Book Review : Holistic Home by Maxine Fox: How to Create a Stress-Free Home Environment for Healthy Living

Holistic Home is alternative medicine for the homemaker. Maxine Fox explores practical ways of creating a home conducive to stress-free holistic health and happiness. She covers topics as diverse as chemical-free cleaning to color healing in the home for emotional well being. Her authoritative style offers a confident approach to everything about homemaking in the personal sense and within the community.

The book is divided into 3 sections : The Physical Home, The Emotional Home and the Spiritual Home. “We need to re-focus our attention on the interaction that occurs between the physical, emotional and spiritual selves and the living environment we call home.”

Within each section there lies a storehouse of information which would be particularly useful to new homemakers, or those who are assessing their current way of life with a view to creating a more stress-free environment.

Creating Holistic Health in the Physical Home

This section reminds the reader of the many dangers in everything from paint, plaster and varnishes to chemical additives in carpets and flooring, as well as the pesticides in food. Maxine Fox is on a mission to inform the reader of ways to create a chemical-free home environment and thereby impove the health of those living in that home by reducing allergies and inflamed skin conditions.

There are several constructive ideas for alternatives. She also advocates a chemical -free return to the more natural ways of cleaning with baking soda and vinegar. Discover how moths can be deterred with chestnuts whilst a paste of hot vinegar and salt will remove lime-scale in the bathroom.

Maxine Fox decries the agrochemical companies and the poor farming practices in many western countries. She clearly explains the damage done to the soil and thereby to the food grown within it. This is one of the most important issues facing Britain today. Campaigners are calling on government for more responsible use of those pesticides which contribute to depleted immune systems and stressful allergies.

Creating Holistic Health in the Emotional Home

Recognising the relationship between emotional health and happiness, there is a detailed section on color healing and design.

“Color is one of the most powerful components of our lives. Everything from heartbeat to mood is affected by colour in the form of light energy. ” Whilst acknowledging the cultural leanings of certain colors, “for example orange denotes humility for Buddhists but to western eyes it is a color of flamboyance” , Maxine Fox lists 11 colors with their emotional responses. She describes how to use color healing in the home with advice on the choice of hues and where to use them.

Creating Holistic Health in the Spiritual Home

Often overlooked in similar books, this section moves from family and friends to the global community. The writer explores the exploitation of 3rd world countries and explains the benefits of organisations such as Fair Trade and Rugmark. Choices regarding imported products have a clear connection to the holistic spiritual health of the home.

Understanding how each decision has an impact, however small, on the rest of the world will inevitably bring about positive change and a more mindful lifestyle.