Do you feel exhausted and overwhelmed just looking at another super-fit, supersized wellness trend, biohack, or longevity guru? Instead of feeling inspired, does it just make you incredibly tired?
Reflecting on my life’s work as a yogi of 30+ years — when yoga was just yoga, and not an expanding menu of rockets, forests, powers, and lattes. When organic food and macrobiotics meant simple brown rice, seasonal greens, and pickles. When we didn’t have social media frenzy, big flashy activations on superyachts, sparkling spas, and desert island retreats.
The over-saturation, over-marketing, and commercial flip happening in the health and wellness sector is staggering. The industry has grown into a $6.8 trillion economic powerhouse — almost four times larger than the global pharmaceutical industry at $1.8 trillion — and is projected to approach $9.8 trillion by 2029.
What’s missing from this big trend boom? Let’s unpack it.
Authenticity. Can corporate takeovers ever feel real? Or are they just another financial opportunity for global giants to jump into a growing cultural need?
Education. We all know that poor diet and lifestyle choices are the biggest drivers of overall health and wellbeing. If we want to maintain the true health of a nation, we need to start educating people about more positive lifestyle choices.
Accessibility. More affordable access where it’s needed most — schools, local community centres, care homes, rehabilitation.
Regulation. The global yoga teacher training market alone is valued at over $1.47 billion, driven by high demand in an expanding industry with few standardised checks. Anyone can become a teacher.
Spirituality. The missing element in wellness. How can we teach wellbeing when we don’t know how to be a well being? The essence of being alive, right here in this very moment.
Let’s face it — health and wellbeing isn’t going anywhere in an ageing population. But the objective is not to overwhelm or overdo it. This life is not about me and you on our individual wellness journey — it’s about us, together, unifying and creating a culture of spiritually charged wellbeing for all.
As a yogi, I teach spiritually charged wellbeing to audiences that span from community spaces to global wellness retreats, and my message is always the same: let’s do this together.
Let’s not turn the wellbeing industry into another space that relies on making us feel bad in the hope that we’ll buy our way to feeling good. That separates us, excludes us, and creates micro-cultures, when what we need is a macro-culture — one that encompasses shared values, foundational beliefs, and shapes the general life of a population.
What do you think?
