The global wellness industry is currently worth $4.5 trillion and growing. In fact, the health and wellness industry is growing faster than any other sector. The wellness industry delivers a wide range of solutions to help people achieve mental and physical wellbeing. This is a vast area that not only incorporates food and fitness, but understands optimal wellness is achieved when all areas of life are transformed, such as the workplace, social, emotional, spiritual, and personality challenges.
Following a healthier lifestyle can often mean diving deep into wellness, be it fitness, healthy eating, sleep hygiene, and much more. The wellness market can be a minefield, with a lot of conflicting information.
Knowing the direction of trends is helpful to focus your efforts on a popular area. Some trending areas are clean eating, beauty, and personal care as well as wearable fitness devices. Interestingly, a report published by PwC found that 49% of US citizens currently own a wearable fitness device, additionally, parents were
more likely to own wearables.
In this article, we’ll explore the current 2020 trends in wellness, as discovered by The Global Wellness Summit (GWS), a 15-year-old organization made up of a diverse range of worldwide experts from economists, academics, and futurists, to CEOs of international corporations.
Top 5 2020 Global Wellness Trends:
1. The Sleep Economy - Circadian Rhythm Solutions
The sleep economy is made up of a gargantuan range of tools to help you sleep. Examples include sleep robots, apps, mattresses, sleep tonics, and sleep pods. The sleep economy is set to be worth $585 billion by 2024. The most successful solutions going forward are going to be those based around our natural sleep/ wake cycles (also known as circadian rhythms).
Humans have evolved to be highly sensitive to sunlight. However, in the west, we’ve become increasingly disconnected from these natural cycles, thanks to light pollution, always-on work culture, and electrical devices, especially mobile phones. According to Dr. Steven Lockley, associate professor of medicine at Harvard, the key to cellular health, and sleep hygiene is “stable, regularly-timed daily light and dark exposure—our natural daily time cues.”
2. Longevity & The Booming “Cool” 60+ Market
The concept of aging has changed. People in their sixties are more active than ever and have considerable spending power. In fact, baby boomers have the largest amount of disposable income. What’s more, the so-called “silver economy” is a growing demographic that focuses on optimizing their health and wellbeing. Gone are the days when boomers were portrayed as feeble.
The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts the 60+ population
will increase from 12 percent to 22 percent by 2050. This will mean that people over 60 will outnumber children under 5. This aging population has a higher percentage of medical conditions, and as such, they’re a growing demographic in the health and wellness sector. Products such as sleek designer incontinence solutions, menopausal care, and home diagnostic kits are a hit with the older population.
3. Japanese Longevity Solutions | J-Wellness
Japan is a world leader in longevity - half of its population is over 50, 27% are over the age of 65 and in 2017 they had 67,824
centenarians. Japanese wellness products and practices are now a key focus for many wellness practitioners. What is Japan doing right? There are several wellness lessons that we can learn from Japan, including:
- Ikigai, the secret of a happy life or reason for being.
- Kintsugi, “art of repairing broken pottery”
- Wabi-sabi, the philosophy of accepting your imperfections and making the most of life
- Marie Kondo, spiritual value of our possessions realized by auditing and de-cluttering
- Shinrin-Yoku, taking in the forest through your sense or forest bathing
- Iki-iki Plazas, facilities for generational mingling, recreation, bonding and learning
4. Mental Wellness and Technology
The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that 25 percent of the
global population will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives. However, due to the stigma surrounding mental health, two-thirds of those suffering from a mental health condition never get treatment. Technology is changing this by providing discreet, timely, and cost-effective care.
The behavioral health software market is booming and is predicted to reach $2.31 billion within the
next two years. Technology is allowing for virtual doctors and tailor-made wellness experience. The target market for mental wellness tech is millennials because they have grown up with smartphones and prefer talking through apps, rather than seeing wellness professionals in person.
5. Energy Medicine - A New Force in Health and Healing
Western medicine has focused on the anatomical and biochemical models shunning the concept of the energy field for some time. This is a stark contrast to Ayurvedic medicine and traditional Chinese medicine. The body’s electromagnetic field is now a scientific fact, and it spreads beyond the skin. Ancient energy medicines are now trending worldwide and for good reason.
Joanne De Luca and Janine Lopiano, founders of Sputnik, say that “The future of medicine is understanding the crucial relationship between the material and ‘field’ aspects of the body, and adjusting human frequencies—and light, sound, and electromagnetic interventions are crucial here—to prevent illness and boost health.” Thankfully the scientific community is moving energy medicine out of the woo-woo and into the mainstream.
In Conclusion
These are just five of the main trending wellness topics of 2020. In short, energy medicine is about to get serious (think of high energy solutions that shield us from the electromagnetic storm created from our technologies). Longevity is trending both from the perspective of J-Wellness, but also as consumers with the most disposable income are increasingly over the age of 60. Sleep and mental health are also expanding fields, whereby technology is getting us in tune with the best practices for overall health and wellbeing.
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