Five New Wellness Trends To Expect in 2021

​The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed all of our lives and effectively turned 2020 upside down. The wellness industry has pivoted during the pandemic by amplifying its on-site sanitizing services at spa facilities, by incorporating alternative touchless spa therapies, and by offering self-care services for clients to perform at home.

As we emerge from the novel coronavirus, traditional brick and mortar spa and wellness facilities will offer hybrid (in-person and virtual) experiences to stay in line with the current CDC guidelines as it pertains to social distancing, and health and safety protocols.  Allen Marketing Communications, a boutique NYC travel and lifestyle public relations agency, shares the top five trends that you should expect to see this year.

Touchless Spa Services
The pandemic has made people wary to utilize services that they once did, and spas are the perfect example. “Not everyone is comfortable with a high-touch service, with only 19 percent of Americans getting a massage during 2020. This number is very low, especially when compared with the 42 percent of Americans who got a massage during 2019,” according to Mindbody Business. 

Despite the move away from massages, people are still seeking out spa experiences for relaxation. This has increased the popularity of no-touch services like float tanks, compression therapy, cryotherapy, and more. While we expect to see these services hold onto their popularity throughout this year, we do think that massages will regain their appeal once the pandemic is over.

Wellness at Home
According to the Global Wellness Institute, “home wellness” focus can be very simple, such as finding ways to nurture ourselves in very tiny apartments, with air quality key: saying goodbye to the sealed, air-conditioned home and with opening windows, eating outside, and feeling the bracing air being “very basic pleasures and behaviors transforming…what is wellness.”

Staying home became very popular about a year ago for obvious reasons, and this has forced us to bring a number of things that we used to do outside of our homes inside. Wellness is no exception. 

Because we are all constantly in the house, we have found ways to make our homes more comforting, relaxing, and beneficial to our overall wellness. Companies are helping us to do it too, with products such as new and improved humidifiers. 

Essentially if we suit the environment around us, our homes, to best help our wellbeing, we will reap the benefits of living healthier and feeling more comfortable in our own homes. 

Mental Wellness as a Priority
According to the Global Wellness Institute, “the mental wellness industry encompasses businesses whose primary aim is to help us along the mental wellness pathways of growth and nourishment and rest and rejuvenation. Within those pathways, it identifies four sectors coalescing to form an emerging market: 1) senses, spaces and sleep, 2) brain-boosting nutraceuticals & botanicals, 3) self-improvement and 4) meditation and mindfulness.”

Mental wellness is something that hasn’t always been easy to talk about. For a long time, it was a taboo subject, personal information that nobody wanted to divulge. Fortunately, that is not the case anymore. 

In the recent past we have seen a move away from mental health as a taboo and towards mental health as a global priority. The pandemic has only further demonstrated the necessity of mental health awareness and care. Nobody is impervious to the unprecedented stress and pressure that the pandemic has put on the world, and nobody has to be ashamed of opening up about their mental wellness. 

In fact, wellness retreats will explode as we emerge from the pandemic as individuals turn to yoga, mediation and mindfulness to cope with the daily stress from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Intuitive Eating, the Non-Diet
Diet fads have come and gone for years, that’s nothing new. What is new is intuitive eating, which is becoming more and more popular as time goes on. This way of eating rejects all other diets, opting instead to listen to your body and eat what it’s asking for at a particular moment. With intuitive eating, there’s no need to restrict your eating, it’s all about doing what is best for your body. 

This changes from person to person. Some people might feel their best while avoiding dairy, and that’s perfectly fine. Others may prefer to skip out on red meat or another food, which is great if it’s what’s best for them. Sometimes, the best thing for you may be a chocolate bar or a big plate of cake, and that’s okay too!

In the end, intuitive eating means making good choices for the health of your body and mind.  “In other words, listening to your body, eating foods that fuel you, and learning what works with your system and what doesn’t.  All of this is an effort to create a healthy relationship with food -- removing stress and shame around eating -- which is the antidote to harmful diet culture,” according to FitOn.

No more restrictive eating or forgoing an entire food group with this trend!

Working Out at Home
Many people have seen the value of wellness and keeping their bodies healthy recently, and at the same time, many gyms and fitness studios have been forced to close by the pandemic. This has led virtual, at-home workouts to become a trend. 

“40 percent of Americans enjoy virtual fitness at least once a week, as they are able to work out from their own homes and access a wide selection of content from across the world,” according to Mindbody Business. Many enjoy the ease that comes with these workouts; they can fit in a quick session during a lunch break or before running errands. An added benefit? These workouts can relieve some of the stress that comes with the pandemic. 

The pandemic has changed how we live our lives, and it has also brought new trends to the wellness industry. Let Allen Marketing Communications help you navigate these trends. 

​We’re here to help.  
By Kendall Mason at Allen Marketing Communications, Inc.

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