Latest Health and Wellness Trends to look out for!

Health and wellness is a vast arena. Not that health and wellness is a new concept, but how people perceive wellness today has evolved. Wellness has become more than just dedicated walks in the park or celebrity workout DVDs from the 80s!

The pandemic has further accelerated the process of redefining wellness at a greater pace. Today, wellness is far broader and encompasses all aspects of healthy living. Starting from at-home fitness to workout apps and online consultations to telemedicine, healthy eating to wellness traveling, and athleisure wear to workplace positivity, the concept of wellness has expanded from last-minute reactive healthcare to mindful, proactive wellness.

Undoubtedly because of this huge shift in rethinking wellness as an intrinsic part of our daily living, today we have more choices on what we buy, how we buy, and where we buy. This is also the best time and window for health and wellness businesses to grow with the rapidity of the thriving pace of the market. Global Wellness Institute revealed that the wellness industry is valued at $4.5 trillion and will continue to grow.

Along with that, the advancement of social media trends and technology has sort of opened ways in which wellness providers are conceptualizing wellness in innovative ways to garner attention from everywhere. It is a time with multitudinous opportunities and thorough competition. Staying on the leading edge would only help succeed.

Hence, we bring to you these latest Health and Wellness Trends to help you that help your improve your offerings and keep you one step ahead of any competition.

What are the latest health and wellness trends to watch out for?

1. Health and Nutrition trends
2. Mental health is a priority
3. Workplace wellness
4. Wellness real-estate
5. Digital wellness trends
6. Boutique fitness businesses
7. Wellness Travel
8. Parks and Recreation Trends

Let’s get to these health and wellness trends to watch out for these are super relevant and going nowhere any sooner!

1. Health and Nutrition trends

Healthy eating is always a top priority for people seeking wellness as much as it is for wellness providers. Today wellness providers come with a more distinguished plan on how to move ahead and adopt healthier ways of nutritious intake. Current trends in healthier eating have moved from weight-focused interventions to a more holistic approach to eating healthy. 

According to research, a non-diet approach to eating has taken the center stage today, encouraging a more natural and instinctive approach to food intake rather than restrictive ones that are mostly directed toward weight loss programs. It is more about finding the right balance of nourishment and enjoyment in eating while indicating changes in behavior patterns and improvements in eating habits and self-esteem.

For health and wellness professionals, the aspect of a healthy diet and a weight-neutral approach for the holistic realization of a good life has come to the forefront. Along with physical exercises, dietary guidance to individuals depending on their specific requirements is one trend that’s in vogue. Simply put, whether your fitness center trains athletes or regular people, in order to reach realistic goals, they would surely have questions and concerns around individualized nutritional recommendations. That’s when it helps if your gym or fitness center ideally has a registered dietician or nutrition expert to give your clients the right amount of advice. 

If possible, try and invite a special chef and integrate healthy nutrition via an extra class on go-to healthy cooking tips! Today, clients do not take physical activity and nutrition as separate objectives, but the integration of the two is entirely important to draw focused and healthy attention to wellbeing.

The growing trend of grocery delivery services is a real game changer, because you control what goes into your cart, reducing the risk of impulse buys. Plus, you can even filter for organic, gluten-free, or diet-specific options.

2. Mental health is a priority

Calling mental health a trend would not be correct. Mental health and mental wellness are a priority. However, talking about physical health wellness without referring to mental wellness would be completely inadequate. It is sad that according to a forecast made by the World Health Organization (WHO), “by 2030, the largest health risk on earth will be depression.”

A WHO study shows that the number of people suffering from depression or anxiety has increased roughly 50% since the 1990s.

Until recently, the main focus was on physical wellbeing and beauty that had reigned preponderance upon the complete subject of wellness. People spoke of self-care only in terms of physical health or the growing body.

It has been only a few years since determined practices have been adopted to build a more trauma-informed world. Today, integrative wellness practices such as meditation and yoga have found prominence in mainstream wellness practices.

However, there is a greater understanding and acceptance of this subject today. Talking about mental fitness is less of a taboo. As we can see, mental wellness is gradually being integrated as a part of wellness retreat programs, wellness destinations, workout brands, fitness studios, spas, schools, workplaces, social media awareness programs, meditation apps, and even dinner table conversations.

One thing is for sure, there is no wellness without mental wellness!

3. Workplace wellness

Another methodical approach to wellness that’s high on the trend is workplace wellness. This is one problem that needed to be addressed long back. It’s great to see that on the charts finally. Workplace wellness essentially bridges the gap to what wellness would otherwise, in a conventional form, mean. We often talk about sleep, rest, exercise, and healthy conversations as part of physical and mental well-being. These are generally activities taken up during leisure or non-working hours. The question was if wellness is wholesome, what about those 8-10 active hours of work daily, every 5-6 days a week for an average person? As people spend more time in the office or while working in a span of 24 hours, why not talk about making their workplace safer, happier, and healthier?

This became increasingly an important starting point of a conversation in the backdrop of companies facing problems around physical and mental health challenges of employees- employees facing workload stress, calling sick often, experiencing burnout, anxiety, feeling sick to the gut before a meeting, or even depression leading to poor productivity, low performance, an uninspired or demotivated attitude that largely impact healthcare costs or even affect employee retention.

According to a study, companies offering wellness programs or supporting a positive work environment have 53% more motivated than those without such benefits.

Out of different wellness programs, a few of the leading strategies that are also popular among employees are sessions on stress management, reimbursement of gym memberships, consultations and telemedicine, company-sponsored wellness retreats, and so on. 

For health, fitness, and wellness providers, investing in corporate wellness programs, offering discounts, and membership benefits, providing onsite therapists, incorporating yoga capsule classes, and thereby largely helping organizations secure workplace wellness is a great way to elevate the reach of your fitness and wellness business.

4. Wellness real-estate

The environment that we have built for ourselves over the years has, in a grand way, focused on unhealthy shortcuts to our daily lives. Less and less emphasis on physical activity and outdoor recreation is now showing impacts in terms of respiratory and chronic diseases, which, of course, are mostly related to our lifestyles.

The good news is that the global movement of redefining health and wellness even brought real estate and living to the forefront. With the shift in trends, wellness is now finding ways to be inside our homes, which is the first line of defense against disease and disorder. Renovation and redevelopment of real estate have been focusing on designs that build a soothing home environment to support the holistic well-being of their residents proactively. 

Wellness living is multi-dimensional. Not just in terms of individual health, but this trend of wellness living tries to bring in the boon of community living and defeat social isolation by building social connections outside the purview of virtual social networking! 

According to the Global Wellness Institute (GWI)-

“Wellness real estate is the construction of residential and commercial/institutional properties that incorporate intentional wellness elements in their design, materials, buildings, amenities, services, and/or programming.” 

Today, neighborhoods are purposefully built with wider green spaces with increased walkable areas, bike trails, and jogging paths. These spaces are environmentally sustainable, ensure multi-generational housing, suit the diversity of residents, and include a hoard of wellness amenities. The trend for HOAs and similar neighborhoods is to keep a few of the most popular amenities, which is a huge motivating factor in a homebuyer’s decision. 

The highest trending amenities include fitness centers, gyms, spas, health centers, kid’s clubs, yoga studios, healthy dining options, and organic farms. Millennial buyers are driven to healthier built environments and, as such, are even willing to pay more for properties that come with such amenities easily. For HOAs and managers of recreational facilities, one easy way to get attention is by facilitating easy access to the amenities. Technology will continue to play a greater role and bring healing to our living rooms, providing an easy entrée to wellness living.

5. Digital Wellness Trends

There is often a difference of opinion on the role of technology and digital apps in health and wellness. A few opine on how technology has negatively affected our health and immune system due to overexposure to it,  leading to potential health consequences. Digital eye strain, disrupted health, physical inactivity, insomnia, back pain, and so on are a few of the common issues faced by the world today due to uncontrolled technology usage. We hear a lot about the concept of ‘digital detox’ programs.

However, it is not all bad. Many also see how technology has made fitness and wellness more accessible and easily achievable. Digital devices and mindfulness apps such as Calm, Headspace, and so on help people beat anxiety and sleep deprivation and help in stress management. Similarly, today there is a range of apps that are dedicated to improving diets, tracking fitness activities, tracking nutrition and calories-intake, offering reminders to take medication, helping provide medical providers with better patient care, offering easy accessibility to fitness and integrative health providers, helps in setting up uninterrupted virtual appointments, allow healthcare providers to share and report on patient’s personal health records and so on.

Technology and digital ways are just a double-edged sword and completely depend on how one uses them in a healthy manner. In fact, it is hardly practical to be away from technology in today's date and age. People rely heavily on it, which is one trend that will stay steady for a long time now. A study conducted in the US even found that using health apps and wearable devices can save the US healthcare system $7 billion every year. This means that health apps can reduce overall health-related costs for both providers and patients.

Technology and digital apps are a new reality- a firm window to wellness. It is all about setting the right trend of faster workflows, quicker access, and better service to health and wellness needs!

6. Boutique fitness businesses

Now it’s absolutely no secret that the fitness industry has been enjoying a continuous boom for a couple of years. In this context, boutique fitness studios have been the fastest growing ones. Before the pandemic, boutique fitness chains were actually adding newer studios at a rate of 450% since 2010.

In fact, growing trends suggest that the popularity of fitness in these studios is massive. And why not? These fitness studios have focussed on making the experience like no other. Usually viewed as a gym of small-size yet upscale in character, boutique fitness studios focus on group exercises that are high on energy, intensity, and aura. It’s all about making the experience intimate and fun while pushing the limits of people within a vibrant social setup and instructed by an experienced and dynamic instructor.

Why boutique fitness studios are trending?

One, boutique studios provide the rush of adrenaline, high energy levels, and euphoria that allow people to stay active for the rest of the day. Secondly, location proximity plays a vital role in impacting gym dropout rates. People are generally reluctant to add commute to their workout, which is like putting a hundred times more effort into adjusting their schedules on a busy day. Hence, boutique studios with tiny spaces opening up almost on every corner have the ability to bring fitness to one’s doorstep!

Boutique fitness studios have both- experience and convenience!

If you have a good grip on your fitness capabilities and lessons and still thinking of how to put that into professional practice, boutique fitness studios are the way to go. These fitness clusters are growing in a fiery trend and have taken up spaces in the suburban shopping malls next to your neighborhood. With rising consumer demands- pilates, HIIT, cycling, and barre have hit the charts. Never a better time to start your own fitness studio than now!

7. Wellness Travel

Wellness travel or tourism begins with the powerful and conscious decision to travel for wellness. Unlike medical tourism, which is about traveling to another place to undergo surgery or treatment for an underlying ailment, wellness travel is more about a proactive effort to incorporate health and wellness into one’s active lifestyle.  

Just like incorporating healthy habits into our daily lives, a wellness vacation is also about a continuous search for a lifestyle that encompasses nature experiences, a healthy mind-body connect, learning routes for different cultures and cuisines, and thereby being mindful of one's complete existence and engagement with the environment. 

As suggested by GWI, wellness travel has become the powerful point of intersection between two large and growing industries- Tourism ($2.6 Trillion) and Wellness ($4.5 Trillion). As further defined by GWI-

“Wellness Tourism is travel associated with the pursuit of maintaining or enhancing one’s personal wellbeing.”

Wellness travel trends are undoubtedly on the rise. In a post-Pandemic era, recreational travel is something that has even propelled further and has been at the center of consumer decision-making. People are certainly finding newer ways to make the best use of their travel routines and merge it with holistic health and lifestyle habits. 

As wellness businesses, spas, fitness centers, wellness retreats, thermal springs and boot camps, detox, and yoga retreats have been gaining prominence like never before. In fact, a domestic traveler is willing to pay 178% more, and an international traveler is willing to pay 53% more for wellness tourism. It is now all about creating tailor-made wellness packages, including treatments, retreats, and local and culinary experiences for the body and the soul accessible readily for a traveler seeking health and healing in the most proactive form.

8. Parks and Recreation Trends

How can the concept of wellness be accomplished without discussing outdoor recreation? Park and recreation trends are one of the leading parameters in promoting wellness not just of an individual but a community, economy, and environment as a whole. It is intrinsically layered into finding a healthy, wholesome, and quality life each day in the truest sense. 

Leading organization, NRPA has been advocating for greater public access to physical activity, nutrition, and nurturing community bonds through park and recreation agencies. Not just that, they are actively working towards finding increased funding solutions for ‘health research on best practices to create healthy communities through park and recreation agencies.’

As parks and recreation are the portals for healthier living, the spotlight is directly on the parks and recreation professionals to pace up and explore new ways of reimaging parks and recreation offerings. 

Although a lot has already been taken up in the park and recreation segment, a few other things like driving innovative programs, maintaining flexible pricing, recovering operational costs, and enhancing memberships, introducing new services, among others, would help build a closer connection with overall wellness and health goals.

Parks and recreation industry is the future. They are incredibly essential in combating some serious blockers such as obesity, illness, physical inactivity, poor diet and nutrition, poor mental health, and so on.  

Conclusion:

Wellness may mean different things to different people. So as wellness professionals, it is very important to be extremely aware and mindful of what entails wellness for an individual. Wellness being holistic as a concept is quite stratified and encompasses all aspects of living and being. Wellness does not stop at one barre session or one healthy meal, or one needed vacation. It is the pursuit of health each day by everyone. 

Therefore, a better picture is in making wellness attainable and reachable. Health professionals and wellness coaches are bridging gaps between people and their wellness goals. These multifaceted trends will give a substantial direction for different wellness providers to be as relevant as possible while offering their services and personalized experiences. 

Working on starting a Health and Wellness Business? Do not miss these essential health and wellness business practices for growth.

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