MONTHLY BAROMETER – WELLNESS EDITION: GDP and Wellness are Bad Bedfellows

GDP and wellness make for bad bedfellows: measurements of economic growth/GDP only account for our “busyness,” or the more hours worked, the more GDP growth. The problem is working too hard entails decreasing rates of return (fewer units of GDP per extra hour worked) and causes endless suffering. By contrast, things that make us well (being with friends, exercising, etc.) contribute to people’s wellness, but not GDP. Where is the middle ground?

Read more for Malleret’s prediction: Wellness in the future will be simpler, less fancy and less expensive.

Wellness Investors: The Future is Outdoor Exercise & Reconnecting People with Nature

Ours are paradoxical times: on average globally, we’ve never had it so good (life expectancy, income per capita, etc.) and yet addiction, depression, anxiety and suicide rates are all up. The

scientific explanation: we produce too much dopamine (the instant “reward” neurotransmitter, whether delivered through sugar or social media) and not enough serotonin (the “contentment” neurotransmitter). We confuse pleasure and happiness.

Read more about how this leads to a prediction that people’s desire to reconnect with nature (at wellness retreats, etc.) and to exercise outside will grow powerfully. 

Study: Group Exercise Improves Quality of Life and Reduces Stress

new study (University of New England) compared group exercise to individual exercise, and found that while the solitary exercisers studied worked out twice as long, those doing a group exercise class experienced significant improvements in all quality of life measures: mental (12.6%), physical (24.8%) and emotional (26%), with a 26% reduction in stress levels. Solitary exercisers reported no significant changes in any measure, except mental quality of life (11% increase).

Must-Reads from the Wellness World (Week of November 7, 2017)

First Offices, Then Apartments, Now Gyms? WeWork Launches New Wellness Concept – Forbes, October 17, 2017

WeWork, the co-working giant, is turning up the heat on competitors with a new wellness and fitness concept, the just-launched Rise by We, which provides a mix of wellness classes and spa offerings including yoga and meditation, functional training, kickboxing and other fat-burning classes.