Wellness retreats use many complementary, holistic therapies, yet there have been no published studies on the health outcomes on wellness tourists that experience these immersive environments. A new study from Australia’s RMIT University represents the first, measuring multiple health/wellbeing dimensions of guests at arrival, on departure and six weeks later. The findings: a one-week retreat including educational, therapeutic, and leisure activities and an organic, mostly plant-based diet resulted in substantial improvements in everything from weight to blood pressure to psychological health – and sustained at six weeks.
GWI Launches “Women in Leadership” Initiative
The GWI has just launched a new initiative whose goal is to promote and drive more ‘Lean In Circles‘ throughout the wellness industry, helping ensure that future female leaders have a strong framework of support and motivation. It is chaired by Sara Jones (Managing Director, Spa & Wellness Mexico), with Vice-Chair, Joanne Berry (Founder, Spa Remedies) – and you can read more about its mission here: /women-in-leadership-initiative
Must-Reads from the Wellness World (Week of February 14, 2017)
Why You Need Less Noise for Your Work and Your Health – Life Hacker, Feb. 5, 2017
We welcome sound into our lives, but sometimes it’s to our detriment. Silence, perhaps, is our most under-appreciated productivity tool.
The World Economic Forum Is Underway – Follow the Insights
The annual World Economic Forum is underway (Jan. 17-20) in Davos, where more than 3,000 participants will experience 400 sessions from world leaders on the technological, political and economic transformations that will most impact our future. And the state of the world’s health isfront-and-center: from sessions like “Mental Health Matters” (Jan. 20) to “Are We Losing the Fight for Human Health?” (Jan. 18).
Automation, Robots and Drones Will Worsen the Loneliness Epidemic
The first grocery store with no cashiers, Amazon.go in Seattle, just opened – a sign of how the coming wave of automation, robots and drones will swallow millions of global jobs. While they’re sure to further exacerbate inequalities, Malleret also ponders how they will worsen the global “Loneliness Epidemic.” When people (ultra-social animals) are increasingly served by an army of robots and drones, what will happen to our “humanness” and wellness?
Trend to Watch: Legislating Workers’ Rights to Disconnect
On January 1st, a new law in France requires companies with more than 50 employees to start negotiations defining the rights of employees to ignore emails and smartphones in the evenings, on weekends and during vacations. Given the damage that our “always-on” work culture wreaks in terms of burnout, should the “right to disconnect” be legislated? Watch this space: this will become a prominent global issue in 2017.
