Must-reads from the wellness world (Sept 21, 2022)

Both sickness and health, it turns out, are contagious (Just like viruses, fitness and wellness fads such as Peloton and Zumba spread rapidly and then fade) – The Wall Street Journal, September 10, 2022   The analogies between Covid-19 and Peloton aren’t glib. A growing body of research suggests that health behaviors—from obesity to exercise and weight loss, from smoking to quitting smoking—are fundamentally contagious…

A Fractured Wellness Market: Both Super-Expensive and Free, Simple Wellness Will Rise

A Fractured Wellness Market: Both Super-Expensive and Free, Simple Wellness Will Rise   By Thierry Malleret, economist HIGH-END WELLNESS: WHERE WILL IT END? The most recent Trendium from the GWI’s sister organization, the Global Wellness Summit, is about the post-pandemic surge in “super-expensive wellness”: the seemingly never-ending expansion of very high-priced wellness products and services that benefit the upper decile in terms of income and wealth.…

New Study: Psilocybin Therapy Dramatically Reduced Heavy Drinking

A small but eye-opening 2022 study in JAMA Psychiatry found that just two doses of psilocybin (along with talk therapy) led to an 83% decline in heavy drinking among participants (who all had alcohol use disorder). Those given a placebo plus talk therapy reduced their alcohol intake by 51%. By the end of the eight-month trial, nearly half of those who received psilocybin had stopped…

Keynote Video from the International Wellness Tourism Conference

  KEYNOTE VIDEO FROM THE INTERNATIONAL WELLNESS TOURISM CONFERENCE Global Wellness Tourism Trend, Market and Economy Amplifying its role as host to the G20 Presidency this year, Indonesia took the lead to gather global leaders at the International Wellness Tourism Conference & Festival last month, an official G20 side event, where GWI Chair and CEO Susie Ellis spoke on “Global Wellness Tourism Trend, Market, and Economy.” Tourism has been…

The Future of Workplace Wellness: Meaningful Approaches; Less Spending on “Programs”

The Future of Workplace Wellness: Meaningful Approaches; Less Spending on “Programs”   The GWI’s most recent report on the global wellness economy reveals that workplace wellness will be the slowest-growing future wellness category, estimated to expand from $48.5 billion in 2020 to $58.4 billion in 2025–a modest annual growth of 3.8%. Why does growth seem so slow at a time when employees are facing even more…

Trend: The Explosion of Fitness-Meets-Nature-and-Wellness Festivals

Trend: The Explosion of Fitness-Meets-Nature-and-Wellness Festivals  By Thierry Malleret, economist AN EXPLOSION OF FITNESS and WELLNESS FESTIVALS – We were well aware of book, food, cinema, music and many other breeds of festivals that punctuate the summer months, but we are struck by the recent boom in fitness-meets-wellness festivals, which are on a steep upward path in the Northern Hemisphere. These cool new festivals are,…