Wellness Evidence Study: Yoga Breathing & Relaxation Lowers Blood Pressure as Much as Aerobic Exercise

A new meta-analysis (49 studies) published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings indicates that yoga practice that emphasizes mental relaxation and breathing techniques can have as much of a positive impact on high blood pressure as aerobic exercise: It results in blood pressure reductions as large as 11/6 mmHg, equal to or exceeding those reported for aerobic exercise training. When yoga didn’t emphasize breathing techniques and…

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…

Chinese Tourism to US is Plunging – Will Impact Wellness

MONTHLY BAROMETER – WELLNESS EDITION Remember “Chimerica”—the notion that China and the US were so intertwined that they would end up forming just one entity? The assumption that the world they created was our inevitable future became so entrenched in the minds of most decision-makers that it became one of the central tenets of the investment world… until it ceased to be. Irrespective of how…

Trend: Is At-Home Fitness Squeezing Gyms & Studios?

Talking about adaptability and ever-changing business conditions, there is one trend to watch: the way in which the “at-home” fitness revolution is about to squeeze traditional gyms and even upmarket studios. One warning signal: Last year, SoulCycle (upmarket: It charges more than $20 per hour) withdrew its application to launch an IPO, citing market conditions. It hasn’t reinstated it yet, despite many wellness businesses successfully…

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.