"Holistic health is nice for rich people." Who else can afford it?

Is massage a luxury or a therapy? What about a naturopath? Or chiropractor? Can we stay well and stay financially solvent?

In this article, I'll give you a few tips on how you can make your holistic lifestyle affordable.

Defining the Holistic Lifestyle

I say "your" holistic lifestyle, because it will be different for everyone. But let me take a minute to explain my holistic lifestyle.

My dream holistic lifestyle is to use holistic therapies as my first line of defense for every illness. And I want to approach every discomfort, every tiny little health issue, with the safest, cheapest, effective remedy first. If it proves to be too weak or doesn't work, I move on to something a little more expensive and/or dangerous. At the end of the line are the most expensive and dangerous treatments, like pharmaceutical drugs and surgery.

In my dream holistic lifestyle, my week includes a set of therapies designed to keep me well. Meditation classes, yoga and chi gong are my favorites. Then I would see several practitioners who help me stay well. My preferred types of "wellness modalities" are massage therapy (ahh!), Feldenkrais, chiropractic and some type of energy healing. I would take vitamins regularly, and I eat great tasting, organic food.

In this dream, I have a complete team of practitioners who know about each other's role in my holistic lifestyle, and everyone works together to keep me well, and to help me recover from illness when it occurs.

As a piece of the puzzle of my holistic lifestyle, I have some excellent medical doctors who see me when I need them. I don't use them regularly, because of the high cost and the fact that their remedies are extremely strong, dangerous and have fairly severe side-effects that I want to avoid if it's possible.

Okay, that's my dream. As you read about my dream holistic lifestyle, what are you thinking? Does it sound like something you'd enjoy? So how can we make it affordable?

Affording the Dream

Let's look at the challenge of affording the holistic lifestyle I've described.

The first glaring problem is that almost all of what I want is not covered by health insurance.

This is a big problem. But there is a solution.

In order to make the holistic lifestyle affordable, you must change how you think about health insurance.

I want you to treat health insurance the same way you treat auto insurance or home insurance.

Think about these situations. If you have a flat tire on your car, do you go running to your auto insurer demanding payment? No, you don't.

When you break a doorknob on a door in your house, do you call your home insurance company and insist on getting a check in the mail? That sounds crazy, doesn't it?

What would happen if auto insurance policies covered flat tires, oil changes and glove compartment springs? Our insurance rates would be really high.

And yet, with health insurance, we act crazy. We run to expensive doctors for every little thing. And what has happened to health insurance rates? They're crazy high. It's partly our own fault.

Try to think of health insurance as a way to pay for health crises that you can't afford yourself.

Can you afford breast cancer out-of-pocket? No way. A broken leg, diabetes, chronic depression or appendectomy? Of course not. Insurance is meant for these things.

But what about colds? Flu? Back aches? Sore eyes? Insomnia? Lack of concentration? Hemorrhoids?

Yes, you can afford these things yourself. Use the money in your savings account, not your health insurance, for these smaller health problems.

What if you don't have any money in your savings? Well, everyone should have some savings, no matter how poor, but let's say you don't. Do you have a credit card? You can take out an advance on your credit card to pay for these smaller health problems, and pay back the balance over time. I'm not trying to advocate credit card debt, but I think it's a little better than "crazy" health insurance rates that you have to pay every month. Also, most healthcare institutions have payment plans you can use. If neither of those work out, borrow some money from a loved one. We're not talking about tens of thousands of dollars here, just enough to meet your deductible.

But insurance is not the answer for smaller health problems.

Now that you know that, you need to find a type of health insurance that covers the big stuff (cancer, car accidents, etc.) but ignores the small stuff (colds, flu, etc.). Does such insurance exist? The answer is YES.

It is called the "high-deductible insurance policy." It is the best type of health insurance to have, for almost every situation.

The rates of high-deductible insurance are much lower than regular policies. And this type of policy opens up your choices for the lesser health problems.

You now have the choice to use Western medicine out-of-pocket or to use alternative medicine out-of-pocket. You may find that alternative medicine, including acupuncture, massage therapy, herbs, yoga and reiki, is often a better choice. When comparing both therapies out-of-pocket, alternative medicine is much less expensive. It is also often safer, and yet, equally effective.

The circle is complete. You save thousands of dollars by changing your mindset with insurance. Then you are free to choose any type of alternative medicine you wish, whether for wellness (to stay well) or for therapy (to recover from disease). It will be less expensive, safer and more healthy for you. And all you have to change is your mind.

Daryl Kulak is the author of Health Insurance Off the Grid, a guidebook to help people afford the holistic lifestyle.