts your physical and energetic body negatively.
And you’ll likely experience stagnation in both your physical and energetic body.
Journal Prompt For Physiological Health And Lifestyle:
Consider your lifestyle and your living environment. How can you improve your living environment to ensure that you’re meeting your physiological and hygiene needs?
How can you improve your sleep, rest, and physical activity routines? Is it balanced? Do you have a relaxation and self-care routine?
2. Good Nutrition And A Healthy Diet
Good nutrition and diet are the second pillar of holistic health, but they are categorised in the foundation of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid.
In terms of holistic health; extra attention needs to be paid to what you put into your body. You’ll probably be familiar with the term; ‘you are what you eat’.
There are a variety of different foods that you can eat to fuel your body, but not all of them are healthy in the long term.
Fuelling your physical and subtle energetic body in the right way and healthy eating are vital for spiritual development.
Good food full of the right vitamins and minerals helps to fuel your body along with helping to restore and repair it. Not only that, but proper nutrition contributes positively to your subtle energetic body and chakras.
Whereas poor nutrition has the opposite effect, it negatively impacts your physical and energetic health.
In Sanskrit, prāṇa means ‘vital life force’ energy, the breath of life, and vital principle. Whole foods are said to be full of prana which is beneficial to your physical body, subtle energetic body, and chakras.
Good nutrition is vital for brain health, cognitive function and a healthy mind. A medical journal by Nutrition Reviews notes that nutrition is vital for the maintenance of brain functioning and performance, along with having the power to aid in the prevention and treatment of mental disorders.²
Journal Prompt For Good Nutrition And A Healthy Diet:
Consider your current nutrition and diet. Can you improve your diet? What can you consume less of? And what can you consume more of?
Research the health benefits of foods that you like, to see how you can incorporate more of them into your diet through easy recipes.
3. Environmental Safety and Security
The next stage in terms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are ‘safety needs’. Maslow describes these as health, personal, emotional, and financial security and safety requirements.
Essentially, following your immediate and fundamental physiological needs such as food, shelter, and water being covered—the next set of vital safety needs are financial, emotional, mental, and spiritual.
In terms of the pillars of holistic health, these are categorised a little differently, but essentially coincide with the hierarchy of needs theory.
Pillar three of holistic health is environmental safety and security, and pillar four of holistic health is financial security and abundance. So there are some obvious overlaps between pillars three and four of holistic health and Maslow’s pyramid.
Environmental safety and security are not only having a roof over your head and shelter from the elements—it is having safety and freedom within that environment. Furthermore, this safety and freedom can be regarded as physical, mental, and emotional.
You need the space to be free. And the safety to explore, be playful, and grow. You also need the safety of being respected and loved within your environment.
Journal Prompt For Environmental Safety and Security:
Do your current living, working, and social arrangements and environments make you feel loved, safe, secure, respected, and free?
If not, what changes can you make to improve your environmental safety and security?
4. Financial Security And Abundance
Financial security and abundance are the fourth pillar of holistic health. There are some obvious overlaps between financial security and the previous three pillars.
It can be argued that some level of financial security is required to have a safe environment to live in, good health, quality nutrition, and a lifestyle which supports good physical health.
However, financial security and abundance go beyond having just enough money to live in a safe environment, good food, and the ability to look after your body.
In many cases, you can afford to live in a reasonably safe environment, along with having access to ample healthy food, and the space to look after your body and physical health without an abundance of money and financial resources.
But true financial security and abundance expand across your entire life and lifestyle.
It is having more than enough money to not only have a great standard of life but also disposable income to put into savings which provides an extra sense of security. And disposable income to invest in your overall security, such as being able to buy a house, or land, start a business or invest in your education, or pension.
If you can afford a safe home, good food, and to keep your body in good overall health—but are always living on the ‘bread line’, then you may struggle to truly work on the following stages/pillars and your mental, emotional, subtle energetic, and spiritual needs.
Journal Prompt For Financial Security And Abundance:
Do you have financial security and savings? How can you improve your financial health, security and savings?
How can you build a foundation to invite more abundance into your life? What action do you need to take to invite abundance into your life?
5. Emotional Wellness And Emotional Security
The fifth pillar of holistic health is emotional wellness and emotional security. This is not only the sense of feeling safe and free within your environment and community, but it is also the space to deepen your emotional wellness and emotional intelligence.
For example, emotional wellness is having the space and clarity to address trauma, fears, negative mindsets, self-limiting beliefs, and insecurities. Emotional wellness is also having the tools to cope with daily stress and the ability to adapt and flow with the changes of life with relative ease.
Emotional wellness is having a good level of self-awareness of your feelings and emotions—and being able to manage them effectively.
Emotional wellness is also about having safe spaces in which you can seek support, such as relationships and friendships that you can seek assistance from if needed.
Journal Prompt For Emotional Wellness And Emotional Security:
How can you improve your emotional health? What do you need to address to improve your emotional wellness?
Do you have emotional security within your environment? If not, how can you change that?
6. Social Wellness And Community
Love and social belonging are the third stage of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, whereas social wellness and community are the sixth pillar of holistic health.
In Maslow’s theory, after your physiological and basic safety and security needs are met, your emotional needs become the next highest priority.
According to Maslow, humans require a sense of belonging, and feelings of being accepted, loved, and respected by a like-minded community or social group. And this may or may not include friends and family.
His theory notes that being comfortable within a community that provides a sense of belonging and connection is crucial for good mental health.
Social wellness can include the need for sexual and non-sexual intimacy, friendship, and trust. And this can be within a variety of small or large networks of people.
Everyone varies on the scale when it comes to socialising, some regard themselves as extroverted and enjoy spending a lot of time with others. Extroverts are regarded as being happier within the company of others and use social situations to recharge their batteries.
Whereas introverts are quite the opposite and require more solitude to recharge their batteries and are often happier alone. However, you’ll often find that even with introverts there is still some level of community and socialising in their lives.
Journal Prompt For Social Wellness And Community:
Are your needs for a like-minded community being met? And if not, how can you seek to change this?
Can you join or build a like-minded community? Do you have a healthy relationship with those around you? If not, how can you improve your relationships with others?
7. Intellectual Wellness And Purpose
The fourth fundamental stage of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is esteem. And the extended version of the hierarchy of needs also includes cognitive needs as the fifth stage, aesthetic needs as the sixth stage, and self-actualisation as the seventh stage. This correlates to the seventh pillar of holistic health which is intellectual wellness and purpose.
Esteem covers not only the respect and admiration of others but also the respect and admiration of oneself. This is tied into self-confidence, competence, independence, and strength.
Cognitive needs covers your requirement for purpose, knowledge, meaning, creativity, and understanding or wisdom. Cognitive needs covers the motivation to learn and gather information.
Whereas aesthetic needs covers the desire for beauty; beauty within and all around you. It’s the appreciation of sensual attractiveness and the desire to be immersed in the exquisite beauty of the world. But also the desire to beautify yourself too.
And self-actualization is the need and desire to reach your fullest potential, whether that is being the best parent you can be, or achieving career goals.
Matching with a great partner, parenting, achieving goals, and honing talents are all part of self-actualization.
According to Maslow’s theory; being your highest self, succeeding, and accomplishing all that you can is one of the final fundamental needs that can be fully realised after all of your other needs are mastered.
The seventh pillar of holistic health is intellectual wellness and purpose, which essentially covers the stages of cognitive needs, aesthetic needs, and self-actualization from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
The seventh pillar of holistic health is to nurture your intellectual wellness and fulfil your life’s mission, or purpose. This can include developing your creative endeavours, having a family, or pursuing a variety of career-based or personal goals.
Having a purpose is extremely important for mental health and to give life meaning.
Journal Prompt For Intellectual Wellness And Purpose:
What are your current goals? Can you set some personal, financial, career, social, health and fitness goals?
What are your current hobbies? Is there something else you’d like to explore or achieve?
What are you doing for fun? Are you getting a good balance between work and play? If not, how can you find more balance?
8. Spiritual Wellness
The last stage and pillar of holistic health and wellness are aligned in both models. The eighth stage of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is transcendence, and the eighth pillar of holistic health is spiritual wellness.
Spiritual wellness is the requirement of having a connection to something bigger than yourself, such as a higher plane of existence or understanding of how the world works.
Maslow describes this as a need to give yourself to something bigger than yourself whether this is through altruism and helping others, or devoting yourself to a spiritual or religious philosophy.
Maslow notes that this is the highest, most inclusive, and holistic level of consciousness.
At this stage, you begin to see yourself as one with the universe, cosmos, nature, and everything else in it. You realise your significance in relation to Universal Consciousness.
Spiritual wellness can also overlap somewhat with purpose—having a personal spiritual philosophy can provide a good framework for purpose and good mental health.
If you’d like to learn some easy ways to awaken your inner temple and cultivate inner power, then check out my article here.
Journal Prompt For Spiritual Wellness:
Have you been nurturing your spiritual or religious beliefs? How have you been keeping in touch with your spiritual and religious practice?
Are there ways in which you can develop your sense of spirituality? Are you providing value for others through helping behaviour where possible?
If not, how can you support your wider community?
Tips For Holistic Health And Wellness
If you’re looking to maintain a healthy lifestyle, or build one that contributes to your optimal health, then here are some easy tips to help you along your journey.
Journal
If you’re keen to embark on a holistic healing journey to improve your overall wellness then the pillars of holistic health are a great assessment tool.
You can journal on each pillar to self-evaluate where your needs are being met, and where they need to be improved, along with suggestions on how you’d like to improve them.
The key thing here is to decide on actions that you can take and measure, so you can tangibly implement the improvements in reality.
If you’d like to learn more about journaling, then check out my article here on the best full-moon journaling prompts for healing and release.
Make Small Changes That You Can Maintain For The Long-Term
Making positive changes to improve your overall wellness is a gradual journey and consists of making healthy choices and healthy habits with a holistic approach to your overall wellness.
I recommend making a solid plan to provide yourself with structure, combined with taking small steps that are realistic and sustainable. This allows you to implement, embody, and achieve your goals—as opposed to yo-yoing with the best of intentions.
Maintaining a small positive change consistently is going to provide much better results than huge changes which you cannot consistently maintain.
Join A Coaching Course For Accountability
It’s not always easy to maintain healthy habits when you don’t have accountability or a like-minded community. Joining a coaching course can help to provide you with both. It’s a great way to keep you motivated and on track during your holistic healing journey.
Not only do you have a guide to coach you through, you’ll also be in the company of others on the same journey as you.
Other Models Of The 8 Pillars Of Health And Wellness
Dr Peggy Swarbrick also designed 8 pillars (or 8 dimensions) of wellness to promote good mental health and recovery from trauma and addiction. She defined them as:
1. Physical wellness and needs
2. Environmental wellness and needs
3. Financial wellness and needs
4. Occupational wellness and needs
5. Social needs
6 Emotional needs and mental wellness
7. Intellectual needs
8. Spiritual needs
Conclusion
Did you find this article on healthy living and the 8 pillars of holistic health helpful? What areas are you needing to improve for a holistic healthy life, and how do you plan to improve them?
Let me know in the comments!
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