PoB Hotels reveals top 10 spa & wellness trends for 2023
9 May 2023
Long gone are the days when the word ‘wellness’ simply meant booking yourself in for a massage, or ushering in a spate of healthy eating.
Wellness in 2023 is a holistic and all-encompassing term that touches on many more facets of life, from mental wellbeing to sleep, hormone health to tracking technology. For people who want to ‘get well’ there are many paths to travel and many rabbit holes in which to get lost. Drawing on some of the most exciting new experiences and recent health breakthroughs, we have rounded up our top wellness trends for 2023, to help you navigate the ever-expanding wellness industry and design your own wellness journey to make this one your healthiest year yet, from the inside out.
1. The Deepest Sleep
The benefits of quality sleep are no secret by now, so whether you suffer from insomnia, can’t seem to find the time to prioritise catching those zzzs, or feel like you’re constantly lacking energy, we know the importance of sleep and how it affects all aspects of our everyday lives; from our mood, to our food choices, and our motivation to exercise. Taking sleep health one step further, sleep syncing has seen a rise in popularity in recent months and is a concept that encourages you to tune into your body’s natural circadian rhythm, adapting your daily routine to match the natural wants and needs of the body. Rather than relying on an alarm clock, the internal body clock is trained to follow a routine of sleeping and waking that is perfectly tailored to you - something so simple and yet one that has yet has been shunned in favour of artificial alarms and lights for decades. Not only will your sleep quality improve once you start to naturally sync, you’ll notice energy levels rising and a holistic feeling of health and alignment in your whole body.
2. Hormone Health
It may sound obvious to say that our bodies are not consistent year to year, month to month, or even day to day, but often our health and wellness routines don’t reflect the fluctuations in our bodies, our moods, and our hormones. For women especially, hormone cycles can and should dictate workout routines, and accordingly there has been a recent spike in popularity for working with the body rather than against it, listening to its monthly cycle and responding. In addition, eating for hormone health can affect your overall wellbeing and impact your energy levels and responses to certain foods. Glucose-tracking in particular has been touted as the next big trend for those trying to personalise their diet and exercise according to their cycles, with companies such as healthtech start-up Ultrahuman creating a wearable device to assist tracking, allowing us to work in conjunction with our bodies more easily than ever before.
3. Natural Highs
While CBD and medicinal cannabis has been on the wellness radar for a few years now, with spas introducing CBD led treatments and products, wellness companies are now focusing on other natural ingredients that ignite natural highs and calming effects. Enter: the humble mushroom, set to match CBD and collagen in popularity and demand this year. Not only are mushrooms popular ingredients for vegetarians, vegans, and sustainability trailblazers, but increasingly for wellness companies, who are utilising shrooms alongside other adaptogens in order to enhance their stress and burnout reducing qualities, and boost energy, relaxation, immunity, and more. Whether it’s a mushroom latte, shroom teas, or a full on psychedelic retreat, it’s time to embrace those natural highs.
4. Going Sober
Complimenting the ever-widening search for these natural highs and anxiety reducing ingredients is a boom in sober travel as a part of wellness experiences, and a general shunning of alcohol. While a glass of fizz during a relaxing spa day never goes amiss, sobriety is certainly being taken more seriously and sampled in the mainstream. With the rise in non-alcoholic alternatives such as No-Secco and Seedlip gin, sober samplers are spoilt for choice, and sobriety is suddenly just as fun as indulging in a large glass of wine, not to mention much healthier. Non-alcohlic pairing menus and mocktail menus are ensuring this wellness trend stays firmly on the map.
5. Skin Nutrition
We only have one skin, and we have it for life, so why don’t we take better care of it? While skin products such as retinol and at-home techniques such as Gua Sha and jade rollers have burst onto the scene in recent years, the fact that skin health is not just skin deep is something beauty brands are only just tapping into. Eating for your skin is something the author of Happy Skin Kitchen, Elisa Rossi, is championing, and the realisation that a healthy lifestyle and natural products can go much further than expensive products and potions in prepping skin for life is one the wellness community are slowly but surely coming to. Restaurants in spas such as Nu Sana at Rockliffe Hall or Cottonmill Spa at Sopwell House are now prioritising those ingredients that will leave guests looking and feeling their best, in the knowledge that wellness can’t be left in the treatment room, but must take centre stage on the plate.
6. Lymphatic Drainage
It may sound intrusive and scarily scientific, but lymphatic drainage is actually a very straightforward practice that promises to de-bloat and realign the body - it’s no wonder people are booking in their massages in droves. Through working on the surface level of the skin during massage using a specialised technique, the process helps to drain the lymph nodes and carry waste products away from the tissue and back towards the heart. Not only does this reduce bloating and flush out toxins, it is also one of the only natural ways to reduce the appearance of cellulite and promise a smoother, more buffed and polished outward appearance.
7. Mind Fitness
The rise in conversations about mental health taking centre stage is a seriously positive development in the wellness world over the past few years. Now, mental and physical therapists are coming together to offer collaborative workshops that target both the brain and the body simultaneously. While people have been working out in order to change the shape and size of their bodies for centuries now, the ability to change the shape and structure of your brain is still little known, and little explored in the mainstream. Neuroplasticity proves just this: by opening up to new experiences and learnings, you can train your brain to work in different ways, so it’s no surprise therapists are ushering in this new attitude to mental health that has been part of our approach to physical health for so long. Long live the brain trainers!
8. Yo-tox
Another natural remedy to a problem that has long been approached with intrusive methods of solution, yoga for the face is set to replace botox this year. The benefits of yoga are well documented, and now people are realising that it's not just the muscles in their bodies that need to be given a stretch once in a while. Face yoga encourages people to massage and exercise the skin and muscles on the face in order to relieve tension, stimulate the lymphatic system, and soften the overall appearance of the face. With benefits both internal and external, it’s no wonder brands like Face Gym are taking the country by storm, and hotels are taking up yo-tox practices too. The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa offers a Totally Quenched & Drenched facial, which utilises lymphatic draining massage techniques on the face to eliminate tension and fine lines, all without an ounce of collagen.
9. Resetting Your Nervous System
Since going through the years of the pandemic, many people are turning inwards and looking to take their health into their own hands. One of the big trends evidencing this is the desire to learn how to reset your own nervous system. Stress and trauma can cause the nervous system to become dysregulated, which often leads to pain, fatigue, and depression. Somato-emotional release techniques are being touted as ways to identify and release negative emotions that have become trapped in the body and caused the dysregulation. These techniques include a variety of breathwork, vocal work, and self massage, which allow people to reset their own nervous system and guide themselves through the toughest of times. To kickstart your nervous system reset, many spas now offer sessions to guide you through these techniques for the first time, including Seaham Hall’s Serenity Spa, where a targeted hypnotherapy session is sure to set you on the path in a sensitive and supportive environment.
10. Gender-inclusive Beauty
We all know that looking beautiful can make us feel beautiful on the inside, and we’re lucky to live in a world where beauty now means a host of different things, and isn’t applied to one type of appearance. Beauty brands are cottoning onto this, with trailblazers like Jecca Blac paving the way for gender-inclusive beauty products that can be used by anyone and everyone, and mainstream brands such as Aesop and Mac quickly following suit. While people of all genders have been passionate about makeup for years, we’re finally celebrating it in the mainstream, and opening up the world of beauty to whoever wants to feel their most beautiful.
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