You may have heard the term “wellness” thrown around lately, which is good because who doesn’t want to be well? More of us are investing in health services. wellness center offerings and a better life overall. According to the Global Wellness Institute, as of 2022, the wellness industry is valued at an astonishing $4.5 trillion and is growing at a historic rate.
Furthermore, McKinsey research recently carried out a survey of 7,500 participants from six countries and found a significant increase in prioritizing wellness over the last three years. Moreover, the test results revealed that 42% of respondents consider wellness care a top priority.
A significant part of this industry is wellness centers’ rapid emergence and popularity. Is there a new kind of gym in town? Not really, as it’s not just for working out. However, the wellness center is becoming a popular destination for people who want to improve their health and wellbeing. So, what are these wellness centers, and how do they differ from your standard gym?
What is a wellness center?
A wellness center offers health services that cover many physical, mental, and even spiritual benefits. They offer various services, from yoga and Pilates classes to massage therapy and acupuncture. The wellness center is appealing to many because it is your one-stop shop for everything health and wellness. There are already entire communities, such as on Storylines residential ship, that focuses their lifestyles around wellness, complete with the first-of-its-kind wellness center at sea.
So, what exactly does the term “wellness” encompass? Although the concept of wellness is constantly evolving, from a consumer’s perspective, wellness can be broken up into six categories.
- Health
- Fitness
- Nutrition
- Appearance
- Mindfulness
- Sleep
Let’s look at how the wellness center incorporates these six elements of wellness into its service offerings and facilities.
Health
Health is a broad term that covers physical, mental/psychological, and spiritual health. And this is also how it applies to the wellness center. Most practices provide an initial appointment whereby a specialist will determine the areas where you could improve. This may be due to more exercise, a better diet, or stress relief therapies such as meditation, massage, or counseling. Or all of the above! From there, the team can put together a professional program or therapist tailored to support patients’ specific needs.
Besides your typical treatments, some wellness centers practice holistic methods such as chiropractic, acupuncture, and cupping. Other popular wellness center features to optimize health are infrared saunas, which use light to generate heat instead of steam, providing better detoxification. Then, at the other end of the temperature spectrum, you have cold water therapy, sitting in sub-zero water temperature, with numerous health benefits. However, we think you’d need a sauna after!
2. Fitness
Fitness is another broad term, although more easily defined than health. Fitness primarily relates to physical fitness, including cardio, aerobics, strength, and flexibility. While many wellness centers have a gym space for working out, some just focus on yoga, Pilates, and personal training. Many wellness centers are big on their group classes, such as aerobics, aquarobics, and the increasingly popular Zumba, a fusion of aerobics and Latin dance.
While not all that common, more wellness centers reincorporate a full gym into their facilities. Many trainers enjoy cold water therapy or an infrared sauna after their workout. Or both. Several wellness centers also include a pool which can be used for swimming laps, aquarobics, or simply cooling off post-workout.
3. Nutrition
Many wellness center programs include nutritionists to help you eat better and tailor your specific body type and situation. It’s important to ensure your nutritionist is fully qualified to provide expert nutrition advice. This means they have studied and are tertiary qualified in nutrition, food, and dietetics (diets). They will access your situation, notice your needs and manage a tailored eating program for you.The good thing about getting proper nutrition advice from inside a wellness center is that it can be a part of an overall health program which can include weight-loss exercises, binge eating therapies, and other treatments. Many health Centres will also have a cafeteria on the premises serving healthy food such as protein shakes, fresh fruit and vegetable juices, and smoothies.
4. Appearance
Regarding appearance in wellness centers, it mainly comes down to skin care services. These come in the form of a comprehensive array of facials from medi-facials, microdermabrasion, and full lesion removal.
However, it’s possible to receive advice on diets, such as specific foods or superfoods that can improve your skin complexion. other treatments such as weight loss exercises and infrared sauna can also improve your appearance.
5. Sleep
Based on available studies, there is solid evidence that exercise can help you sleep better, help you fall asleep quicker, and improves sleep quality. Where the wellness centers come in is they can assess the right type of exercise and time of day to exercise to help you achieve optimal sleep. Many practices use moderate aerobic exercise to help increase the amount of slow wave sleep you get. Slow wave sleep is also known as deep sleep or Rapid Eye Movement Sleep (REMS). During REMS, your mind and body have the best chance to rejuvenate, preparing you for the day ahead. Additionally, exercise helps to decompress the mind by stabilizing your mood, which aids quality sleep.
6. Mindfulness
One thing which doesn’t switch off during deep sleep is your mind. However, wellness centers also help with meditation spaces, zen rooms, and sleeping pods. These pods will help put you into deep guided meditation through narration, light (including infrared), colors, and atmospheric sounds or ambient music… We think these pods should be in every workplace!
As you can see, a unique wellness center offers a comprehensive array of services, and once they start combing the facilities of a traditional gym, these one-stop-health-shops could become the next big thing.
