2022 is gearing up to be another huge year when it comes to wellness. With technological devices paving the way for more advanced knowledge about our health and a huge shift in wellness thinking due to a global pandemic, health and wellness has never been more important. We are super excited about the wellness trends 2022 has to offer.
More and more people around the world are seeking out information and understanding the importance of wellbeing, both physical and mental, and are becoming more interested in ways to support essential health as well as taking it to the next level.
Here are the top wellness trends for 2022 that we predict to be big.
TOP WELLNESS TRENDS 2022
Forest Bathing
Forest bathing was one of the hottest wellness trends in 2021 and will continue to be in 2022.
Potentially fueled by the effects of the pandemic and the rise in outdoor activities in more isolated areas, forest bathing not only allows for more quality time in nature but also carries many benefits for the mind and body.
So, what exactly is forest bathing? Forest bathing is the act of going into a forest, or a natural area with a lot of trees and consciously taking in your surroundings. It’s about being aware of the natural forest around you, about slowly breathing it in with every breath. It’s about feeling its energy and stillness.
There are many benefits associated with forest bathing that include a reduction in stress, better self-awareness, environmental awareness as well as better mental health.
Adaptogenic Mushrooms
Even though adaptogens have been the talk of the town for some time now, 2022 could be the year adaptogenic mushrooms make it into the wellness mainstream. Celebrated and cultivated more than ever before, people all around the world are starting to hear more and more about the health benefits of certain types of fungi.
Reishi, Lion’s Mane, Cordyceps, Chaga are all adaptogenic mushrooms with a plethora of health benefits from a strengthened immune system to reducing the effects of stress in the body. Incorporating adaptogenic mushrooms into your lifestyle might help you to significantly boost your health in 2022.
While it’s still quite difficult to buy these mushrooms fresh ( I only recently saw them at a farmer’s market in Seattle), they are, however, readily available in powdered form which you can buy from a health food store or Whole Foods. Always read the labels to make sure they don’t contain any nasty additives. I personally love this Master Blend from Om.
FOUR SIGMATIC
Defend Mushroom Blend Mix
$25.99
OM
Mushroom Master Blend
$17.95
FOUR SIGMATIC
Mushroom Cacao Mix with Reishi
$15.99
Slow Travel
The beginning of the 2020 global pandemic saw many of us banished from company offices to our home offices working remotely. When travel opened back up again, we realised that we could actually travel while also working remotely, turning many of us into digital nomads.
This phenomenon really kicked off the start of the slow travel movement that’s becoming more and more popular today with so many of us finding different ways to work online and travel the world at the same time.
Slow travel is travelling slowly. It’s also intentional and conscious travel. It’s about the connection between yourself and place and about taking the time to discover each new destination in detail, the people and the culture.
The slow travel movement is an anecdote to the fast-paced world we live in today. It’s about finding a balance between work and travel by doing both at the same time.
To some people, slow travel can be about going back to the essence of travel and about raw experiences being the main focus of travel. It can also be about recognising that travel isn’t a race and the more countries you visit doesn’t make you a better person. It’s also about slowing down and savouring every moment because, let’s face it, those beautiful moments on that stunning beach in Hawaii won’t last forever.
So, if you work remotely why not take your work on the road and begin travelling slowly. Start by choosing a destination, booking a VRBO rental for a month, travel slowly and embrace this wellness trend in 2022.
Read more: What is Slow Travel and Reasons Why you Should Try It
Fitness-Tracking Wearables
Technology is gaining more and more popularity and anything that moves fitness into the future certainly has my attention. Wearables have grown in popularity and function every year and they’ll probably continue to get more and more popular into 2022.
Remember those days when it was just about impossible to check your heart rate at the gym without strapping yourself to a complex and expensive machine? Well, those days are definitely over. We now have so much information available to us that plays a vital role in our fitness and wellness journey.
The Apple Watch 7.0 series not only tracks your heart rate but also has a blood oxygen sensor to help detect viruses and illnesses. The FitBit Versa 3 works in a similar way. The Oura Ring is another wearable that offers key health metrics like body temperature, respiratory rate and sleep quality.
We are finally seeing technology coming together to help promote more holistic approaches to wellness by giving us the smart information we need to make better health choices.
APPLE
Apple Watch Series 7, GPS Starlight
$349.99
OURA
Oura Ring Generation 3, Silver
$299
Mindful Eating
While meditation and mindfulness hit the mainstream circa 2017, mindful eating is still a concept many of us are still exploring today.
Touted for not only its spiritual benefits but also the physical benefits of better digestion, staying fuller for longer and strengthening the connection between our food and our bodies, mindful eating is set to be a wellness trend in 2022.
Mindful eating involves combining mindfulness meditation practices with eating. When we meditate with mindfulness in mind, we sit consciously, aware of our surroundings, listening to the noises and sounds around us promoting us to be here in the now, in the present moment. The same principles are applied to eating when practising mindful eating.
When preparing a meal we might savour the texture, the colour and the process of washing, chopping and cooking our meal. When eating, mindful eating involves eating slowly, noting the colours on our plate, the textures of food as we chew them and the different tastes of each meal or ingredient.
Mindful eating also pays close attention to chewing food properly which in turn aids with digestion, reduced bloating and other digestive issues. Mindful eating also encourages a stronger connection between ourselves and our food and the way we prepare it, encouraging healthy practices.
SAVOUR
Mindful Eating, Mindful Life, Paperback
$14.59
THE KINFOLK TABLE
Kinfolk Table Recipes, Hardcover
$23.49
Immune Health
It’s fair to say that in the last couple of years we’ve had a good earful about immune health and this will probably continue for some time still. It’s no surprise that a global pandemic has us taking immune health a little more seriously than before.
Rightly so, immune health is so important for fighting viruses and free radicals and for keeping our bodies healthy and strong. Simply put, the stronger your immune system the less sick you’ll be if you catch a cold or any other virus.
More than half the American population focused on their health and wellness in the last year alone due to wanting to live a long and healthy life. There are so many things we can do today to foster wellness and promote better immune health within us and we can split these up into food and drink, exercise and alternative therapies that promote wellness.
By focusing on eating a more organic, natural and plant-rich diet we can make sure our bodies are getting all the nutrients they need. It’s also a good idea to supplement what you might be lacking through your diet- just make sure to speak with your physician first.
Exercise keeps our heart, mind and body healthy and the extra weight off. However, there are more and more therapies gaining popularity around the world and will continue to be a popular wellness trend 2022. More people have shown interest in red light therapy, IV therapy, injection therapy ( of vitamin shots), infrared saunas and a variety of various detox programs that help to cleanse the body and support the immune system.
Which ones will you try in 2022?
Gua Shua
We first heard about Gua Shua – the latest Tiktok skincare trend, last year and we really love it for its skin benefits.
Gua Shua is an ancient Chinese medicinal practice that stands for ‘scratch’ and ‘sand’, the sand being the spots on the skin formed after the removal of bacteria and impurities accumulating overtime on the skin.
The technique implies using a smooth, angled tool, normally made from jade or metal plates and applying it in ‘scratching’ movements across the face.
Gua Shua is said to increase circulation in the blood vessels on the face promoting health. Other benefits also include improving lymphatic drainage and decreasing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
Gua Shua isn’t just for the face however, these centuries-old techniques can also be applied to the body where they can heal or relieve tension from muscles and untangle knotted areas, just like a massage would.
GUA SHUA
Natural Jade Stone Gua Shua
$8.99
JUNE BERRY
Rose Quartz Face Roller & Gua Shua
$15.99
Tracking Sleep
There’s no denying the importance of sleep health and with improvements in health-focused technology, it’s now never been easier to track your sleep patterns without having to check into a specialised sleep clinic. Tracking sleep is geared up to be one of the biggest wellness trends 2022 has to offer.
This new trend in tracking our sleep shows us just how important sleep is when it comes to overall wellness. The truth is, it’s not just about how many hours you may have slept at night, what’s also becoming more and more apparent is the quality of our sleep. This is generally not something we are always aware of, especially when it comes to bad quality sleep we don’t necessarily wake up from.
In 2022 we’ll see the continued emergence of many more apps and wearables that can help with tracking the quality of our sleep and the important vitals we need to pay attention to in order to get the beauty sleep we desire.
We can already track sleep basics on the Apple Watch Series 3 and up but there are many other great wearables that are even better for sleep tracking from wristbands to sleep tracker pads that go under the mattress.
They can measure the typical metrics like sleep stages, quality and durations and some even go so far as to measure room humidity, air purity and CO2 levels that can contribute to sleep disturbances. Pretty cool, right?
APPLE
Apple Watch Series 7, GPS Starlight
$349.99
WITHINGS
Under the Mattress Sleep Tracking Pad
$99.95
Biohacking
One of the wellness trends 2022 is embracing, especially all over Instagram is biohacking.
While concepts and elements of biohacking have been around for a really long time it’s biohacking as a concept that is really starting to take off nowadays.
Biohacking is all about making lifestyle changes that fully take advantage of your body’s biology to make you feel your best- basically hacking your biology to your advantage.
By becoming your own health and wellness expert and knowing how your own body and mind function best, you can use this knowledge to transform your body and mind to feel more productive, more energised and overall, the best possible version of you.
Some examples of biohacking are creating a morning routine that fits your needs, eating the foods that best benefit your body and exercising in a way that fits your lifestyle and benefits you the most.
Journaling
As a form of self-care itself, the ritual of journaling can encourage us to find new ways to look after ourselves and new ways to think about what we already have. In order to be happy and healthy, we need to check in with ourselves daily in order to see how we are doing in body and in mind and adopt the necessary practices needed to stay focused, grounded, inspired and healthy, both mentally and physically.
Journalling can help us with organising our thoughts and feelings. It can help us to figure out how we really feel about things and what we need to work on to become better people.
On the other hand, certain types of journaling, like gratitude journaling can really help us to appreciate what we have. By practising gratitude we become aware of the small things, the everyday things that we shouldn’t take for granted and by realising what we have and how much, gives us a space where we can feel rich, fulfilled and much happier than we would otherwise.
With journaling getting more and more popular each day, it’s safe to say that for the journaling wellness trends 2022 will be another great year.
Read more: Self Care Journal Prompts for Better Living
INTELLIGENT CHANGE
The 5-Minute Journal
$33.99
INSIGHT EDITIONS
Day & Night Gratitude Reflection Journal
$13.59
Wellness Travel
Not only is wellness, in general, becoming more and more popular as people catch on to the importance of health, wellness travel is also the fastest growing sector in travel.
While wellness travel means different things to different people, it’s generally seen as travelling or going on a trip that has some benefits to your health.
This could be spending some time resting in a wellness-focused resort, going on a hiking trip or fitness vacation, going on a meditation and yoga retreat or learning about ancient ancestral practices of a country that can benefit your own health back home e.g Ayurveda.
Making travel more and more meaningful is definitely on-trend nowadays but making it about wellness is something that will take off in the next years to come, we hope.
Read more: Wellness Holidays | How To Incorporate More Wellness Into Your Travels
Collagen
The buzziest supplement to hit the market in 2021, it’s safe to say the collagen hype is just beginning for this 2022 wellness trend. The collagen market is growing at an extremely high rate and unlike other supplement trends that have failed in the past, it looks like science has backed this one.
Clinical trials about collagen have uncovered its potential benefits for the skin as well as bone and joint health. It’s been shown that taking collagen daily, as a supplement can help with skin hydration, elasticity, and wrinkles, decreasing the appearance of ageing over time.
Other studies have shown that collagen can also improve strength, reduce joint pain and aid to speed up recovery.
I’ve personally been taking collagen in my morning coffee for the last 6 months and I’ve definitely seen an improvement in my skin. Just make sure that if you’re vegan or plant-based you read the packaging carefully as most collagen peptide powders come from bovine sources. Below are my two favourite plant-based brands.
ORA
Vegan Collagen Powder 10 oz /300g.
$34.99
SUN WARRIOR
Vegan Collagen Building Protein Peptides 2.2 lb/1kg
$64.97
VITAL PROTEINS
Bovine Collagen Creamer (Coconut), Dairy Free, 10 oz/300g
$25.49
Holistic Wellness Approaches
Now more than ever before we are looking for more holistic approaches to health and wellness. The holistic approach to health is more about considering the person as a whole in regards to their physical, mental and spiritual health. It’s about acknowledging that all these parts of our being are related and that one will adversely have an effect on the other.
A holistic approach celebrates integrative lifestyle practises and choices and alternative medicines in order to enhance wellness rather than just treat symptoms when they come up.
Holistic approaches to health are more and more common nowadays and it’s not difficult to find a holistic wellness coach or doctor that can help you on your journey. This won’t just be a wellness trend 2022, this one is here to stay.
Let me know all your questions and comments about wellness trends 2022 below or feel free to email me by heading to the Contact Me page.
Read more related to wellness trends 2022:
How Does CBD Oil Make You Feel & Its Amazing Benefits
Top Gratitude Journal Prompts for Mental Wellbeing
The Best Non Toxic Deodorants That Really Work
The Benefits of Confidence and High Self Esteem & How to Achieve Them (For Life & Travel)
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Justine
Have you heard of the Access Consciousness Bars? this could be a great one to include if you do this again for 2023
Alex
JustineYes! I totally agree!