Millennials Replacing Formal Religion with New Age Spiritual Practices

A recent Los Angeles Times article by Jessica Roy explores how millennials, Gen Z and younger Gen Xers are replacing formal religion with practices such as tarot, astrology, meditation, energy healing and crystals. The author notes they don’t particularly care if you think it’s “woo-woo” or weird. One expert pointed out the trend of people “cooking up their own spiritual or religious stew” is a…

Must-Reads from the Wellness World (Week of July 16, 2019)

People Don’t Care if Their Clothes Are New Anymore – Quartzy, June 28, 2019 Investors: Pay attention! Overall, the idea of “ownership”—clothes, cars, art—is not what it used to be, and, in today’s economy, pre-owned goods are a booming business on the cusp of even more explosive growth. This is shown in particular by the performance of RealReal, a secondhand luxury fashion retailer whose shares…

The Wellness Moonshot Calendar: Let’s Get Moving in July

This month, the GWI’s The Wellness Moonshot Calendar™: A Year of Inspiration focuses on ideas that will move you, your coworkers, and your family to get moving.  Movement is a biological drive as essential to your health as sleep or food, and it also boosts productivity and creativity at work. Click here for inspiration on how to boost our natural instinct to move.

GWI Launches Yoga Therapy Initiative

A new GWI initiative on yoga therapy has a mission of educating the global community—regardless of age, gender or socioeconomic status—about the ancient, evolving and multidimensional science of yoga therapy as a legitimate, evidence-backed and accessible health modality for the 21st century—correcting the idea that it’s just an exercise program or “alternative” medicine. The Initiative chair is Bija Bennett, wellness consultant, author and founder of…

Wellness Evidence Study: Ultra-Processed Foods Are the Weight Gain Villain – Not Sugar, Fat, Carbs

An important new study from the National Institutes of Health is the first randomized trial to show that ultra-processed foods actually drive people to overeat and gain weight compared to whole/less processed foods. Those on an ultra-processed diet ate 508 more calories a week, gaining two pounds over the two-week study period, versus those on the unprocessed diet who lost two pounds a week. Key…

We Know Nature Is Medicine, Now We Know the Dosage: 2 Hours/Week

There is a mountain of research on how time in nature impacts people’s physical and mental health, from lowering stress and blood pressure to increasing life expectancy. Which is why more doctors are now actually prescribing nature. But what’s the right dose? A new UK study (20,000 people) provides an answer: two hours a week. People who spent 120 minutes outdoors each week reported being in…