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February 25, 2020

7 Wellness Trends to Track in 2020

As humans, we all want to live healthy happy lives, but we also love a good trend. People love to know what’s working for their friends, family, and neighbors in the wellness sector, especially as we become more in tune with our bodies and our needs.

If one of your New Years’ resolutions was better wellness, then you might be wondering what you can do to stick to your goals. Perhaps one of these 7 wellness trends will pique your interest in 2020 and help you feel your best.

Wellness Tourism Could Boom in 2020

Have you ever come back from a vacation and felt like you needed a staycation to recover? It’s totally normal to want to pack your trip with all kinds of fun activities and indulgences, but it can lead to fatigue just when you’re hoping to come back refreshed.

That problem may be a thing of the past with wellness tourism. Essentially, wellness tourism is about promoting one’s health and well-being while taking a vacation. Because everyone has different needs, wellness tourism doesn’t have just one definition.

For some people, wellness tourism might mean high-adrenaline activities for empowerment, while other people might feel renewed by a silent meditation retreat or yoga camp with organic meals. Regardless of your personal definition of wellness tourism, though, it’s big business: the global market reached $639 billion in 2017 and it’s looking like another boom is on the way.

Fitbit & Other Wellness Trackers Continue to Boost Public Health

One of the reasons that people have become more wellness-focused in the last decade or so has to do with data. Today, we have more data about our health available to us at our fingertips—or wrists. Fitness trackers have been helping to spur healthy habits and more active lifestyles since they first came onto the market, and their popularity shows no signs of slowing down.

In the future, we can expect wearables to have even more tracking options, like stress, blood pressure, and even the environment around us. These kinds of features may not emerge in 2020, but they’re under development and could mean big things for public health.

Women’s Mental Health: A Major Priority

For years, mental health has been a taboo subject surrounded by stigma. Fortunately, that’s starting to change as we are beginning to understand just how important our mental health is to wellness, happiness, and health. However, there’s currently a big gap between men’s and women’s mental health that we need to acknowledge and address.

Currently, more women are diagnosed with mental illness than men, 22.3% to 15.1%. But those numbers only tell part of the story. Women are often socialized differently as children and are more likely to suffer from physical or sexual abuse. They are also often more reluctant to seek out help for problems like PTSD for fear of stigma.

In 2020 we need to realize that mental healthcare for women is a major priority for public health and wellness. Major cultural shifts will be needed to change the status quo.

Social Exercise Keeping People Accountable

In a world where a lot of us live in a solitary bubble—commuting with headphones, staring at screens all day, and texting instead of calling, some people are starting to rediscover the power of meeting in person—especially when it comes to exercise. There’s just no getting around it: people are more active when they’re active together.

Study after study shows that people are more likely to be successful in fitness and weight loss when they get accountability from friends. Even group classes, like stationary bicycling or CrossFit, can provide much-needed accountability to keep people on track. It’s just science: we’re better (and fitter) together.

Hot Yoga: Lose Water Weight & Decrease Anxiety

For many people, the idea of hot yoga is the epitome of torture. Dripping sweat, exhaustion, and challenging postures turn many people away from this wellness trend. But those who can get past these factors can enjoy a number of wellness benefits that go well beyond the studio.

Hot yoga is simply yoga that is practiced in a very hot and humid room—usually from 80 to 105 degrees. All that sweat helps people lose water weight, and the poses can help people reduce stress and anxiety. It’s not for everyone, but it’s trending strongly in 2020.

Burgers Go Vegan

With worries about animal welfare and the health of the planet on the rise, it’s no surprise that people are moving toward diets that are more plant-based. Some companies are fueling this trend by making meat substitutes that are more comparable to animal products than the tofu dogs and black bean burgers of the past.

This trend has become so mainstream that even fast food joints are beginning to serve vegan “burgers” and other meatless meals. We can expect to see even more options as the decade moves ahead for people who want to live more sustainably and ethically.

Amazon Groceries Delivered Right to Your Door

No time to grocery shop? You don’t have to resort to takeout anymore. Amazon and companies like InstaCart are making it easy to get groceries delivered to your door. This wellness trend is helping people who want to meal prep, save money, and eat more healthfully to do so on autopilot.

Whether you’re into any of these wellness trends or not, one thing is clear: in 2020, they’re only going to get bigger.

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