What Does It Actually Mean to Practice Holistically?

Why holistic practice is less about what we use and more about what we consider.

Take a moment and picture a holistic esthetician or massage therapist.

What do you see?

Essential oils? Gua sha? Sound bowls? Crystals? Natural skincare products? Maybe a treatment room filled with plants, warm lighting, and the smell of lavender.

For a long time, that's what I pictured, too.

When I was first introduced to the holistic side of our industry, I associated it with being as natural as possible. Using ancient modalities, choosing natural products, and avoiding anything that didn't seem to fit that description.

Gua sha was becoming incredibly popular, and there was some conversation about the lymphatic system and the benefits of supporting circulation. But for the most part, my understanding of holistic practice was centered around what we were using.

And I don't think there's anything wrong with those things.

I still believe they have a place in our industry.

But after more than two decades of working with the body and skin, my understanding of what it means to practice holistically has changed quite a bit.

I've come to believe that holistic practice is less about what we use and more about what we consider.

And I think that's an important conversation for our industry to have.

When My Personal Life and Professional Life Didn't Align

I remember becoming increasingly aware of what I was bringing into my home.

I was paying attention to cleaning products, ingredients, fragrances, and the things I was exposing myself and my family to.

I wanted to make more conscious decisions about the products I was using.

But at some point, I started connecting the dots.

Here I was, being incredibly thoughtful about the products I used to clean my home, yet I wasn't giving that same level of consideration to everything I was putting on my clients' skin.

I was using products with added fragrance without always understanding the ingredients or why they were there.

That realization sent me down the ingredient rabbit hole.

I wanted to understand formulations, what ingredients were doing, and how the products I was choosing aligned with the way I wanted to practice.

For a while, that became a big part of what holistic meant to me.

And while that education was valuable, I eventually realized I was still looking at only one piece of a much larger picture.

I had gone from focusing on natural modalities to focusing on ingredients.

But what about the person using those products?

What about everything happening within their body and throughout their daily life?

That's when my understanding of holistic practice really began to shift.

The Skin Doesn't Function Independently From the Body

Let me give you an example.

Have you ever had a client who was doing everything right with their skincare?

They were using the products you recommended. They were consistent with their routine. They were genuinely invested in improving their skin.

But they weren't getting the results either of you had hoped for.

I've experienced this.

Initially, I began looking more closely at the circulatory systems and the tissue itself.

This is a big part of what eventually led me to develop my Functional Circulation Method™.

I wanted to look beyond simply applying products to the skin.

What was happening within the underlying tissues?

How was the tissue moving?

Was there tension or restriction that might be influencing the area?

How could we thoughtfully incorporate muscle manipulation, fascial work, and lymphatic stimulation into the treatment?

Because healthy skin relies on much more than what we apply topically.

Blood circulation supports the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to tissues. The lymphatic system plays an important role in fluid balance and immune function. And the condition and movement of the surrounding tissues are worth understanding as part of our hands-on work.

But even as I began incorporating more of this thinking into my facials, I realized there was another layer.

And it often revealed itself through simple conversations with my clients.

One client was getting very little sleep.

Another wasn't drinking much water.

Another lived a fairly sedentary lifestyle.

And another had eating habits that may not have been supporting her overall well-being.

Now, I'm not suggesting that any one of those things automatically explains a particular skin condition.

But they are certainly worth considering.

We know that sleep, nutrition, hydration, movement, and overall health influence how our bodies function.

And our skin is part of that body.

So why would we look at the skin as though it exists independently from everything else?

That was one of the biggest shifts in my thinking.

We can be incredibly knowledgeable about skincare and still miss important parts of the picture if we never look beyond the skin itself.

We Are the Sum of How We Care for Ourselves

This whole-body philosophy was part of the inspiration behind my Rooted in Practice Summit.

I wanted to bring attention to the things that contribute to our overall well-being.

Movement.

Nutrition.

Hydration.

Rest.

Sleep.

Spirituality.

The ways we care for ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally.

I once heard someone describe our current health as the result of how we've lived over the previous thousand days.

That thought has stayed with me.

Not because I believe every health concern can be traced back to our habits, or that we have complete control over our health.

But because the things we do consistently matter.

How we nourish ourselves.

How we move.

How we rest.

How we manage the demands of everyday life.

These things contribute to the environment in which our bodies function.

And when we begin thinking about our clients this way, it changes the questions we ask.

A client may come in with acne, but we don't have to stop at thinking about acne products.

A client may come in with neck tension, but we don't have to immediately decide which massage routine we're going to perform.

We can still address those specific concerns.

We simply zoom out first.

What else might be relevant?

What has changed?

What are we observing?

What might we need to understand before making our treatment decisions?

The goal isn't to make every treatment more complicated. It's to understand the bigger picture so we can make better decisions about the concern that brought the client to us.

But There's a Delicate Dance Here

I want to be very clear about something.

Practicing holistically doesn't suddenly make us doctors, nutritionists, mental health therapists, or physical therapists.

And it certainly doesn't give us permission to diagnose something outside our professional scope.

This is where I believe we need to become comfortable with having conversations rather than always feeling like we need to provide answers.

Let's say I'm working with a client, and through conversation I learn that she's consistently getting very little sleep.

I may share something I've learned about the importance of rest or how I've personally noticed differences in my own well-being when I'm not sleeping properly.

I may ask whether she's ever considered discussing her sleep concerns with an appropriate healthcare professional.

But I'm not going to tell her that her lack of sleep is the reason she's experiencing a particular skin condition.

That's not mine to diagnose.

Sometimes it's simply about opening the door to a thought the client may not have considered.

Planting a seed.

Offering an opportunity to become curious.

And sometimes it's about recognizing that another professional is better equipped to help.

Which brings me to another part of holistic practice that I think we need to talk about more often.

We are not meant to do this alone.

Holistic Practice Needs Community

If we're truly considering the whole person, we have to recognize that there will be things outside our knowledge, training, and professional scope.

And that's okay.

We should have a community of other wellness professionals we trust.

People we can refer to when a client needs something beyond what we're qualified to provide.

Perhaps that's a registered dietitian, a physical therapist, a physician, a mental health professional, or another appropriately qualified provider.

We don't need to become all of those things ourselves.

We need to recognize when their expertise may be helpful.

And if you haven't developed that professional community yet, start there.

Begin learning who is practicing in your area.

Have conversations.

Understand their approach and qualifications.

Build relationships.

Find credible educational resources that help you better understand the things you're curious about.

I believe this is one of the most valuable parts of creating an alliance.

We're not supposed to have every answer.

But we can become better practitioners by surrounding ourselves with people whose knowledge complements our own.

Sometimes caring for the whole person means knowing when someone else should be part of their care.

My Shades of Green Philosophy

As my understanding of holistic practice evolved, I also began questioning something else.

Why did it sometimes feel like we had to practice a particular way to be considered holistic?

I want to answer that personally.

When I was a newer esthetician, I sometimes felt as though I wasn't quite there yet.

I wasn't using the right product line.

I didn't have the newest techniques.

There were things I wanted to learn and products I hoped I could afford to bring into my practice one day.

Looking back, I think much of that pressure was coming from my own insecurities.

I was still developing confidence in who I was as a practitioner.

And as I gained experience, I began to realize something.

The product line wasn't going to make me a better practitioner simply because I owned it.

Neither was the machine.

Neither was another modality.

Those things could absolutely complement my knowledge and expand what I was able to offer.

But they weren't a replacement for understanding the skin, the body, or the person in front of me.

This is part of the thinking behind what I call The Shades of Green within HSA.

I describe it this way:

It's less about putting ourselves into a box and more about creating an awareness that a holistic approach can come in many forms through a variety of treatment offerings, product selections, tools and machines.

No matter our 'shade', we all have a common foundation. We agree upon clean, non-toxic ingredients—and it takes a 'whole' body approach to achieve well-being and treatment success.

For me, this is about making room for different approaches.

Some practitioners prefer to work almost exclusively with natural products and traditional modalities.

Others incorporate clinical skincare, advanced treatments, or technology.

And some find themselves somewhere in between.

I believe we can share a commitment to ingredient awareness, skin integrity, whole-body considerations, and thoughtful treatment decisions without requiring everyone to use exactly the same methods.

I also believe it's important to recognize that natural doesn't automatically mean appropriate for every skin type, just as clinical doesn't automatically mean aggressive or inappropriate.

We still have to understand what we're choosing, why we're choosing it, and whether it makes sense for that particular client.

And I recognize that some practitioners will have a different philosophy.

That's okay.

I'm not interested in telling someone they have to abandon their beliefs or practice the way I do.

I'm interested in opening the door to a broader conversation.

Because I think many of us are working toward the same goal, even if the paths we take look different.

Different Paths Can Lead Toward the Same Goal

Here's an example.

There's a philosophy in esthetics that we should work toward treatments that don't require extractions.

And I understand that thinking.

Ideally, we're helping clients develop healthier skin, supporting barrier function, and addressing the factors contributing to recurring congestion.

But what about the client sitting in front of us today?

What if they have congestion that may benefit from appropriate extractions?

Does choosing to perform those extractions mean we've abandoned a holistic approach?

I don't believe it does.

We can recognize that a client may benefit from an appropriate treatment today while still working toward a longer-term goal of healthier skin and less congestion.

We're considering the condition of the skin.

We're considering the barrier.

We're considering what the skin can tolerate.

We're choosing products and techniques thoughtfully.

And we're thinking about what needs to happen next.

Maybe today's treatment includes extractions.

Maybe another client's skin would be better served by avoiding them.

Maybe we need to spend time supporting a compromised barrier before considering a more intensive treatment.

The treatment we ultimately want a client to need isn't always the treatment they need today.

And I think that's where professional knowledge becomes so important.

The same principle applies to HydraFacial, microneedling, clinical skincare, or traditional hands-on modalities.

No single product, machine, or technique is appropriate for every person.

The decision has to come back to the individual.

What does this skin need?

What is appropriate today?

What are we trying to accomplish?

And how does this decision support the client's longer-term goals?

That's holistic thinking to me.

Not rejecting a treatment because it doesn't look holistic.

And not choosing one simply because it does.

You Don't Have to Know Everything to Begin

Now, I can imagine someone reading this and thinking:

This all sounds wonderful, but how am I supposed to know about nutrition, movement, sleep, circulation, the nervous system, skin health, and everything else that might influence my client?

Here's what I would tell you.

Start where you are.

You do not need to know everything today.

Maybe you have a personal interest in fitness and movement.

Maybe you've spent years learning about nutrition.

Maybe you understand the value of rest because you've experienced firsthand what happens when you don't get enough sleep.

Maybe spirituality is an important part of your life, and you understand what it means to have something to lean on during difficult times.

Or maybe your strongest area of knowledge right now is the skin itself.

That's okay.

Start with what you know.

Use that knowledge to become more curious about the whole person, while keeping your professional recommendations within your training and scope.

Then ask yourself what you'd like to understand next.

Maybe it's circulation.

Maybe it's the nervous system.

Maybe it's how the skin barrier functions.

Maybe it's learning more about the ingredients you're already using.

Find books.

Read.

Take a class when it genuinely interests you.

Have conversations with other professionals.

Be curious about things you don't understand.

And allow that knowledge to grow over time.

You might be surprised by how often learning about one subject leads you naturally into another.

One conversation opens the door to another.

One book sparks another question.

One client experience makes you curious about something you hadn't considered before.

And little by little, your understanding grows.

It doesn't need to feel like drinking from a fire hydrant.

You don't have to learn everything all at once.

You don't need another certification simply to prove you're holistic enough.

You can begin practicing with a broader perspective using the knowledge you already have.

And you can continue growing from there.

What Makes You a Holistic Practitioner?

If there's one thing I hope you take away from this conversation, it's this:

You are already capable of beginning to practice holistically.

You don't need to wait until you can afford that product line you've been wanting.

You don't need to own the machine you believe will finally give you the results you're looking for.

You don't need to learn every ancient modality or incorporate every wellness philosophy into your treatment room.

Those things may become valuable additions to your practice.

They may expand your treatment options, complement your skills, or help you achieve better outcomes for certain clients.

But they don't determine who you are as a practitioner.

Your knowledge matters.

Your ability to observe matters.

Your willingness to listen, ask questions, adapt, and recognize your professional boundaries matters.

And perhaps most importantly, your willingness to continue learning matters.

I believe we can be different shades of green and still share a common commitment to the well-being of the people who trust us with their care.

We don't all need to practice the same way.

We don't all need to use the same products.

And we certainly don't need to fit ourselves into a particular box to belong.

So the next time you're preparing for a treatment, I want you to consider one question:

What am I considering about this person beyond the appointment they booked?

Because holistic isn't a product category.

It isn't a modality.

And it isn't an aesthetic.

It's a way of looking at the person in front of you.

And you can start doing that with what you know today.

CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION

One of the reasons I created HSA is because I believe practitioners need a place where different perspectives can exist, questions can be asked, and professional knowledge can be shared without everyone feeling pressured to practice the same way.

If this article made you think differently about what holistic practice can look like, I'd encourage you to share it with another esthetician, massage therapist, or wellness professional.

And if you'd like to explore the philosophy behind our different approaches, you can read more about The Shades of Green.

Because we don't have to practice the same way to learn something valuable from one another.