MONTHLY BAROMETER – WELLNESS EDITION:
An unwell world coexists with a newly “mindfulness obsessed” one. This begs the question of whether or not bubbles might be developing in some corners of the wellness industry.
In the U.S., for example, yoga has become a mature, multi-billion-dollar industry, while meditation is fast becoming merchandised (last year, it generated revenues of $984 million). In a sign of exuberance, consumer offerings that dispense with the time, “hard” work and experience necessarily required to practice mindfulness and/or meditation are proliferating in the form of multiple new apps and crash courses often priced at several hundred dollars. Some of them promise to deliver “50 Simple Ways to Find Peace, Clarity and New Possibilities in a Stressed-Out World” in one minute, while others promise to release the “minimum effective dose” of meditation on your smartphone.
Yoga is not immune either. “Doga” – a variation of yoga that combines massage and meditation with gentle stretching for dogs and their owners – is a big, growing business in places like New York, Chicago or Seattle…
We are not questioning the fact that some of these practices and products may be beneficial, but we are just warning investors that some of these bubbles are destined to burst.
