IUP’s Holistic Health Club promotes full body, mental wellness for all | Culture

This week’s organization highlight will be covering the Holistic Health Club.

IUPs Holistic Health Club offers a space for students to learn about holistic ways of living, through both physical and mental health.

The club discussions can range from stress management, self-care, physical exercises such as pilates, and much more.

So far this semester, the club has held informative events which included guest speakers such as naturopathic doctor, Dr. Areti, and former Pittsburgh Steeler Rocky Bleier.

On Sep. 10, the Holistic Health Club held a table at IUPs Health and Wellness Fair, alongside other wellness-based organizations around Indiana. At the event, they promoted the club and holistic stress management methods.

The club has an upcoming bake sale and a basket raffle fundraiser coming up in early December.

Holistic Health Club runs by one quote: “Life is about balance.” It stands as their club motto.

When asked what this quote means to them, Vice President Leah Dixon (sophomore, psychology) expressed how the importance of this quote.

“Maintaing balance is definitely rooted in the fact that we are college students balancing a lot on our plate at all times” Dixon said. “We try to focus on making sure we can all take care of ourselves in a more natural way, such as getting enough sleep.”

Club President Madeline Gyurina (sophomore, criminology) shared what the quote means to her.

“We talk about balancing the foods you eat and how they can affect you, keeping everything at a good balance. Not underdoing or overdoing anything.”

A common theme in this club is wellness in all aspects of our lives, making sure you can be the best version of yourself always.

“Our club is based on sharing what you know about taking care of yourself holistically,” Dixon said

Holistic Health Club serves as an inclusive space for people of all different backgrounds to come together for the goal of bettering themselves in various wellness aspects, whether that be mental of physical well-beings. It can be a great place to form new relationships rooted in self-care.

“It’s a variety of people coming together for a common interest of bettering themselves even if other aspects of their lives are different,” said Gyurina.

On Nov. 14, the club will be meeting to discuss winter blues such as seasonal depression and finals, and how to healthily manage these stressful times.

For some members, holistic health affects daily life. The club secretary, Anna Marie Bostaph (senior, dietetics) commented on how it affects her every single day. “As someone dealing with chronic illness, in my scenario, alternative medicine has provided me with the only treatments that have worked,” Bostaph said.

 “I have a very rare GI disorder that causes me to become ill every time I eat, and there is currently no cure except for surgery, which only has a 50% success rate, and not eating,” said Bostaph. “As the cherry on top, after battling several bouts of illness, I developed numerous food sensitivities including corn, grains (even gluten-free grains), eggs, and dairy. Despite all of this, food has been the only thing that has helped make progress in my healing journey.”

Holistic healing doesn’t have to be purely based on physical well-being. It can also be geared towards mental health.

Gyurina shared her particular interest towards holistically learning about mental health. “My favorite is mental health; I’ve always had strong passion for mental health through my own experiences.”

Additionally, there are many very interesting things to learn about in this organization, such as remedies.

“Did you know that a 2015 study found that in 500 patients diagnosed with the flu, drinking an echinacea tea proved to be just as effective as Tamiflu for treating influenza? How cool is that!” Bostaph shared with The Penn.

The club encourages anyone who may be interested in holistic health to take a look at their club. They can be accessed through their Instagram, @holistichealthclub_iup.

President Madeline Gyurina can also be contacted through email with any questions pertaining to the club: [email protected]