VIEW ALL BRIEF POSTS By Thierry Malleret, economist Travel and tourism is growing at a faster rate than GDP and, over the next few years, the industry will expand dramatically with the arrival of international travelers from fast-growing economies (China, India, etc.). This, in turn, raises the issue of what will happen with those places already crumbling under the weight of mass tourism. In the…
Wellness Architecture: “Wow” Sports Hall Example of Asia’s Bamboo Innovation
VIEW ALL BRIEF POSTS Chiangmai Life Construction has developed a new sports hall at a Chiang Mai school, built entirely of environmentally mindful bamboo, earth and stone. As CLAD Magazine noted, Asia is emerging as a real hotbed of bamboo architectural innovation (see Ibuku in Indonesia, Vo Trong Nghia in Vietnam and William Lim in Hong Kong).
GWI Launches “Massage Makes Me Happy” Initiative
VIEW ALL BRIEF POSTS Massage has been part of the healing traditions of hundreds of cultures for thousands of years – a natural intervention that has always supported physical and emotional well-being. Massage, quite simply, creates happiness. And the Global Wellness Institute has launched a new initiative focused on promoting the benefits of massage through research, advocacy and global awareness. This awareness campaign will take place…
Must-Reads from the Wellness World (Week of September 27, 2017)
VIEW ALL BRIEF POSTS The Great Nutrient Collapse – Politico, September 13, 2017 The atmosphere is literally changing the food we eat – for the worse. And almost no one is paying attention. Should We Embrace an Enhanced (Wellness) Future? – BBC, September 9, 2017 Do we have the right to enhance our bodies as technology and pharmaceuticals will soon allow or is that immoral?…
MONTHLY BAROMETER – WELLNESS EDITION: Silicon Valley: An Obsession with Wellness AND Extreme Workaholism
In Silicon Valley, the temple of entrepreneurship, an obsession with wellness (healthy eating, mindfulness, exercise, etc.) coexists with the glorification of stress and sleep deprivation. Its workplace culture extols extreme workaholism: trumpeting that working less than 18 hours a day “is for losers” (while a famous t-shirt says “9 to 5 is for the weak”). How can this proposition be advanced by an intelligent, highly data-literate community when it flies in the face of scientific evidence?
Extreme Weather Events and Wellness Resorts
The world watched as Irma – the most powerful hurricane ever recorded over the Atlantic Ocean – destroyed cities and islands that were wellness resort heavy. One can argue whether recent hurricanes were caused by climate change, but no scientist would dispute that it acts as a major amplifier. And it raises serious questions about wellness destinations currently located (and future developed) in places around the world most susceptible to increasingly severe weather events.
