The Global Wellness Summit arrives in St Andrews this week, for a three-day conference attracting hundreds of experts and enthusiasts from around the world.
The event, organised by Miami-based Global Wellness Institute - a think tank - will also be offering delegates a range of extra activities on Monday and Friday, including yoga, wild swimming in the North Sea, and outdoor saunas.
Where has the trend come from, and why is it becoming so popular now?
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What is 'wellness'?
Wellness is defined as "the act of practicing healthy habits on a daily basis to attain better physical and mental health outcomes".
The goal is to be "thriving, not just surviving".
According to the Global Wellness Institute, there are six dimensions to wellness: physical (nourishing a healthy body through exercise, nutrition, sleep, etc); mental (engaging in the world through learning, creativity, problem solving etc); emotional (being aware of our own feelings and others); spiritual (searching for a higher meaning or purpose to human existence); social (engaging meaningfully with others and our communities); and environmental (fostering positive relationships between planetary health and human actions).
Unlike the medical paradigm, which is focused on reacting to and treating disease, wellness is focused on prevention where individuals take a proactive and holistic approach to preventing illness and maintaining or improving their own health.
Where did the idea of wellness start?
The practices we call 'wellness' today have their roots in ancient civilizations in both the East (India, China) and the West (the ancient Greeks and Romans).
Traditional Chinese medicine, dating back some 2,500 years, was focused on "restoring harmony" through mind-body exercises, herbal remedies, and acupuncture.
In ancient Greece and Rome, bathing was practised for relaxation rejuvenation as well as cleanliness.
The use of the word “wellness” in the English language – meaning the opposite of “illness” or the “state of being well or in good health” – dates back to the 1650s, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
In the 19th century Bavarian priest Sebastian Kneipp (1821-1898) developed so-called "water cures", recommending exposure to hot and cold temperatures to improve blood circulation.
Wellness in its modern sense of a "harmony between body and mind" began to evolve in the 1950s and 1960s, emerging from the United States and spreading to Europe, as fitness trends became more popular.
By the 1980s, hotels were increasingly incorporating beauty spas and wellness offerings - such as saunas, steam rooms, and massage therapies - into their facilities.
What is the wellness industry worth?
The global wellness economy was valued at an estimated $5.6 trillion in 2022, and is forecast to grow by 8.6% annually to $8.5 trillion in 2027, according to the Global Wellness Institute.
The five largest wellness markets are the United States ($1.8 trillion), China ($790 billion), Germany ($269 billion), Japan ($241 billion), and the United Kingdom ($224 billion).
Why is wellness booming now?
Gen Z and millennial consumers are now purchasing more wellness products and services than older generations, across a range of areas including health, sleep, nutrition, fitness, appearance, and mindfulness.
According to a report this year by McKinsey & Company "consumers want effective, data-driven, science-backed health and wellness solutions".
Post-Covid, it found that there was a growing appetite for devices such as home-testing kits for things like mineral and vitamin deficiencies or to self-check cholesterol levels.
The growth in wellness has been put down to a combination of scientific and technological advances, and the effects of the Covid pandemic - which has left healthcare systems strained but also spurred an interest from people seeking to optimise their health and wellbeing.
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