Deep Marwaha is active in the wellness/fitness tourism industry.

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Tag: meditation

Deep Marwaha- How to implement wellness into your everyday life

How to Implement Wellness Into Your Everyday Life

Wellness tourism is taking off around the world, with centers dedicated exclusively to wellness opening up to offer travelers a spectrum of health-oriented activities including fitness and sports, spa treatments, nutritious dining options, yoga, meditation, stress relief, and health education. Some already-established hotels are implementing wellness into their accommodations while other centers dedicated exclusively to wellness retreats are becoming increasingly common. If you have the means to visit a wellness facility, I highly encourage it as it can be a life-changing experience and has impacted my entire life for the better, but you don’t have to travel the world or spend a lot of money to experience wellness. Or, if you have been to a wellness facility and witnessed its wonders, the wellness activities shouldn’t end when you return home. You can implement wellness into your everyday life.

It may be difficult to stop and take time for yourself when you’re busy with your daily routine- work, errands, doctor’s appointments, etc. But wellness should not be a choice, but a requirement. Make your health a priority and it will improve your overall outlook on life. You may not have the fancy yoga studios, spas, pools, and team sports that a wellness facility offers within your own home, but it’s not hard to make the most of your resources and practice wellness every day. Here are some suggestions to start you off:

Practice Meditation

Meditation can be really difficult to stick to for newcomers. I get that. It’s hard to shut out your surroundings and focus only on yourself when there are so many things running through your mind and going on around you. Did I remember to pay that bill? I can’t forget to make dinner reservations!  I need to prepare for that call this afternoon! I have to pick Johnny up from soccer practice after school. And so on and so on. However, meditation is a natural antidote for a range of mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression, and is medically-proven to reduce stress and lower blood pressure. If you start to make it a habit, it becomes easier, and there are a plethora of books and apps available to help you out. 

Listen to music

According to Huffington Post, music has been shown to reduce stress, aid in memory retention, improve your immune system, motivate you to exercise, and even decrease physical pain. So plug in and unwind. Whether you take time each day to completely zone out to music or you listen to it at work, you will start to see the positive effects. Music with a slow tempo and low pitch (without loud instrumentals or lyrics) is best for reducing stress.

Visit a spa

Unless you live in the middle of nowhere, you’re probably only a few minutes away from a spa. If you can afford it, schedule monthly massages to loosen your tense muscles and focus on any problem areas. If you can’t afford a monthly spa visit, then pamper yourself at home! Simply purchase a yoga massage ball or foam roller for a diy massage. Soak in a warm bath for 20 minutes for further relaxation and stress reduction.

Exercise

Exercise seems more like a chore to most people than a fun activity and I know how difficult it can be to make it a part of one’s daily routine. Motivating yourself to get to the gym after a long day of work when you’d much rather collapse onto your couch is no easy task. But there are so many ways to implement exercise into your life, whether it’s a 15-minute YouTube workout video before work, a class at the gym, or a morning run, find something that works for you and stick to it. You may not have a fitness coach pushing you like you would at a wellness facility, but you can be your own advocate.

Connect with your surroundings

A huge draw of wellness tourism is the opportunity to escape from one’s daily life and bask in a new, distraction-free environment. Simply take a walk and breathe in the fresh air, admire the greenery and flowers, and listen to the birds.

Schedule time to relax into your day

This may seem overly-simple and obvious, but actually writing a time for relaxation into your schedule will make you more likely to do it. Writing your goals and tasks down has been proven to make them more likely to happen. Practice good time management and schedule time into your day, even it’s just a few minutes during work, to de-compress with a book or a walk around the block.

These are just some of the many ways you can implement wellness into your everyday life. Taking a wellness vacation is likely to be a transformative experience, as it was for me, but wellness can start in your own home.

Deep Marwaha- Trends in Wellness Tourism

Trends in Wellness Tourism

Once a luxury reserved for the rich and famous, wellness retreats are taking off at an astonishing rate, with facilities promoting health and wellness popping up all over the world. Those unfamiliar with the booming wellness tourism industry may think that taking a vacation and staying healthy while on holiday simply don’t mesh; who wants to to worry about eating healthy and fitting in exercise when the very idea of a vacation is to pamper yourself and get away from all your worries?

Well, wellness tourism, defined as travel for the purpose of promoting health and wellbeing through physical, psychological, or spiritual activities, allows for the best of both worlds. My life was transformed when I took a trip to a Thai wellness facility in 2015, encouraging me to lead a healthier and more mindful lifestyle, so I want to ensure that others are aware of all the exciting opportunities available to them to do the same.

Wellness tourism can be considered a new sector of the travel industry, in that it exploded into a $494 billion industry between 2012 and 2013, growing 12.7 percent in just a year. It is expected to reach $680 billion this year, according to the Global Wellness Summit. Wellness tourism is no longer just about luxurious spa retreats the average person cannot afford. According to Anne Banas, executive editor of SmarterTravel, “Back in the day, wellness travel was focused on the notion of spas. But now, it’s really expanded into this area of experiential travel, with a combination of well-being, fitness, and soulful, spiritual experiences as well as working on the mind-body connection. Connecting to local community is also a big part of it.”

So what exactly does wellness tourism look like? It varies based on the facility or travel company, but generally it is the movement of various players within the travel industry, such as hotels and even travel agents and airports, acting to provide travelers a more enriching and holistic experience. Wellness vacations seek to fulfill the notion of a unique travel experience through offering everything from classic yoga retreats and spa packages, to fitness camps, agro-tourism, and cycling trips.

As the wellness tourism sector is still in its infancy, the term not even being in use six years ago, we can expect to see some exciting developments underway as the trend makes its way to the mainstream. Here are some things to look out for in the near future:

Hotels

Hotels all around the world are jumping on the wellness tourism bandwagon, with many offering fitness, spa, and healthy cuisine packages in additional to the traditional amenities. For instance, major hotel and resort chains such as Hilton, Marriott ands Four Seasons have started offering guests additional services such as walking tours, yoga classes, healthy food options, and even fitness gear available for rent. Some hotel chains, such as IHG, Starwood, and InterContinental have even launched their own wellness hotel brands.

Cruises

Cruises are often already a relaxing getaway within themselves, but now many are offering activities and cuisine choices dedicated exclusively to wellness. The luxurious Regent Seven Seas Explorer cruise, for example, has a full-service spa onboard offering a range of wellness activities such as yoga, a thermal suite, and exclusive body treatments. Other cruise lines, such as Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection and Un-Cruise Adventures, offer both onboard wellness options (such as fitness instructors and classes) and off board wellness options (such as kayaking and snorkeling).

Airports

Believe it or not, you can be health-conscious even while waiting for your flight at the airport! You may think the only food options at airports are greasy fast food joints and the only exercise you’ll be doing is running down the terminal to board your plane in time, but that mindset is a thing of the past. Not every airport is on board yet, but many offer lounges, trails, and fitness equipment so you can stay relaxed and energized while waiting for your flight. Major airports like Chicago O’Hare and Heathrow now offer quiet rooms for practicing yoga and meditation, and many have exercise options as well, such as the Phoenix Sky Harbor International airport which has an indoor fitness trail overlooking the mountainous terrain.

Travel Agencies/ consultants

Some travel agents have even dedicated themselves to the wellness tourism trend, with agents planning custom trips for clients interested in unique wellness experiences. To help advisors become experts in wellness tourism, travel site Virtuoso has created a community to connect travel agents with wellness-focused hotels, cruise lines, tourism boards, and tour companies.
Feeling ready for a relaxing and healthful getaway? Look no further than the wellness tourism industry. A holistic vacation is more attainable than you may think.

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