GWI Blog - Page 245 of 251 - Global Wellness Institute

What’s on my mind? Workplace wellness is a mess. I think we can help.

The good news? More companies, large and small, are recognizing that helping employees stay healthy is a good idea. The bad news? No one has figured out how to do it. Hence the mess.

But I also see opportunity. And that’s what’s on my mind.

This is the year to seize this opportunity—together. It’s one of the reasons this topic will be on our agenda at the Global Wellness Summit in Mexico City this November. The timing is right. In preparation, I’d like everyone to experiment with workplace wellness in their current workplace: Try something you think could make a difference. And let me know what you learn.

Trending Again: Wellness Homes & Cities

Humans spend 90 percent of their time indoors, but there has been precious little attention paid to designing buildings with an eye to boosting human’s physical and mental health. Until now. Wellness real estate is a rising trend, and it’s not just about amenities like amazing gyms/spas, but also “baking in” passive healthy building features like optimized air, water, lighting and flooring.

Visual Cues Can Contribute to Weight Loss

Can the mere absence of stimulus lead to measurable changes in eating behaviors? A Harvard professor of economics believes so and headed to Google’s employee micro-kitchens in Boulder, Colorado, and New York to help “lend weight” to his theory. The results? When the stimuli of tempting snack foods are merely removed from sight, eating patterns can change dramatically. Read more to see how visual cues affect casual grazing patterns.

GWI Barometer Excerpt Thierry Malleret (March 18, 2015)

Renowned economist Thierry Malleret has a unique ability to scan the global landscape and boil down the “must-watch” issues for any decision-maker/investor. And for the Global Wellness Institute (GWI) he “connects the dots” for the wellness industry.

Read on to see what he identifies as the top four economic and political issues facing our world right now. And on the wellness front: Will the long “McDonald’s era” soon be replaced by a “Farmer’s Market era”? What do the current, sometimes violent, global “currency wars” mean for international travel—and wellness travel—this summer and beyond?

Hot springs with spa services generate roughly twice the revenues as those without—even though they only represent a third of facilities.

The Global Wellness Institute (GWI) research recently revealed the hot springs market had reached $50 billion, spanning 26,847 properties worldwide. And while taking the waters goes by many names globally—from “agua calientes” to balneotherapy—markets share one thing in common: they’re surging.

Thermal/mineral springs locations without spa services represent two-thirds of locations—but read on to see just how much MORE hot springs facilities with spa treatments bring in revenue-wise.

“The Power of Touch” – <em>The New Yorker</em>, Maria Konnikova, March 2015

This article could have been written as an advertisement expounding the benefits of massage! Touch is the first of the senses to develop in the human infant, and it remains perhaps the most emotionally central throughout our lives. Numerous studies show that if we often experience friendly or loving caresses, “it’s safe to assume that we have a strong social network, which is itself one of the best predictors of happiness, health and longevity.”