Every year, wellness trends seem to change and are symptomatic of our everyday lives. Take the Covid-19 pandemic, for example, when everyone was stuck indoors. Trends during 2020 and 2021 focused more on home exercise and meditation apps to let us focus more on ourselves, to look introspectively and not extrospectively. While in 2022 was more focused on rekindling what we lost in those two years being camaraderie with friends, running clubs, communal fitness and sports leagues which were all in high demand. But with every new year, it is a great time to bring people back to their bodies and minds and look retrospectively at how you can better yourself than your past year self.
Resolutions are a great way to start the process, many individuals think of the same things, better diet, quit smoking, and spend more time with family; Not that these are bad resolutions, a lot of people will stick to them and conquer their self made goals. But what if we can help you look a bit deeper and maybe you can find a trend to help you reach your goals while discovering a new avenue you had not thought of. Here are 10 wellness trends in 2023 that are worth taking a look at.
Digital Detox
Everyone is getting ready to log out in 2023. In fact, it’s one of the main health and wellness trends for 2023.
Have you ever experienced eye straining? Or burning at the end of your day? Well, your nervous system is on edge! Blue light can actually make us crave more blue light. So start with either getting a blue light filter for your computer, or phone, or invest in a pair of blue light glasses.
Taking time away from any of your devices, whether it be your phone or computer, is essential to your well-being. This is especially true important for anyone that works from home. Unless you’re intentional in taking breaks, it’s easy for your phone to drop into your hand and become an extension of your body.
Too much screen time can lead to mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. It can also trigger neck and back pain, insomnia and, in some cases, is linked to heart disease and even cancer.
What we’re talking about here is the time you spend on your phone. This includes those hours spent scrolling social media. Obsessing over others’ posts can leave you second guessing your own real-life endeavours, but remember, Social Media posts are mostly wins from another individual and do not show the losses. Social media posts are mainly the highlight reel of someone’s life and comparison is a tricky thing to quit. This does nothing to improve self-esteem. Taking a break from your feed is one of the healthiest and most loving things you can do for yourself this year.
Fitness, return to in person work out classes
When the pandemic first began, many gyms made the hard decision to move their classes online. Now people are feeling more comfortable venturing out of their immediate circle.
Exercise is one of the most effective ways to keep your mind and body healthy. You can also enhance your results when you bring a friend! One study found that when people watch others work out, they increase their own exertion by 200%! Another great benefit of workout classes is the boost of motivation. Having other individuals around that have a similar goal to yours can help boost your motivation, but mainly the reason why this helps is that people are in the same boat and want everyone to succeed.
Sure there’s something fun about working out of your living room but you can’t exactly replicate the vibe that you get from an in person class. When you’re breaking a sweat with others, there’s a collective energy and camaraderie that motivates and inspires you.
Exercise Recovery
With the influx of in person workouts in gyms comes the aches and pains that are related to it. You have a multitude of options to help you recover from exercises such as taking off days or a product that can help with pain and inflammation. While these options are great, new contenders are coming in, heat and cold therapy.
While some people go to Korean spas or steam rooms at their local gyms or wellness center, others go to natural hot springs or get a portable infrared sauna blanket to use from the comfort of their own home, like HigherDOSE. If this is out of your price range, no fret! You can also take long, steamy showers infused with essential oils or baths infused with essential oils.
Another type of water therapy that has started to become more and more popular is cold water therapy. Taking an ice bath for a short time is shown to increase blood flow to the tissues that have been worked on and help with its healing process. There is also cryotherapy which can lead to the same desired effect, by stepping into a cryo chamber that is around -100 and -140 degrees Celcius for 2 to 4 minutes triggers the body’s survival instinct constricting the blood vessels. The changes come once you step out, the blood vessels open up and pick up beneficial nutrients and enzymes, which then flow back to the muscle helping to ease and fatigue pain.
Mental Fitness
Since the Covid-19 Pandemic, our society as a whole has started to realize what mental health professionals have always known: ‘mental health is wealth’. For years, the idea of going to therapy was taboo. Past generations thought that asking for help meant waving a white flag of surrender. Therapy actually offers an opportunity to work through the issues that keep you living a fulfilled life. According to Statistics Canada, in 2016-2017, 1 in 7 Canadian used a service for mental illness and this number changed to 1 in 5 since the Covid-19 Pandemic which has brought some destigmatization about therapy. Today, it’s seen as a normal element of any healthcare routine. Therapy is for those who want to better themselves internally and for those who want to create a firm foundation for the future. There is no shame in scheduling an appointment.
Self Care
It is to say that this section directly links with the one above. While therapy is a great option for mental health, self-care is the most important and often the first step to getting a healthy mindset. Do what you love, look for a new hobby, buy yourself those shoes you’ve been looking at and try to not concern yourself with things that are out of your control. While working on yourself, set small goals that are easily attainable. Making multiple small steps toward a bigger goal is also great! This way you can track your progress and feel better about it than taking on an impossible task and not reaching it. Take your time, take it one step at a time.
Spiritual well-being
A huge and impactful wellness trend this year is spiritual well-being, a term coined that refers to a person’s sense of connection to something bigger than themselves, such as a higher power, a set of spiritual beliefs, or a sense of meaning and purpose in life. This aspect of well-being is often associated with feelings of peace, contentment, inner harmony, and it can play an important role in overall health and wellness.
In the past, spiritual wellness was mostly relagated to formal organizations, such as religions, but it can also be achieved through one’s own practice. Some techniques include meditation, breathwork, a gratitude practice or even martial arts.
Sleep Syncing
Sleep syncing is a wellness trend that is gaining popularity. This involves adjusting your sleep cycle to the rhythms of nature (like the sun or moon) and tuning it with your circadian rhythm. Some studies have shown that sleep syncing can help people fall asleep quicker, as well as reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, which are often associated with poor sleep patterns. You can start sleep syncing by setting up a regular sleep schedule, going to bed and waking up at the same time every day.
This helps put your body on a regular sleep cycle so that it becomes more used to waking up and going to sleep at certain times. You may also use apps and devices to help you track your sleep, monitor your sleep patterns, and provide feedback to make improvements
Sense Hacking
The sense (sight, smell, sound, taste and touch) have a huge impact on your health and well-being. Being surrounded by a smell you don’t enjoy or a colour that’s too bright can have a negative effect on your productivity, sleep and happiness. So to avoid this in the new year, try this new wellness trend: sens hacking.
Sense Hacking is where you stimulate your senses to improve your mood, like adding powerful and vibrant colours to your wardrobe to make you feel confident or incorporating some smells into your sleep routine to help ease anxiety and help you sleep. There is a multitude of ways you can hack your senses, we suggest finding what works for you.
Sober-Curious Lifestyle
Being ‘sober curious’ is a trend that will continue to grow strong in 2023. More people are attempting to change their relationship with alcohol. We are seeing more restaurants and bars offering mocktails and non-alcoholic alternatives. There are also adaptogenic drinks on the market to replace alcohol. These drinks use different plants and herbs to help your body adapt to stress and other ailments without alcohol.
These drinks are becoming more and more popular since they help with relaxation, boost your mood, and won’t result in those dreaded hangovers the next day.
Mushroom Madness
Mushrooms are getting the recognition it deserves and it is not surprising that more consumers will seek ways to increase their mushroom intake for wellness this year. Functional mushrooms have high levels of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and bioactive compounds that support aspects of health such as sleep, memory and immunity. This includes Turkey Tail mushrooms, which have been researched for their protein-bound polysaccharides that stimulate the immune system. We suggest being on the lookout for Lion’s Mane mushrooms for a focus on memory, Reishi for stress reduction, Chaga to reduce inflammation and cordyceps to increase energy levels.
Overall, the wellness trends of 2023 are all about finding balance and taking a holistic approach to health and well-being. Whether through technology, natural remedies, or self-care practices, there are many ways that we can prioritise our well-being and live our best lives in the new year.
