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Why is it that modern medicine seems to have so many answers to so many questions, and yet we still keep getting sick? This may be an oversimplification, but part of it may be that our so-called modern medical treatment and care in this country treats more of the symptoms than the whole person. Treating the person in his or her entirety is something referred to as a "holistic" approach, and it just could be the future of medicine, or a bigger part of it at least.

If you are suffering from the symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes, night sweats, irritability, cramps, insomnia, or many others I don't need to remind you of, you probably need a way to solve all of these symptoms at once rather than one at a time or by taking several medications daily. The answer may be to find a healthier lifestyle and take a holistic approach to treating your body, rather than finding a temporary relief from the symptoms. You see doctors are trained to provide great insight into disease, how diseases work, how to treat this or that chronic inflammation or symptom. Most of them aren't trained at all in how to prevent disease, so if you ask a doctor how to "maintain" a healthy body, you may get some funny looks, or some advice on this or that exercise and diet.

But keeping the body healthy and in balance is much more than that, it involves creating a state in which the mind is also healthy and in balance. This can involve many different techniques, but is more of a lifestyle change for most people. Living in our technically advanced, whirlwind career, fast-food eating modern world is not a really great way to find peace and harmony for mind or body. Most of us don't exercise enough, if at all. We don't take the time to adequately recharge our brains, or our bodies, for the stresses that we face every day. How can we do that? We need to slow down, for one thing.

We know that there are many thousands of chemical reactions going on in our body each and every minute of every day, our brains giving commands to release certain enzymes in just the right amount, or a hormone to help provide the needed heeling and growth for another function. But what happens when our bodies get stressed, or have a deficiency of certain elements, such a vitamin or mineral that's necessary for a function in the body? It's well known that stress, poor nutrition and other factors can lead to a dysfunction in the adrenal glands which many times leads to the hormonal imbalances that worsen the symptoms of menopause. This is but one example, but there are many more indeed.

So how can you find a better balance in mind and body to increase your health? Take stock of your life in general - not only what you eat and drink, but also what you do to manage stress, maintain your spirituality, and even how you socialize. All of these things add up in there own way to make you the person that you are from one day to the next. Do you make it a habit to reach for the Tylenol at the first sign of a headache? Why not find a way to get to the source of that headache, which may be muscle tension, high blood pressure, or just a bad day in general. Take your mind off what happened at work, try some soothing aromatherapy or meditation to ease your stress.

Better still, do your heart some good and go for a long walk around the neighborhood, take up a yoga class, or break out that dusty guitar you haven't played in 10 years. These are just a few things you can do to help get your mind back to a better place, there are many more! The key is to look at yourself as one living organism with many different parts that work together in harmony. Our complex bodies need to balanced, so find your way to balance both mind and body.