I walk in a new commercial area and see a sign: “Model Wellness.” Is it an entreaty to always be well, to model wellness so children can see how to do it? Maybe it’s the name of a model named Wellness. Or perhaps it’s a clay model of what wellness is supposed to look like. It is none of these things; it is a clinic that claims on its website to have “a new model of wellness personalized for you.” Its doctrine: “Wellness is the natural state, which the body seeks to attain. Divinely the body has strategies and means to correct and heal its malfunctions. Often the body is overwhelmed by different stressors, which fall into 3 categories. Physical stressors usually related to physical activity like a fall, strain or poor opposition to gravity. Chemical stressors like bacteria, pollutant, allergens, viruses and poisons. Emotional stressors like poor relationships, mental abuse and financial worries. It is not uncommon to find all these stressors in the same person. When the body struggles to maintain healthy function and correct malfunction, we step in to assist.”
Therapies for physical stressors include a comprehensive medical assessment, a chiropractic program, thermography, curewave laser therapy, physical therapy, sleep airway assessment and massage. Therapies for chemical stressors are ozone therapy, IV nutrition therapy and OligoScan spectrophotometric technology. Therapies for emotional stressors include wellness coaching lifestyle services, telemedicine and music therapy. This is an example of one wellness clinic. Let’s explore more about wellness.
According to Wikipedia, wellness is a state beyond absence of illness but rather aims to optimize well-being.
The notions behind the term share the same roots as the alternative medicine movement, in 19th-century movements in the U.S. and Europe that sought to optimize health and to consider the whole The notions behind the term share the same roots as the alternative medicine movement, in 19th-century movements in the U.S. and Europe that sought to optimize health and to consider the whole person, like New Thought (a spiritual movement which coalesced in the United States in the early 19th century), Christian Science (a set of beliefs and practices belonging to the metaphysical family of new religious movements) and Lebensreform (a social movement in the late 19th-century and early 20th-century German Empire and Switzerland that propagated a back-to-nature lifestyle, emphasizing health food/raw food/organic food, vegetarianism, nudism, sexual liberation, alternative medicine and religious reform, and at the same time promoted abstention from alcohol, tobacco, drugs and vaccines).
The term “wellness” has also been misused for pseudoscientific health interventions.
History
The term was partly inspired by the preamble to the World Health Organization’s 1948 constitution which said: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” It was initially brought to use in the U.S. by Halbert L. Dunn, M.D. in the 1950s; Dunn was the chief of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Office of Vital Statistics and discussed “high-level wellness,” which he defined as “an integrated method of functioning, which is oriented toward maximizing the potential of which the individual is capable.” The term "wellness" was then adopted by John Travis who opened a "Wellness Resource Center" in Mill Valley, California in the mid-1970s, which was seen by mainstream culture as part of the hedonistic culture of Northern California at that time and typical of the Me Generation. Travis marketed the center as alternative medicine, opposed to what he said was the disease-oriented approach of medicine. The concept was further popularized by Robert Rodale through Prevention magazine; Bill Hetler, a doctor at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, who set up an annual academic conference on wellness; and Tom Dickey, who established the Berkeley Wellness Letter in the 1980s. The term had become accepted as standard usage in the 1990s.
In recent decades, it was noted that mainstream news sources had begun to devote more page space to "health and wellness themes."
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration uses the concept of wellness in its programs, defining it as having eight aspects: emotional, environmental, financial, intellectual, occupational, physical, social and spiritual. Americans are some of the world’s biggest consumers of wellness products and services. Unfortunately, the same consumer group is also one of the worst affected by lifestyle and chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer and obesity. Recently, wellness product manufacturers, industrial researchers and medical practitioners observed that there are specific insights that continue to define U.S. consumer spending on wellness. These insights include healthy eating and nutrition, weight management and preventive medicine, fitness, mind and body; the generation factor; and the advent of modern technology such as e-commerce.
1. Healthy Eating and Nutrition - Within America’s wellness economy, healthy eating and nutrition contribute a large portion of the main drivers of American spending on their wellness. More Americans are moving towards healthy eating and nutrition, which consists of wholegrain, naturally cultivated cereals, pulses, fruits, vegetables and herbs. Concurrently, fewer Americans are consuming processed dairy products, processed cereal products and fast food and opting for organic foods to curb lifestyle and chronic diseases. According to Statista, the total American sales in organic foods and nutrition products in 2018 stood at $47.86 billion, signaling an increase in wellness spending.
2. Weight Management and Preventive Medicine - According to the Boston Medical Center, Americans spend as much $33 billion annually on weight loss solutions with at least 45 million in the same country going on a diet due to weight-related concerns. While a large percentage of Americans are generally overweight or obese, only the rich and wealthy individuals made financial commitments to weight management and preventive medicine. Research organization MarketData tracked the average American spending on weight loss and similar preventive medicine regimens arriving at a staggering $33 billion in 2018 alone.
3. Fitness, Mind and Body - The growing number of lifestyle and chronic disease patients has fueled a health and fitness revolution that the International Health, Racquet & Sports Club Association estimates is worth over $30 billion. Combined with the increased spending on healthy food and nutrition, the new trend provides insight into why more Americans are interested in activities such as yoga, outdoor races and gym membership. The proliferation of budget-friendly gyms alongside those targeting corporate and high net-value individuals seems to be promoting the country’s spending on wellness too.
4. The Generation Factor - Healthy lifestyles and fitness are just as important to the millennial today as they were to Generation Y Americans a few years ago due to social projection. The Center for Generational Kinetics stated that the more than 83 millennial Americans not only spend their cash on wellness but also that of their Baby Boomer parents signaling a focus on wellness. Apart from the distinct food and drink niche wellness products attracting millennial American spending, there are technology products such as wearable health gadgets, streaming apps and home fitness equipment.
5. Modern Technology - Many Americans interested in making purchases targeting wellness products and services consider technology a major contributing factor due to various data points such as heart rate. Companies such as Apple, Samsung, FitBit and Garmin have designed sensors into wearable devices such as smartphones, wristbands and watches to collect biometric data aligned with wellness and fitness. Combined with the e-commerce growth, Americans have been spending more than $200 billion annually on the combination of special equipment such as wearable devices and the combination of nutrition and wellness products. Social and mainstream media has also complemented American spending on technology intended for wellness and healthy lifestyles, as demonstrated by apps such as Peloton, which streams fitness exercises and gym advice to clients.
Corporate wellness programs
By the late 2000s, the wellness concept had become widely used in employee assistance programs in workplaces, and funding for development of such programs in small business was included in the Affordable Care Act. The use of corporate wellness programs has been criticized as being discriminatory to people with disabilities. Additionally, while there is some evidence to suggest that wellness programs can save money for employers, such evidence is generally based on observational studies that are prone to selection bias. Randomized trials provide less positive results and often suffer from methodological flaws.
Promotion of pseudoscience
Wellness is a particularly broad term, but it is often used by promoters of unproven medical therapies, such as the Food Babe or Goop, a wellness and lifestyle brand and company founded by actress Gwyneth Paltrow in 2008. Jennifer Gunter — a Canadian-American gynecologist, New York Times columnist covering women’s health, author and specialist in chronic pain medicine and vulvovaginal disorders — has criticized what she views as a promotion of over-diagnoses by the wellness community. Goop's stance is that it is "skeptical of the status quo" and "offer[s] open-minded alternatives."
Healthism
Wellness has also been criticized for its focus on lifestyle changes over a more general focus on harm prevention that would include more establishment-driven approaches to health improvement such as accident prevention. Petr Skrabanek — a doctor, physician, professor of medicine and author of several books and many articles — has also criticized the wellness movement for creating an environment of social pressure to follow its lifestyle changes without having the evidence to support such changes. Some critics also draw an analogy to Lebensreform and suggest that an ideological consequence of the wellness movement is the belief that "outward appearance" is "an indication of physical, spiritual and mental health." One noticeable legacy of Lebensreform in Germany today are the Reformhaus or "reform house" retail stores that sell organic food, healthy cosmetics and naturopathic medicine.
The wellness trend has been criticized as a form of conspicuous consumption, the spending of money on and the acquiring of luxury goods and services to publicly display economic power of the income or of the accumulated wealth of the buyer.
Wellness tourism
Wellness tourism is travel for the purpose of promoting health and well-being through physical, psychological or spiritual activities. While wellness tourism is often correlated with medical tourism because health interests motivate the traveler, wellness tourists are proactive in seeking to improve or maintain health and quality of life, often focusing on prevention, while medical tourists generally travel reactively to receive treatment for a diagnosed disease or condition.
Within the U.S. $3.4 trillion spa and wellness economy, wellness tourism is estimated to total $494 billion or 14.6% of all 2013 domestic and international tourism expenditures. Driven by growth in Asia, the Middle East/North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and developing countries, wellness tourism is expected to grow 50% faster than the overall tourism industry over the next five years. Market is expected to grow through 2014.
Wellness tourists are generally high-yield tourists, spending, on average, 130% more than the average tourist. In 2013, international wellness tourists spent approximately 59% more per trip than the average international tourist; domestic wellness tourists spent about 159% more than the average domestic tourist. Domestic wellness tourism is significantly larger than its international equivalent, representing 84% of wellness travel and 68% of expenditures or $299 billion. International wellness tourism represents 16% of wellness travel and 32% of expenditures, a $139 billion market.
The wellness tourism market includes primary and secondary wellness tourists. Primary wellness tourists travel entirely for wellness purposes, while secondary wellness tourists engage in wellness-related activities as part of a trip. Secondary wellness tourists constitute the significant majority (87%) of total wellness tourism trips and expenditures (85%).
Wellness travelers pursue diverse services, including physical fitness and sports; beauty treatments; healthy diet and weight management; relaxation and stress relief; spiritual tourism, including meditation and yoga, whether classical or as exercise; and health-related education. Wellness travelers may seek procedures or treatments using conventional, alternative, complementary, herbal or homeopathic medicine.
Wellness resorts and retreats offer short-term, residential programs to address specific health concerns, reduce stress or support lifestyle improvement.
Individual teachers, trainers or wellness practitioners may privately rent resort centers, small hotels or sections of larger hotels themed for the purpose.
Industry leaders meet for weekends in destination locations to discuss and promote their businesses.
Cruise ships can offer wellness programs including the use of on-board spas.
Destinations
Wellness tourism is now an identifiable niche market in at least 30 countries. Twenty countries accounted for 85% of global wellness tourism expenditures in 2012. The top five countries alone — United States, Germany, Japan, France and Austria — account for more than half the market i.e., 59% of expenditures.
According to Stefanie Waldek’s March 23, 2020 article “10 of the Most Luxurious Wellness Resorts Around the World” in Galerie, “Once the world has been given the green light to travel again, many people will be ready to book a restorative trip to a luxurious wellness resort. Whether you’re looking for an intense fitness boot camp to jump-start your weight loss journey or a more blissful, relaxing retreat at a destination spa, there’s a health-oriented property out there for you.”
Aro Ha, Glenorchy, New Zealand
If you’re looking for the kind of wellness retreat that’s all about spa treatments and blissful relaxation, this isn’t it. But if you are looking for a head-to-toe or, more accurately, brain-to-body metamorphosis, Aro Ha is the place for you. Located in New Zealand’s Southern Alps, the luxury retreat offers a rigorous seven-day program: Guests follow a strict schedule that’s centered around grueling hours-long hikes through the mountains. Yoga, massages and soaks in hot or ice baths are included for restorative purposes. While there, you’ll enjoy vegan fine dining made with ingredients grown on the property.
Miraval, Austin, Texas
After finding great success with its first retreat in Tucson, Arizona, the Miraval brand opened its second location, in Austin, Texas, in early 2019. The programming is so varied that it’ll fit the definition of wellness for any type of guest: There are activities from traditional yoga programs and spa treatments to healthy-eating cooking classes and hatchet-throwing lessons. After a robust day of experiences, relax in one of the property’s 117 sanctuary-like guest rooms, complete with meditation pillows and Tibetan singing bowls.
Como Shambhala Estate
Payangan, Bali
Combine the wellness-oriented Como hotel brand with a destination like Bali, and you’ve got a match made in heaven. At Como Shambhala Estate, located in the jungle just outside of Ubud, all guests have access to the wellness center and its spa treatments, fitness center and yoga and Pilates classes. But if you want to go the extra mile, book a specialized wellness program, where you’ll receive personalized consultations with the property’s experts, whose expertise range from nutrition and chakra healing to Ayurvedic medicine.
7132 Hotel, Vals, Switzerland
Built around the thermal springs in Vals, Switzerland, 7132 Hotel is all about relaxing soaks in the natural mineral waters paired with spa treatments featuring ESPA products. But wellness is only half of the equation — the hotel and its thermal baths are an architectural marvel, originally designed by Peter Zumthor, with later additions by Tadao Ando, Kengo Kuma and Thom Mayne of Morphosis. And there’s the culinary side, too: One of 7132 Hotel’s restaurants, Silver, has two Michelin stars.
Mii Amo, Sedona, Arizona
Arizona has long been a haven for wellness resorts, but one of the best in the state is Mii Amo, an all-inclusive destination spa — part of the larger Enchantment Resort — that offers guests three-, four- and seven-night “journeys.” Guests can choose from five thematic paths focusing on everything from physical health to spiritual growth, or they can devise their own programming: Pick from guided meditation, hiking and even painting classes.
Kumarakom Lake Resort, Kumarakom, India
The alternative medicinal practice of Ayurveda originated in India more than 3,000 years ago and seeks to restore balance between your body and mind and the environment. Head to the southern state of Kerala to find the best Ayurveda resorts — among them, the luxurious Kumarakom Lake Resort. The sprawling lakefront property is home to an Ayurveda center where specialists can tackle everything from detoxification to weight loss. Guests can do drop-in sessions, but longer stays for a complete wellness journey are advised.
The Ranch, Malibu, California
The celebrity wellness boot camp of choice, The Ranch in Malibu is a strict “results-oriented” fitness program, where you’ll be challenged by up to eight hours of physical activity daily — rigorous hikes, personal-trainer-assisted workouts in the gym, yoga classes and much more — complemented by a minimalist plant-based diet, meditation classes and yes, massages. While its signature is a weeklong stint at the property’s location in Malibu, there’s also The Ranch 4.0, which is a four-day program that takes place at the Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village. You can also combine both with The Ranch 10.0 program, if you’re looking for a total transformation.
BodyHoliday, Cariblue Beach, St. Lucia
The Caribbean island of St. Lucia is dotted with luxury resorts, but if it’s wellness you seek, check into BodyHoliday. The hub of the property is the wellness center, where guests can choose from a wide variety of activities: acupuncture treatments, massages, skin therapy, Tai Chi classes and more. But this is not a place that’s super strict — you’re also here to relax and have fun, so look for beach volleyball, golf, archery lessons, sailing and scuba diving.
Rosewood, Phuket, Thailand
If you’re interested in a more entry-level wellness experience — versus a no-nonsense, intensive detox — consider booking a stay at Rosewood Phuket, a luxury beachfront resort that has a stellar spa where you can sign up for wellness retreats and workshops that address issues like energy balances, renourishing your body and fitness goals. You can also opt for à la carte treatments and classes, if you’d prefer.
SHA Wellness Clinic, Alicante, Spain
SHA Wellness Clinic in Alicante, Spain, is a luxe hilltop temple dedicated to improving the lives of its guests — including past visitors like Hannah Bronfman, Donna Karan and Kylie Minogue. Housed in a modernist complex of all-white architecture, the clinic provides holistic treatments targeting fitness, healthy eating, sleep deprivation, weightless and neurocognitive performance, among other issues. Beyond its wellness options, SHA impresses with its elegant — and incredibly spacious — suites and residences, each with contemporary decor and impressive mountain or ocean views
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