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If you haven’t noticed, being healthy is all the rage right now.
DOMENIC BAHMANN
Just look at Instagram, where conspicuous consumption is increasingly swathed in Lululemon and dusted with bee pollen.
Well is the new wealthy.
GWI senior researchers Katherine Johnston and Ophelia Yeung say, The growth trajectory of the wellness industry appears unstoppable.
Mindfulness is an ancient tradition turned healthy-living buzzword.
Leading this global wellness juggernaut?
(We’re among the top 15 when it comes to thermal and mineral springs.)
The kind of experiences thatmake for the perfect Instagram.
There are more than 3,900 mindfulness and meditation apps currently available in the U.S. Apple app store.
The irony does not escape GWI’s researchers.
One of the latest trends to get the retail treatment is mindfulness, an ancient tradition turned healthy-living buzzword.
Well+Good suggests getting amindful manicure.
The Four Seasons Westlake Village
The marketing is working.
The monetization of mindfulness is mounting in brick and mortar, too.
(An hour of private instruction will run you $160.)
The website for Muse wellness residences declares, “Delos fuses medicine and science with architecture and design to completely reinvent how we all should be living.” A corner penthouse unit overlooking the beach costs $18.5 million.
(U.S. employers spend $14.4 billion annually on workplace wellnessmore than any other country.)
The smorgasbord ofwellness-inspired escapesthe vast majority of which carry a hefty price tagexpands literally by the day.
Does it all sound a little over the top?
TWINSET
But when you look back on them, theyre not going to make you happy.
He argues that the path to wellness is much more about embracing enriching experiences than avoiding stressful ones.
They say they want to be happy and fulfilled.
And mindfulness isnt going to do that for you.
Ultimately, its our ingrained compulsion to avoid negativity that fuels the wellness machine, he says.
Humans have a remarkable capacity to take almost any goal and…focus on avoidance.
The wellness industry plays into that mind-set.
Psychologists do life coaching and relationship workshops.
Last year, the hotel launched Taste of Wellness, a one-day program that costs $299.
Since its introduction, the program has grown twice as fast as any other offered by CHLI.
Architect Joe Colistra has a radically different view of the potential of environments to foster wellness.
His big idea: to improve the well-being of an entire populace through connected homes and urban planning.
Its exciting new territory thats not quite ready for prime time but is coming quickly.
The list of possibilities is long and promising.
Sleep sensors built into beds will take a ballistocardiagram of the heart to monitor sleep apnea and restlessness.
Smart toilets will look forindications of dehydration.
Pairing that data with customizable LED lighting, your master bedroom could reboot your circadian rhythms.
The predictive power of these emerging technologies could even prevent catastrophic health events before they happen.
The ability to contact those 20 people or their families before they step outside illustrates the potential.
Colistra’s theories are predicated on innovations yet to come, but the effects could be life changingeven lifesaving.
“Its early days, but the technology is definitely there, he says.
Population health cannot be effective if only applied to the wealthy.
And most can’t.
That’s bad business.
Plus, it looks bad.
There is some evidence that market forces can help drag the price of wellness services down from the stratosphere.
The company reached $1 billion in sales in 2014.
Were not doing this as charity, but because its a major opportunity, he says.
There is even a movement by the upper echelon wellness destinations to level the playing field.
(Consider that the exception to Daikeler’s not-a-charity precept.)
This is the future of wellness, the optimists emphatically say.
Let’s all meditate on that.
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