Wellness Trends For 2021
Last week I was invited to attend the Global Wellness Summit (GWS) virtual press event where they shared their forecasted Wellness trends for 2021
"Forecasting trends in health and wellness in any given year is a daunting task. In 2020, the global pandemic created a seismic shift in life as we know it, and its impact—loss of life, businesses shuttered, polarizing politics, racial injustice, and a growing mental wellness crisis—made the Global Wellness Trends Report: The Future of Wellness 2021 even more challenging"
~ GWS Research Team
And on that note, let's take a closer look at the 8 trends forecasted for 2021:
Hollywood & entertainment industries jump into Wellness
The future of immune health: Stop boosting, start balancing
Spiritual & numinous moments in architecture
Just breathe!
Self-care renaissance
Adding colour to Wellness
Money out loud
2021: The year of the travel reset
Instead of me sharing with you a deep dive into each trend when you can download the report for yourself here. I'm going to share with you my key takeaways from each trend:
Hollywood & Entertainment Industries Jump into Wellness
Expect more "Wellness TV" as big companies begin to collaborate; Netflix have already signed a major deal with Headspace and HBO have teamed up with Calm to bring "Wellness" into the home. Samsung has already created a portal to thousands of hours of free Wellness & fitness classes on their smart TV home screen
The same goes for the major music streaming sites. I've already noticed my Spotify app has a new "Wellness" section alongside their existing Workout section, and my homepage seems to be updated with a new Wellness playlist on the daily
Muru is the first streaming platform specifically aimed at the over 60's using music to "ward off the effects of brain ageing" by using AI to analyse music in order to create a unique playlist based on a person's age, heritage, childhood & musical preferences to help them relax, move or relive positive memories. How cool is that?!?!
Celebs are really weighing in on the whole Wellness industry, I mean it makes sense considering it's the fastest growing industry in the world right now; last valued at over $4.3 trillion globally! Mark Wahlberg is a major investor in a protein brand, Kevin hart has created his own line of supplements, Headspace hired John legend to create original music and artist collaborations for their app, both Rihanna and Jessica Alba have saw the potential of investing in their own businesses early on and have gone on to enjoy huge success within the Wellness industry, with Fenty Beauty & Honest Beauty, respectively
The Future of Immune Health: Stop Boosting, Start Balancing
After the breakout of Covid-19 last year the buzzword we all kept hearing was "immune-boosting", specifically in relation to supplements; it makes sense that our immunity would become an overnight obsession for us all. The problem however, is not that we want to maintain our health & ensure our immune system is thriving but rather the way in which we're talking about it. To say "immune-boosting" gives the impression of a quick fix, and I know I've certainly been referring to some of my own smoothie creations as immune-boosting
"Instead what we want is immuno-stabilisation, immune-balance. The concept that we need "more" immunity is the wrong path. Far too many "hyper" immunity solutions are being marketed when the immune system is something you want to modulate, not crank up to 11"
~ Dr. Ken Pelletier
What we need to focus on is science backed solutions that bring balance to our immune system. Boosting our immune system can actually have counterproductive effects, the most notable being the development of autoimmune conditions
What's Hot List:
Gut health
Intermittent fasting
What's Not List:
Pill popping
Quick fixes
Spiritual and Numinous Moments in Architecture
Did you know that architecture has the same effect on our frequency as Meditation? That's right, it simultaneously impacts all of our senses and each of the dimensions of Wellness while making up 90% of our surroundings
Inspiring architecture can actually support the "flow" state and Vera Iconica Architecture have developed the "Dimensions of Wellness" inspired by Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, since spiritual moments in architecture respond to the highest level of Maslow's pyramid
Think bringing the basics of Feng Shui into the home, or even creating your own "Wellness home". Outside Atlanta is a upcoming Wellness Community that has included the use of Sacred Geometry into the natural terrain
Just Breathe!
I really felt like this one was obvious, so obvious in fact that it shouldn't be a trend but, in order for more people to take notice, and for more people to be reached in order to benefit, indeed such a trend must be "created"
"I think a lot of people have ignored breath work because it's so simple and it's free - it costs nothing"
~ James Nestor, Author of Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art
Breath work truly is available to us all and in my mind is the most simple, yet most powerful way to bring Wellness into your life instantly, at zero financial cost. I'm running a free challenge throughout February, called Febreathary where I'll be sharing a new video every Tuesday and Friday focusing on a different breathing technique. By the end of the month you'll have practiced EIGHT breathing techniques that you will always be able to call upon in moments of high-stress, anxiety, grief, sadness as well when you need to energise and get your "blood pumping" so to speak
The Self-Care Renaissance
From 1400 - 1700 the Medical Renaissance marked a historic breakthrough in our approach to healthcare, with science dominating superstition. Now, just 300 years later we're undergoing another renaissance where science and Wellness come together to not only learn from one another, but to collaborate and focus on preventative measures
It's fair to say that the Covid-19 pandemic has forced healthcare up the agenda for governments, businesses and individuals. For example, New Zealand is the first country in the world to launch a "Wellness budget"
Adding Colour to Wellness
Much like the last trend, this one frustrated me for two reasons:
This shouldn't be a trend, it should just be
If we're going to make it a "trend" then it really should have been the very first one we were introduced to
My key takeaways for this one are as follows:
Correct "Wellness for Whiteness" because we all know that Wellness is rife with racism
Value BIPOC Wellness because there is a clear inequity between "white Wellness" and "Wellness for all"
Thankfully there are numerous womxn of colour who are dominating this space, however it appears they have done so under their own businesses and own merit, after essentially being ignored by major "Wellness" corporations
"After the protests of last year many brands were claiming to "stand in solidarity" and featured numerous BIPOC Wellness professionals however, some of those very same business experienced a backlash not long after for decrying anti-racism whilst simultaneously ignoring discrimination within their own companies and communities"
~Tonia Callender
Tonia's advice is simple:
Embrace the buying power of the BIPOC community
Recognise that businesses who truly embrace the BIPOC community in all aspects of their business will ultimately last much longer than their counterparts
Each Saturday I share a small business on my Instagram stories, the majority of which are BIPOC owned. I also plan to do this in my monthly newsletter The Well News, and watch this space on my podcast too as I plan to use it to amplify melanated voices within the Wellness community
Money Out Loud
Research shows that people are more uncomfortable talking about money than they are about death and sex. Something is very wrong with this and yet, it makes absolute sense to me
Growing up I would hear adults say things like "money is the root of all evil" and so naturally my relationship with money has been somewhat tumultuous. I've been very privileged in my life to earn a good wage throughout my entire Wellness career but that doesn't mean I've been financially rich because the money would very quickly disappear
Money anxiety affects EVERY single part of our health. Mental health AND physical health. As with all things, when we talk about our worries, anxieties, fears and concerns they suddenly become a lot less of a big deal. The same can absolutely be said with money. Sure, talking about our money fears doesn't make them go away but it allows us to get the fears out of our head, it empowers us to start looking at our finances with a more logical approach as opposed to emotional. The more empowered we feel around our money concerns the more financially aware we become and therefore, we can begin to make conscious decisions around our spending habits
The Year of the Travel Reset
Thanks to Covid-19 we've pretty much all been grounded. Travel has come to somewhat of a standstill for the vast majority of us
"2021 may be the year that all travel becomes Wellness travel"
~ Elaine Gusac
The goal here is to make travel more purposeful, and reduce over-tourism, which was negatively impacting major historical sites such as Stonehenge, Machu Picchu. Whilst I agree with the notion in order to maintain sustainability and reduce the damaging effects of over-tourism on our ecosystems, my concern is that travel may become inaccessible to the poorest amongst us, and usually this includes marginalised and BIPOC communities
I'm not sure what the solution would be here because again, it's about balance but I welcome the idea of a new "tentative tourism" that will "move alongside public health recovery from local to regional to national to international in growing circumference of comfort with Health & Safety protocols" ~ Elaine Gusac
What are your thoughts on the above trends? Do you agree with them being included on this list by the GWS?
What I would LOVE to know is what do you foresee becoming a Wellness trend in 2021?
Stay Well
Samantha
xoxo