Self-care’s new frontiers: wellness trends that go above and beyond

Although we are collectively more aware of the importance of self-care, as well as the reasons we need to make time for it, buying a few products from our favourite spa, beauty emporium, or pharmacy is not enough. Wellness trends in 2023 are going beyond the occasional spa appointment or set a regular workout schedule. Their emergence signals that we need to make a deeper and broader commitment to making self-care, self-improvement, and a touch of pampering as regular as our other daily habits. Hopefully, this rundown of what personal wellness horizons are expanding will give us the push we need.

Trend: bringing the spa and self-care home
Therapeutic spaces, wellness rooms, and nooks are in demand. Some experts predict a paradigm shift, in replacing home gyms with more intentional, designated sanctuaries for active recovery, relaxation, and improving mental and physical wellness. Smaller-space dwellers, may want to consider the Sunlighten portable Solo System, a double-dome unit that can be easily folded and stored to fit into a multi-use space or even a studio apartment. Those in larger living spaces may consider installing a wellness room, a custom sauna or cabin is a popular option.

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Trend: wellness travel
Travel is back, but experienced travellers are redefining leisure through a wellness lens. Whether it’s engaging with nature through physical outdoor activities and adventure, or focusing on preventative heath. The more introspective seek mindfulness vacations or those focused on mindful movement.

Trend: a focus on mindfulness and mental health
Spas are adding extra services and amenities with experiential and mindfulness aspects, with the goal of putting a guest’s mental needs at the forefront of the treatment or package, rather than focusing on a standard back massage or facial. According to Mental Health America, 19·86 per cent of adults, nearly 50 million in the US, are experiencing a mental illness. With that in mind, American Spa’s research shows that spas are now taking a holistic, mindful approach when it comes to offering treatments that help improve overall mental well-being and instilling greater calm.
      Marizza Contreras, co-founder of K’Alma Spas in Miami, places a heavy emphasis on the importance of connecting one’s body with one’s mind through the power of nature by offering a variety of treatments that cater to one’s mental health. As seen on Mental Health, studies show that being surrounded by nature or natural elements helps remedy the effects of poor mental health.

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Trend: spa therapy for seasonal depression
As the seasons change, people also experience changes in their mood and overall health. According to Heart, an average of five per cent of Americans experience seasonal depression, or Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), in winter. With brutally cold winters plaguing much of the country, along with shortened and darker days, many experience winter blues, which begins to affect behaviour and mood.
      According to Craig Carter, co-founder of Leaf Spa at Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park, 50 per cent of clients arrive emotionally unstable and disconnected before undergoing their treatments. Leaf Spa’s the Dosha Detox Body Treatment is a routine detoxification that allows the body to maintain good health during seasonal changes. Guests detox with this lymphatic, herb-infused body treatment that will help balance and align the body, mind, and soul. To help accomplish this, they offer daily sound bowl healing, known for its healing powers, that send sound wave vibrations throughout the body. This helps harmonize and restore the body’s balance.

Trend: cold skin care therapy
The New York Times reported in February 2022 that Mental Health Swims, a non-profit that organizes cold-water swimming throughout the UK, had grown from one meet-up group to more than 80 over three years. Long used as a recovery treatment in sports medicine, cold therapy is an effective way to ease muscles and tighten the skin. Now, spas are jumping onto this trend by incorporating cool temperatures into facial trends, creating brighter and smoother complexions.
      According to April Smith, spa director at Spa Lilliana at Hotel Effie at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, cryotherapy is used as a way to massage the skin using cooling techniques and lymphatic drainage to firm the skin, eliminate dark circles and reduce puffiness.