Global Wellness Institute

Yale’s Most Popular Class Ever: Happiness – The New York Times, January 26, 2018

Yale’s new course on “Psychology and the Good Life” is proving extremely successful, with one in four students enrolling in it (while half of undergraduates seek mental health care from the university during their time there). According to Laurie Santos, who teaches the course, the things Yale undergraduates often connect with life satisfaction – high grades, a prestigious internship, a good-paying job – do not increase real happiness. By contrast, if students end up showing more gratitude, procrastinating less, increasing social connections, there’ll be a radical change in culture.

2018 will see a much more fierce backlash against Big Technology and the toxic properties of social media. More tech workers will speak out on how they engineer addiction – concerns about the negative impact of tech on mental health will come even further to the fore – and more people will take action to limit their screen hours.

 

Tourism is predicted to grow fast this year, making the backlash against – and the need to find solutions for – over-tourism a major concern. Especially in the wellness travel space…

 

At the 2017 Global Wellness Summit, Dr. Michael Roizen, the renowned integrative medicine leader from the Cleveland Clinic, explored “Living to 160” – how it’s possible and what it takes.

A Striking Stat: The U.S. spends almost twice as much on healthcare (as a percentage of its economy) than other advanced industrialized countries: $3.3 trillion, or 17.9% of GDP each year.