2022 HEALTH & WELLNESS TRENDS BY THE GLOBAL WELLNESS SUMMIT

The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) launched its annual trends report recently, revealing the top 10 new trends for the year ahead, in health & wellness. 

The Future of Wellness 2022 contains differing chapters dedicated to each trend and delves into current thinking for spa, nutrition, wellness travel, wellness real estate, women’s health, men’s wellness, healthcare, technology and sustainability.

“One thing this forecast makes clear is that the future of wellness will be anything but a ‘restart’ of 2019’. “What consumers now need most – what they perceive as ‘true wellness’ – has profoundly changed.”

Susie Ellis 

The 10 Wellness Trends for 2022 are: 

TREND 1: Dirt-y Wellness
The health of the world’s soil—and the impact of soil exposure on human health—become far more important (Think: “soil-bathing”)

For 99% of human evolution, people lived deep in soil—as foragers and farmers. Now we’re soil-deprived, no longer bathing in all that bacterial and fungal richness. Mounting research indicates that the soil and human microbiomes are anciently connected, and that soil exposure has an eye-opening impact on everything from immune to mental health.

TREND 2: Toxic Muscularity Comes Clean
How bulging biceps and rippling abs have had a negative ripple effect on male body image

A growing body of research is revealing that body image is no longer solely a “women’s issue.” In April 2021, a survey by a United Kingdom (UK) male suicide prevention charity and Instagram found that half of men aged 16-40 had struggled with their mental health because of how they feel about their bodies—and half pointed the finger at mainstream and social media. “Toxic muscularity” can be literally poisonous. Anabolic-androgenic steroid abuse is hiding in plain sight in the improbable shape of actors, athletes, influencers and action figures. The consequences, both mental and physical (sometimes fatal), could however soon be hard to ignore. And steroids are merely the most notorious of an ever-expanding pharmacopeia of image- and performance-enhancing drugs (IPEDs) that have spread from backstreet gyms to commercial and high-end health clubs to high schools.

TREND 3: From Wellness Tech to Technological Wellness
A fresh take on digital health

Between fitness wearables, telehealth apps, and smart home gyms, there seems to be no shortage of technologies (tech) promising to make us well. But the truth is that most technologies—the technologies that make up the majority of our screen time—are harming our health, not helping it. That’s where the need for technological wellness comes in: A kind of wellness that doesn’t just remedy the toxic toll that tech takes on our minds on bodies, but rather, puts health at the centre of how—and how often—we engage with technology at large.

TREND 4: Senior Living Disrupted
A wrinkle in time no more!

To meet the changing expectations of aging adults, we believe “senior living” (a term that we would like to see retired) will, and needs to, focus more on intentional intergenerationality. This goes back to “days of yore,” when people were not so transient, and communities stayed organically intergenerational. Such old-school intersectionality still exists in the world’s Blue Zones—places like Okinawa, Japan and Sardinia, Italy—which also happen to be among the places where people live the longest and age the healthiest.

TREND 5: Wellness Travel: Seekers, Welcome
Post-pandemic travellers are ready for adventure and engagement

New travel experiences tap into a sense of purpose, a desire to grow creatively and intellectually and flourish in new environments. Nature as a healer and a source of awe remains primary, whether at a rooftop yoga class or trekking the forthcoming Trans Bhutan Trail. Seekers will be exploring the wisdom of the ancients in Indigenous travel experiences; learning to grow their own food; expressing their creativity in art classes; and giving back to academia in citizen science programs.

TREND 6: Innovative Tech Closing the Gender Gap in Medical Research
Artificial Intelligence (AI), apps and wearables collect data for a wide range of women’s health conditions

Start-ups and technology giants are increasingly trying to expand and improve research data through AI, smartphone apps, wearables, and virtual trials. From data-gathering trackers to “smart bras,” Silicon Valley is reimagining a host of existing technologies. These new advancements allow for better representation in trials, quicker access to participants, and more longitudinal data. Research institutions and academia are starting to show interest, partnering with a wide range of start-ups, proving there’s more than one way to collect health information.

TREND 7: Urban Bathhouses & Wellness Playgrounds
Affordable wellness is coming to a city near you

Whether it’s new or renovated bathhouses featuring hydrothermal bathing (saunas, steam rooms, pools, etc.); large-scale wellness water resorts (some of which accommodate up to 8,000 visitors daily); or public parks where nature meets art and wellness, cities around the globe are suddenly making the pursuit of wellness accessible, affordable and inclusive.

TREND 8: Next-Gen Naturalism
The return of self-reliance

This self-sufficiency boom is already evident in the global growth of outdoor survival schools, foraging, homegrown produce, and TikTok #ecohacks. And it’s a trend that’s very much in line with the larger shifts towards back-to-basics wellness. Just as wellness is returning to the fundamentals, Next-Gen Naturalism requires a Marie-Kondo-esque simplification of one’s life and consumption, placing a refreshing focus on the natural world and ancient practices. It’s a no-frills kind of wellness that forces us to rethink how we use our natural resources, how we source our food, and ultimately—how we prepare for a shaky future. Because in unpredictable times, preparedness equals peace of mind.

TREND 9: Health & Wellness Coaching Gets Certified
Coaches trained in the art and science of motivating healthy changes have been the missing link in both healthcare and wellness

In the Wild West of “wellness coaching,” the future is new distinctions, because what a certified HWC does is utterly unique. They’re healthcare professionals trained in evidence-based, nuanced conversational techniques that get people developing the intrinsic motivation and confidence to hit realistic wellbeing goals. Unlike the 15 minutes doctors give you, they spend time: around 50 minutes a week for at least 3 months. Their approach is radically different from the “prescriptive” model that rules both medicine and wellness. Doctors say exercise; wellness gurus say follow me on this path to weight loss or enlightenment. These coaches check advice-dispensing at the door because prescriptive models have failed spectacularly. Motivation must be sparked from within.

TREND 10: Wellness Welcomes the Metaverse
Health & wellness are attractive to the Metaverse which needs to diversify beyond gaming 

To build a Wellness Metaverse, there will be unprecedented new synergies between the technology, wellness and health industries. Wellness sectors, including fitness, beauty, healthy eating, mental wellness, wellness tourism, wellness real estate, spas and workplace wellness are introducing new technologies and virtual worlds that deliver a far more immersive experience and radically transform how wellness is delivered to global consumers. And the entire world is paying attention. Fortune 500 companies are unveiling creative, disruptive new products and services that can improve people’s health and lives. The coming metaverse will move beyond gaming and health and wellbeing will be at the centre—it will prove one of its meaningful bright spots. And it’s a bright future where the wellness industry can play a leadership role.

The evidence-based forecast is based on the insights of global executives of wellness companies, economists, doctors, investors, academics and technologists that gather each year at the GWS.

About the Global Wellness Summit —The Global Wellness Summit is the premier organization that brings together leaders and visionaries to positively shape the future of the $4.4 trillion global wellness economy. Its future-focused conference is held at a different global location each year and has travelled to the United States, Switzerland, Turkey, Bali, India, Morocco, Mexico, Austria, Italy and Singapore. GWS also hosts regular virtual gatherings, including Wellness Master Classes, Wellness Sector Spotlights and Investor “Reverse Pitch” events. The organization’s annual Global Wellness Trends Report offers expert-based predictions on the future of wellness. 

The 2022 Summit will be held in Tel Aviv, Israel from October 30–November 2.

List a more detailed list of the trends on the Global Wellness Institute website: 

https://www.globalwellnesssummit.com/2022-global-wellness-trends/