The Wellness Renaissance: How to Utilize Trends in the Wellness Industry for a Happier and Healthier Year
By Charlie Fletcher
Image Source: https://bit.ly/3qsb89V
In early 2020, wellness trends such as home-based gyms and fitness tracking devices were already on the rise. However, the Covid-19 pandemic further boosted these wellness industry trends. Today, an increased interest in managing your own health while at home has brought these businesses to the forefront of future health trends.
What does this future look like? The quest for a healthy body will move away from celebrity endorsements and influencers and towards managing your own personal physical and mental needs. Preventative wellness will move from your doctor’s office into your own home.
These trends impact all of us. In 2021, there is a new opportunity to harness the power of the wellness industry to live a happier healthier life and share it with our loved ones as well.
Moving Towards Wellness
How exactly is wellness defined today? People are taking more personal responsibility for their health, as well as the health of their communities. This includes more education on current health ideas to care for both your physical and mental health as a way to prevent illness.
In light of the pandemic, one of the most important wellness trends is the goal of strengthening your immune system. Optimizing the gut microbiome, personalized genetic testing, and biohacking is important to this objective. Biohacking is defined as “anything we do to our bodies in an attempt to live longer, healthier lives.”
Biohacking can take many forms. It often involves a mix of modern medicine and alternative care, including self-care, natural remedies, and gut-healing supplements combined with technology that brings all the pieces together. Today’s wellness market is ideally suited to help you move forward as you become responsible for your own health.
Taking Charge of Your Physical Health
Covid-19 has shown us that people in poorer health can suffer dire consequences when illness strikes. This awareness has driven consumers to do their own research on healthy living. How can you protect yourself and your family?
The key is understanding your body and its needs. There are the basics: plenty of healthy fruits and vegetables, time outdoors, exercise, sleep, and proper hydration are important for all of us. However, you need to be vigilant of how and what you require in these areas since everyone's body chemistry, size, and deficiencies are different — the essence of biohacking.
That means consulting with your healthcare practitioner, be it a physician, an alternative practitioner, or both. It’s also important to run tests, such as genetic panels, and have an expert interpret them to see what unseen problems may be plaguing you. You should also discuss known health issues and remedies, such as managing chronic pain with natural therapies.
Wellness and Mental Health: Your Road to Work-Life Balance
It’s not just your physical health that matters. During lockdowns, you must also care for your mental health at home. Fortunately, as you begin to care for your physical health, you’ll find that your mental health will improve as well.
The fairly new field of nutritional psychology tells us that important nutrients like omega-3, zinc, and magnesium can benefit your brain, helping to prevent depression and anxiety. A diet rich in fresh, organic foods improves your mental well-being. Creating nutritious meals rather than indulging in fast food can even boost your self-esteem and positivity.
Caring for your physical health is also a good way to manage stress and prevent common problems like seasonal affective disorder (SAD) which can bring on feelings of depression or despair. You can partially manage SAD and other emotional issues by getting adequate sleep and exercise. Including natural tools like meditation and broad-spectrum CBD oil will help provide relief for the stress and anxiety caused by SAD.
How Technology Can Benefit Your Health
Many people avoid seeking the help they need because they cannot get to a physician or therapist. Fortunately, many providers today have telehealth options or other virtual services so you don’t even need to leave the comfort of your home. You can even download a therapy app to help you!
Today, artificial intelligence is a wellness trend that helps us to take command of our health. We often think of tracking devices to measure how well we exercise, but nowadays you can measure heart rate, take your blood pressure, and even measure oxygen levels with a device. Digital technology allows this information to be quickly and easily transmitted to our healthcare providers for speedy service if needed.
As you integrate more technology into your life, be sure to keep this area in balance. Meditation apps, for example, are a great way to reduce stress in your daily routine but too much exposure to your phone, computer, or other devices can disturb your sleep patterns. Stay off these devices in the hours before bedtime.
Finally, there are countless options for turning your home into a fitness studio. In 2020, we saw the rise of the Peloton, a stationary bike that lets you tune into spin classes. Today, there are lots of technology-based fitness options, such as the Mirror. Additionally, many gyms and trainers hard-hit by lockdowns are putting their services online making virtual training the wave of the future!
The Coronavirus has changed the way we think about wellness and health. However, the rise of biohacking, telemedicine, and technology today allows you to manage your own health needs. And all of this is now available from the comfort and safety of your own home!
