The Wellness Trend

The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.

Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

When I thought more about wellness, it seemed to me that this was a great example of a tipping point taking place in the hospitality industry. So, I thought a little research was in order on what to me was an interesting topic.

Starting close to home, MPISCC recently held its Beverly Laing Golf & Wellness Day event at March at the Los Coyotes Country Club, Buena Park. For those that don’t play, the wellness offerings are a new and different alternative to the regular lifestyle activity options. The sessions included Fitness, Yoga and “Living a Balanced Life: An Exploration of Your Unique Mind/Body Personality Type” offered by The Chopra Center. Desirable and much talked about, a successful work/life balance is particularly challenging and often hard to achieve. Despite this, it is particularly important in our industry when our job demands often outstrip the amount of time we have for ourselves.

Part of the solution may lie in hotels and resorts offering recuperative and healthy environments. The MGM Grand Hotel, Las Vegas, offers an innovative “Stay Well” program, with specially designed and equipped rooms, facilities and amenities. The technologies include those from wellness real-estate pioneer, Delos, in conjunction with the Cleveland Clinic and Dr. Deepak Chopra. (The Delos approach places health and wellness at the center of design and construction.) The “Stay Well” rooms offer a unique stay for those guests looking to experience a complete wellness hotel experience.

Being part of the IMEX team, I am delighted that we will have a “Be Well at IMEX” initiative for our Frankfurt 2015 show attendees. Exhibitors are also being invited to get involved. Some of the benefits offered include a room set aside for meditation, an educational track focusing on health and wellbeing, as well as a Wellbeing Map that will highlight healthy food outlets.

Smart Meetings, in its March offered some tips for avoiding burnout from www.themuse.com that included consciously scheduling free time into your calendar. That sounds a bit counter-intuitive but it’s easy to let that precious personal time slip away into just one more email! Short power naps and focusing on mindfulness are two other suggestions.

Mindfulness can suffer from a perception image; for many people it is something other people do and usually involves meditational practices, or some vague New Age activity. Mindfulness is really being consciously aware of what we are doing, rather than moving forward just doing without a lot of thought. Even taking the time to just sit somewhere peaceful for ten minutes – minus electronic devices! - can be a huge boost to a change in mental outlook and level of energy. And of course it is where some of our best thinking can take place.

Gratitude also plays a big part in how people feel about themselves. Recent studies have suggested that people who are more grateful have higher levels of wellbeing; they tend to be happier, less depressed, less stressed, and more satisfied with their lives and social relationships They also have higher levels of control of their environments, personal growth, purpose in life, and self-acceptance. This ties in with awareness of self - our sense of who we are.

So, here a suggestion for a basic recipe! Gratitude + acceptance of self + taking time for ourselves, friends and family + looking after our health + smart eating = a personal base to launch a life of wellness.

Be well!
Geraldine Gatehouse