Top Wellness Trends Adapted from 2021 from the
Global Wellness Summit Snapshots
The last week in January has become the Global Wellness Summit’s annual “reveal” of the top wellness trends for that year. This is the only wellness forecast based on the insights of hundreds of top executives of wellness companies, economists, doctors, investors, academics and technologists from dozens of nations, making for a uniquely informed, global set of predictions. The past years have shown that these trends have caught on to the Zeitgeist and had a meaningful impact on the multi-trillion wellness industry, including, of course, spas and clubs.
But this is not just an attention-grabbing trend report. Instead, these research findings support the reality that after a pandemic that exposed the terrible human cost for not controlling chronic, underlying conditions, the case for preventative wellness has never been stronger.
Here then are the GWS Top Wellness Trends for 2021:
1. Hollywood and the Entertainment Industries Jump into Wellness
Move over purists: big media means wellness for all
It turns out TV, apps, streaming services and even the music industry are racing into wellness. So now not only will there be binge-able wellness programming of all kinds available but a range of wellness experiences on a range of platforms means wellness finally begins to have the scope and reach it needs to.
2. The Future of Immune Health: Stop Boosting, Start Balancing
Say goodbye to pop-it, guzzle-it supplements and hello to evidence-backed immune health
Even though it was one of the most popular wellness terms during the pandemic, research says, forget immune “boosting,” the real power is in immune “balancing.” Scientists say that the world of pop-it, guzzle-it, IV-drip-it “immune-boosting” superfoods and supplements is not really making a meaningful difference in the immune system. Instead, it’s all about metabolic health, the microbiome and personalized nutrition. There’s also growing interest in “positive stress” experiences and intermittent fasting for immune resilience.
3. Spiritual and Numinous Moments in Architecture
The move from ostentatious fads to architecture that touches our souls
There’s a groundswell of evidence showing the connection between our built environments and our physical health and wellbeing. Forget the McMansion – instead, look for designs for living that nurtures spirituality and connection.
4. Just Breathe!
Breath goes from woo-woo wellness to a powerful health too
Experts are now admitting that the importance of Breathwork is going beyond the yoga mat to top medical schools as their findings illuminate the idea that how we breathe has a profound impact on our physical and mental health. People, places, techniques, and high tech are pushing breathwork into exciting new directions. Consider this: The Breath Biohacker and The Breathvangelist are among the many go-to breathing experts and albeit socially distant or vaccinated, breath parties and festivals will be the place to be.
5. The Self-Care Renaissance
Where wellness and healthcare converge
Believe it or not, the time has finally come — hospitals are getting more like spas and spas are getting more like health care centers. Wellness is learning to lean into science, establish standards, and hold itself accountable. At the same time, healthcare is beginning to borrow from the wellness playbook, transforming a once sterile and strictly curative industry into a more holistic, lifestyle-oriented, and even pleasurable one. Look to a future where healthcare and wellness converge –and prescriptions may be coupled with hyper-personalized guides to optimal health.
6. Adding Color to Wellness
Moving from optics to substance
After the graphic videos and protests of the summer of 2020, it is time for diversity and inclusion to be much more than just goals in the wellness community. A black researcher on the GWS found the facts behind this trend and shone the light on the different ways brown and black populations have had to or tried to experience wellness in the past. One thing is clear from the research. Now is the time to add color to wellness.
7. Resetting Events with Wellness
You may never sit on a banquet chair again
A few bold organizations created hybrid events during the pandemic with wellness at their core, employing new protocols and technologies that mitigate risk in engaging ways. The prediction is, looking forward to proactively preparing for future risks, how we gather will forever be changed.
8. Money Out Loud
Financial wellness Is finding its voice
Much like religion, sex and politics, money has topped the ‘do-not-discuss’ list for decades. But now that transparency and authenticity are trending, even finance is becoming more human, empathetic, and dare we say, fun. The new trend? We’ll begin to see the end of financial systems designed to profit from our failure, and the start of financial wellness awakening.
9. 2021: The Year of the Travel Reset
From manic getaways to slower, more mindful travel
No other industry was hit harder and faster than travel by the pandemic. Hotels, airlines, tour buses, and all their amenities screeched to a halt. The one-outdoing-the-next manic travel habits that had contributed to over tourism and a depletion of natural resources will now be replaced by slower, closer and more mindful experiences. Look for all travel to become wellness travel, with many looking to leave a place better off than they found it.
By: Kim Marshall “Global Wellness Summit Podcast Host and Co-Founder S’Well Public Relations”
The full 2021 GWS Wellness Trends Report can be purchased for $85 at: https://www.globalwellnesssummit.com/trends-2021/