Wellness has taken on a new meaning and moved in different directions since the pandemic. This in turn has changed the preconceived beliefs of wellness and spearheaded its true value. From soil health to senior living improvements, the rise of male body issues to professional wellness coaches motivating behavioural change the latest trends impacting our lives are detailed below.
Dirty Wellness / Soil Health
Our planet has changed from the times when our forefathers foraged for food. Soil and human microbiomes are anciently connected. Soil exposure impacts on us from immunity to mental health. Today we are deprived of soil, its bacteria and fungal riches. We avoid bathing in it.
Did you know that one handful of soil contains 50 billion life forms. Underfoot is the ecosystem so vital to the plant. A living soil recycles nutrients for plants, capturing atmospheric carbon.
There is a trend to introducing Regenerative Agriculture and restoring the soil’s biodiversity. A hello to gardeners, to foraging and to urban farms. It’s about getting dirty again and greening the urban landscape. There is a fashion for indoor gardens and spaces, smart gardens teeming with healthy soil microbes and a nod to technology. This is a trend towards regenerative farms and foods offered from soil to guest just like farm to table! A rewilding rather than clean obsession.
The Rise Of Mens’ Body Image
One of many negative results of social media is the effect on mens’ confidence and mental health. The media spotlights models with rippling muscles and a perception of the perfect shape. This has caused a drop in the self-confidence in men, leading to the use of steroids and performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). This toxic muscularity is rolling into male eating disorders and muscle dysmorphia (reverse anorexia) to create the model figure.
Technological Wellness
From telehealth apps, home gyms and wearables, we are wired into health technology and no longer pure wellness tech. Today is all about the collaboration with technology via the virtual reality headset. A new mind set of a tech diet that is healthy and regulated and an analysis of how it affects our mind, body and overall wellbeing. Although there is no shortage of gadgets promising health, there is a risk of detracting from the real picture.
Healthy Age
How old? The increase in longevity denotes a later age of retirement and a more active life and a healthy youthful mental focus than previous generations. People are no longer defined by age. There are new models for intergenerational living environments that help to reduce age segregation and increase social connections, decreasing loneliness, and resulting in better health and wellbeing outcomes for all residents.
A Search For The Wellness In Travel
A new attitude towards wellness is changing the travel landscapes in search of life rebalancing. Think early retirements, more me time, holiday investments, time away from work or integrated in renewed lifestyle routines to achieve personal growth and happiness.
Nature is a healer from trekking to mountain tops to the art of Tai Chi in the open air. The wisdom of ancient indigenous travel experiences, organic food farming and creative arts are allowing an outlet for expression as well as rediscovering a purpose to life which comes from new experiences and learning elements of new cultures.
Lifestyle Wellness Integration
Wellness is no longer just for the luxury traveller…. It’s becoming more integrated into our everyday lives. Parks and arts, renovated public and historic bath spas and an increase in saunas and steam rooms.
Communal bathing of old European and Asian cultures is experiencing a comeback. Austria’s Therme Group is investing in North America, Italy’s QC Terme is opening its new urban bathhouse on New York’s Governor’s Island while Finnish-inspired Nordic bathing spa has opened in Toronto.
Saunas have become part of the rooftop bar scene, promenades, parks and beach-fronts are dotted with fitness structures with public classes often seen taking place.
Spas to Medi-Spas
Long-gone are the single massage and facial menus. Treatments are varied and state of the art equipment in place to diagnose multi-day programmes personalised to individual needs from skin analysis to genetic medicine.
Sustainability
Foraging, homegrown foods, naturalism and ancient practices. We now question how foods are sourced and prepared. We receive more information on packaged foods and related nutritional value. There is shift in our values on how we use our natural resources.
Wellness Resources
Behaviour change comes from within. This is facilitated by an increase in more online and published research, online GPs and wellness coaches bringing wellness closer and faster and encouraging new healthy behaviour. In some countries certified HWC of health and wellness coaches are becoming fashionable. There is a shift from the prescriptive model of medicine to a motivation model to achieve personal health and preventative goals. This has brought personalised health plans, an increase in digital health companies for weight loss and coach bots coding out human input. Recognised providers such as Six Senses and Canyon Ranch are opening centres for everyday wellness coaching.
A Wellness Metaverse
Wellness is now at the forefront in consumer minds as well as business and government strategies. The wellness sectors encompass fitness, beauty, healthy eating, mental wellness, wellness tourism, wellness real estate and spas. Even in the workplace, wellness has been introduced with new technologies and virtual worlds that deliver a far more immersive experience and is radically transforming how wellness is delivered to global consumers. The entire world is paying attention to wellness.
(Source: The Global Wellness Institute)