“If it’s always daunting to predict trends in the fast-moving wellness space, it’s especially so two years into a pandemic where the long-promised ‘post-pandemic world’ is becoming visible but is repeatedly delayed,” said Susie Ellis, GWS chair and CEO. “One thing that this forecast makes clear is that the future of wellness will be anything but a ‘restart’ of 2019. What consumers now need most, what they perceive as ‘true wellness,’ has profoundly changed.”

A few themes emerge in the trends report. With new awareness of the radical fragility of life and the planet, a “survivalist wellness” is emerging: More people are seeking resilience and self-reliance (see: “Next-Gen Naturalism”) and they’re now keenly aware that their own wellbeing is inextricable from the planet’s (see: “Dirty Wellness,” on how restoring the world’s soil and our connection to it become a major focus).

Another theme is tackling the glaring gaps, missing links, and underserved populations in both healthcare and wellness: from male body issues finally getting the attention that women’s have to innovative technology closing the women’s health research gap to “senior living” getting a dramatic rethink to the rise of professional wellness coaches dedicated to solving that great unsolved issue in both healthcare and wellness: motivating behavior change.

With the pandemic further subsuming us in a digital world, the future of wellness and technology is complex: The metaverse will plunge us into evermore immersive health and wellness experiences while a new “technological wellness” will have us interrogating our relationship to tech as never before. As always, the report covers the cool, new experiences rising in wellness: from pandemic-weary cities being reimagined as accessible “wellness playgrounds” to destinations answering the call of a new purpose-seeking wellness traveler, with experiences that help them grow intellectually, spiritually and creatively.

This is the only wellness forecast based on the insights of hundreds of global executives of wellness companies, economists, doctors, investors, academics, and technologists that gather each year at the GWS. The authors—top journalists, analysts and wellness experts—bring each trend to life with examples of the innovators and companies that are pioneering each concept.

Non-press can purchase the full report here (which includes virtual access to today’s 3-hour trends and research event).