With every new year comes new year’s resolutions as many see Jan. 1 as the perfect starting date for their journey of reinvention and improvement. Although new year’s resolutions are the cause of overcrowded gyms, cringey Instagram posts and diet fads, individuals working to better their lives should not be seen as a negative.
However, in recent years, there has been an increase in attention around wellness and the wellness industry. According to Statistica, a data gathering and visualization platform, the 2023 health and wellness market size was estimated around $6.2 trillion U.S dollars and is set to reach almost $8.5 trillion by 2027.
There is no doubt that much of the money pumped into this industry is necessary to maintain and improve the wellness of people worldwide. But with any multi-trillion-dollar enterprise, when does it become excessive?
The notion of toxic wellness has proven to be a result of the wellness industries’ excess.
It refers to the idea that striving for a better, or more well, version of yourself is a perpetual journey that can never be completed. In recent years, social media and by extension, businesses — have fixated on an ideal image of wellness that, in my opinion, has morphed into an obsession. Instead of encouraging genuine wellness, we are seeing toxic wellness trends thrust upon the average person daily.
Wellness, as we know it, is a relatively modern concept. The Global Wellness Institute defines it as “the active pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health.” The Global Wellness Institute also says that wellness, according to the prior definition, was used from the 1950s onwards.
A BBC feature about the evolution of wellness pinpoints the 2000s as the time when wellness trends began to take over. They note that workplace wellness programs, a boom in fitness and spa centres, celebrity wellness brands and an increase in self-help experts all emerged rapidly following the millennium.
I am not suggesting that wellness trends, such as spas, fitness centres and self-help guides are the sole contributor to the notion of toxic wellness. Instead, I believe that the rise of social media, lifestyle influencers and ever-changing trends has led to toxic wellness being disguised simply as ‘wellness’.
TikTok is a major contributor to this. On the platform, #wellness has over 3.7 million posts with close to 16 billion views. With this popularity, content creators are capitalizing on the success of wellness trends and using their platforms to promote products that are promised to improve the wellbeing of their followers.
But with the success of wellness content creation, influencers subject their followers to a toxic cycle of wellness. In this cycle, consumers are encouraged to purchase the overpriced and “must-need” wellness product peddled by the influencer to achieve the supposed same state of wellbeing they are in. This is never enough, and a short time later you will be encouraged to buy into a new product or service.
Popular wellness brand Goop, started by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, is an excellent example of a business that promotes this toxic cycle. On the brand’s website, customers can purchase a $2,000 gemstone filled yoga mat, a $80 rose quarts filled water bottle or a $4,000 red light therapy sauna all in the name of wellness.
To promote their version of wellness and gain millions of views, content creators showcase unattainable wellness routines. Expensive workout classes, a multi-step thousand dollar skin care routine and exclusive massages are all promoted as wellness essentials.
Through this, the average viewer is left worrying that their own affordable, normal and effective wellness efforts are not enough.
Graphic by Rytham Sahini.
