10 Wellness Trends to Watch in 2016

2016 WELLNESS

PREDICTIONS ______

Here are my thoughts on what we'll be

hearing a LOT more about in 2016

No. 1

Wellness in design

After following the health and wellness trend for a few years now, it is clear that this movement is only gaining momentum. “Wellness” is now a household term and is becoming one of the most popular lifestyle trends. Expect to see many more apartments, houses, bars, cafes, fitness studios, offices and retail spaces demand the “wellness treatment”.

As a self-proclaimed “wellness architect” I am personally beginning to see a lot more interest to the value that holistic design can add to a space. Clients are now increasingly aware of the impacts of an unbalanced work / life balance, pollution, poor diet and lack of exercise and want to see these things become more commonly integrated into their homes to help them on their own wellness paths.

The new WELL building standard introduced by Delos, is the first of its kind to focus on the effect of the built environment on the human user. It ties together best practice in design and construction with health and wellness interventions. It is essentially a rating system to help designers, architect, owners and contractors work towards ensuring the final designed product “helps to improve and balance the nutrition, fitness, mood, sleep, comfort and performance of its occupants.”

No. 2

House as a sanctuary

Following the trend of wellness in design, is the notion that our homes and apartments are our personal sanctuary. Following the success of Marie Kondo’s bestselling book (which I have talked about in previous posts) titled, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up; is this new trend towards living with less. In an age where consumerism is pushed upon us to an almost overwhelming degree, many people are beginning to understand that living only with things that make us truly happy is much more calming than living amongst piles of clutter.

De-cluttering and minimizing aren’t the only household trends. I expect to see a lot more people focus on the design and layout of their spaces, think Fung shui bedrooms, simplified living spaces and kitchen design to encourage cooking and easy storage solutions for organic, alive produce (rather than large freezers for store-bought packaged foods).

No. 3

Meditation in the mainstream

While we see the rise of boutique exercise classes, think Soulcycle and Row House; the newest trends on the wellness scene are moving towards making more calming and balancing practices such as meditation, Qigong and Falun Dafa more mainstream.

Meditation is no longer seen for a select few, as more and more people begin to experience firsthand the importance of personal quiet time in their daily lives. New studios dedicated to meditation are beginning to appear on the scene, like Unplug in LA and MNDFL in NYC, making these studios more like a social, daily part of life; rather than something relegated to health retreats attended by only a select few.

Bringing daily calm and quiet to one’s mind has such amazingly positive effects on health and happiness, and it’s great to see these types of practices make it onto the mainstream wellness circuit, helping to spread the calm and balance.

image source: friend in fashion

No. 4

Activewear & Athleisure

A quick walk around NYC on weekend and you’ll notice that active-wear is the uniform of choice for 30 something women. While enjoying a huge rise on the markets in 2015, athleisure (workout clothing designed to be worn as everyday clothing) is expected to boom in 2016 to expand offerings into all types of clothing markets.

Designers who originally stuck to high-end or street clothing have now expanding their collections to include activewear; think Tory Burch, Rebecca Minkoff, H&M, and Victoria Secret. Also coming in 2016 is a collaboration between Beyoncé and Topshop.

Expect to also see the rise of smaller boutique design brands such as Bandier, SweatyBetty, Carbon 38 and Outdoor Voices, as well as the explosion of long standing brands such as Lorna Jane, Lulu Lemon and Athleta. I also expect to see the continued expansion of boutiqe fitness studios releasing their own branded workout gear - think Flywheel, SoulCycle and Peloton, and member only gyms such as Equinox, Barry's Bootcamp and New York Health and Raquet Club continuing to expand their own lines.

The new trend has become such a part of weekend culture, both her and in my home country Australia, that a group of Australian women called Skit Box created this video that shows just how far some people take their activewear obsession.

No. 5

Plant-Based lifestyles

White the term “diet” is in itself becoming outdated, people are turning to healthier lifestyles to help them lose and maintain ideal body weights and the best way to do this is on a whole-foods, plant-based diet.

While I have a whole blog post on the benefits on going plant-based, it is now becoming obvious to the many that are living this way and that the benefits and vibrancy felt by following this lifestyle are life changing. Eating a plant-based diet will help heal all sorts of physical ailments, from acne, eczema, blotchy or red spots, as well as working in-body to decrease your risk of cancer, heart disease, IBS and diabetes amongst other things.

Expect to see a lot more vegan and plant-centric restaurants and take-out ventures appear, given the booming success of many such as Dirt Candy and By Chloe – two of my absolute FAVOURITE restaurants in NYC – as well as the inclusion of many more vegan and vegetarian options on regular bar and restaurant menus.

Being a plant-based eater no longer means picking from the side salad or sautéed veggies, we are now afforded main meal options or at the very least, recognition by the staff to have something custom ordered.

image source: organic lifestyle

No. 6

Oil as our saviour

After coping quite a beating during the ‘all fat is bad fat’ mentality, oils are having somewhat of a renaissance – albeit in a slightly different way. The health benefits of coconut oil are well known, but what I expect these oils to be used for in 2016 is not so much for internal nutrition, but for external purposes. Many companies are moving towards more holistic and natural beauty remedies with the belief, if you wouldn’t eat it, why would you put it on your skin?

Oil cleansing is the act of using natural oils to purify and clean skin without stripping it of its natural oil. This is a much more nourishing treatment for the skin – as oil actually dissolves oil – so by rubbing oils gently onto the skin, you naturally extract the oil stuck in your pores and gently wash it away. Companies such as Burt’s Bees, Aesop and SW Basics (this is what I use and it’s amazing!) all have an oil cleansing range.

Also hot on the 2016 scene, expect to see more about oil pulling. This is an ancient Ayurvedic dental technique done using oil - I prefer to use raw, organic coconut oil. It helps return the body to an alkaline state by extracting toxins from the mouth.

This practice is a little weird at first but you get used to it. Just start with small amounts of coconut oil and build up. Swill the oil around your mouth like mouthwash for 20 min every morning to experience best results. This is also great for whitening teeth, breath and gum health.

No. 7

Chinese Medicine, Herbal Remedies & Powerfoods

As more people turn to holistic lifestyle choices, the rise in the popularity of eastern medicine continues to grow. And while we have all heard of superfoods, the new kid on the block is superherbs. It has long been known in eastern medicine that plants have an amazing power to help heal the body of all types of ailments as well as helping control stress and weight loss.

Expect to hear more of the term adaptogens, as this is the super power present inside these superherbs. Many experts in the medical field, such as Dr. Frank Lipman, MD, from Eleven Eleven Wellness Center in NYC, has been long been prescribing adaptogen herbs to his patients. Expect to see more of the herbs like moringa, Ashwanandha, maca and ginseng as add in’s to your daily smoothies, included in healthy food items like raw chocolate and beauty products, just to name a few.

Another prediction is the rise of medicinal mushrooms, such as chaga and reishi mushrooms. Raw foodist David Wolfe has long touted the health benefits of Reishi mushroom for its ability to help prolong life because of its ability to significantly improve the functioning of the immune system, while the Chaga mushroom contains the highest amounts of anti-tumor compounds of any herb. Expect also to hear of the following powerfoods such as Chlorella, Zeolites, Astragalus Root, Shilajit, Gynostemma, Camu Camu Berry and Pearl.

image source: kayla itsines

No. 8

Fit-spiration

Fit is the new skinny, and with social media platforms exploding with all types of health and fitness guru’s (some professionally trained, many not), fit-spiration is the new black. Queen of the social media fitness scene is Kayla Itsines (pictured), from my home town of Adelaide (represent!), who grew her online following by posting progress shots of her clients. She is now one of the biggest and most influential woman in fitness. Her following is over 4 million and growing and she has created an almost cult like flowing of dedicated #BBG girls (and guys I am sure) around the world.

She is just one example of the many young woman using this platform to share their own journeys down a fitness path, or to help others achieve their goals. The downside to this exposed world is the polished and often unrealistic world they portray to their followers.

Australian blogger Essena O’Neill recently came out claiming that the whole social media world is fake, with mixed reactions, and will now use her original instagram popularity to help promote her new book on "how to be socail media famous"

I personally think anything that helps portray a healthy, balanced lifestyle can only be a good thing. I would much rather see pics of abs and plant-based meals than burgers and people slothing on a couch. Expect to see many more health dedicated Instagram accounts aimed and coaching and selling online e-books and guides.

No. 9

Health Coaches

With the gap between affordable health care and an aging, over weight and over sick population there has been an emergence of a desperately needed profession helping to bridge this gap, and that is the role of the health coach. The most commonly recognized and easily the largest school is the Institute of Integrative Nutrition founded by Joshua Rosenthal in 1992. The aim of the school is to help educate its students so they can in turn mentor those people that need healing in a holistic way.

Health coaches will become a much relied upon profession as people look at lifestyle changes rather than medical intervention for easily treated and preventable diseases, and assess the individual rather than the ailment and help tailor a program that will meet each individual’s needs.

Expect to see more health coaching services offered in a more traditional setting such as doctor’s offices, spa, private practices and gyms, aiming to fill the gaps that doctors, nutritionists and dietitians simply do not have time to fill.

image source: 1 hotel south beach

No. 10

Wellness Hotels

If you are like me and feel nervous every time you travel (especially somewhere south), then the news that many mainstream hotels are turning towards health and wellness offerings must make you smile. Whilst I LOVE to travel, it is also exhausting, especially when it comes to finding somewhere to work out and eat a plant-based meal (without offending anyone!).

And while there are many health retreats on offer, think Canyon Ranch and Post Ranch Inn (just to name a few), what is now emerging is the larger hotel giants getting in on the game.

Hotels are now integrating more health and fitness into their standard offerings. One of the newest hotels by IHG®, EVEN® Hotels, where wellness comes as part of the standard package. Standard features include stand-up desks, in-room training zone for core, cardio and strength training, natural eucalyptus fiber bedding, a juice and smoothie bar and healthier food options.

Also expect to see boutique fitness workouts such as SoulCycle be offered inside of hotels. Miami’s 1 Hotel South Beach (pictured above) has integrated gourmet kitchen offerings from organic and locally sourced food, a juice bar, a Spartan Training Gym and a SoulCycle opening in January.

With all these hotels beginning to recognize the wellness design trend, Wellness architects such as myself are going to have a much bigger role to play in the consultation and design processes, which harps back to my first trend. Stay tuned for an exciting 2016!

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