Wellness as Politics

Wellness no longer stays politely in the background. It now appears in politics, lifestyle platforms, product design, and the comment sections underneath them. As it spreads, so does its meaning.

Back in the spring, I came across an article titled Tanning Becoming Political and wondered what the connection could be. It turned out that tanning salons were being granted a tax break in the U.S.- part of a Republican bill, placed right alongside cuts to Medicare. There was no public health justification. Tanning, as a beauty preference, was simply protected. A niche aesthetic tied to regional norms and political identity was about to become part of formal policy. Aesthetic choice, elevated to political signal. (Though the repeal did not survive in the final version of the bill).

In July, the New York Times published Is Pilates Political? It questioned whether body ideals reveal political preferences or whether our ideals shape the spaces we occupy. A viral post about uniform bodies in boutique Pilates studios sparked debate on class, race, and identity. Wellness spaces, it seemed, are built around more than core strength.

Wellness has also become entangled with misinformation. As health advice spreads through social media, the gap between personal belief and public health guidelines is widening. What begins as a wellness tip can drift into distrust and is now sometimes echoed by political figures shaping national health policy. Even yoga, once shorthand for openness and calm, has become more complex. Since the pandemic, some yoga and wellness spaces have become entry points into anti-establishment thinking, health misinformation, and conspiratorial belief systems. The BBC raised this question already in 2021.

Interestingly, politics seems to link to our wellbeing even more profoundly. Recent studies show people with strong ideological beliefs, especially conservative ones, often report higher wellbeing even when their actual health metrics are similar to others. It suggests wellness is influenced as much by belief as by behaviour.

These dynamics become even more visible in current debates around transgender participation in sports, where wellness becomes a proxy for political identity, bodily autonomy, and the right to belong. How are binary norms still guiding our understanding of health, bodies, and who wellness is meant for?

Performative Perfection & Precision

Kim Kardashian’s brand Skims launched facial shapewear this week - a neutral-toned mask designed to lift the jawline, smooth the chin, and reshape facial structure. It sold out immediately. Looks and youth remain currency. Plastic surgery is now spoken about more openly, and celebrities are praised for admitting to edits or enhancements. It’s framed as a new kind of honesty but also raises a quiet question: is this rebellion, or refinement of the same machine?

At the same time, face yoga continues to trend as a softer, body-positive alternative. Both are sold as self-care, yet the logic remains corrective. The goal is still to change how you look, not how you feel.

Elsewhere, a very different strand of wellness is gaining ground. Creatine, fibre-maxxing, supplement stacks, and cold plunges are now part of a hyper-optimised daily routine shared on TikTok and YouTube. The focus is not on recovery or reflection, but on efficiency, productivity, and measurable gains. Wellness becomes another space to compete. Less about wellbeing, more about performance.

This performance mindset is supported by our digital wellness tools. Much of wellness is now experienced through devices. Apps for sleep, focus, breathing, and mood tracking are widely used. They promise calm and clarity often from the same screens that fragment our attention. At the same time, we are seeing a wave of gadgets aimed at regulating the body itself. The vagus nerve, for example, has become a new frontier. A handheld stimulator claims to soothe the nervous system and reduce stress. These tools blur the lines between self-care, biohacking, and low-level medical tech.

Another rising current is hormonal wellness especially around menopause and midlife transitions. Once whispered about, it’s now more visible. New brands, digital services, and medical start-ups are targeting women with products and support. It’s wellness linked to age, gender, and visibility. Not about fixing, but about finally acknowledging what has long been overlooked. Who is wellness designed for? Whose needs are just now being taken seriously?

Wellness at Work

Wellness has also been a workplace topic. Once focused on gym cards and fruit baskets, it now touches mental health, neurodivergence, hormonal cycles, and even nervous system regulation. Language like “burnout,” “executive function,” or “energy management” has entered everyday work conversations. There is growing recognition that wellbeing isn’t a perk, it’s a condition for functioning and productivity.

Still, many programmes fall short. Meditation apps are offered, while workloads remain unchanged. The workplace wellness conversation often stops at the surface. But deeper shifts are underway. Hormonal tracking apps are being used to optimise work rhythms. Nervous system language like “vagal tone” or “regulation” is entering coaching. The body has quietly become part of how we talk about productivity.

Inclusive Wellness

Still, there are counternarratives. A new book about wellness by Dr James Riley argue for reclaiming wellness’s political roots - its origins in feminist and community movements. Today it is often aesthetic, individualised, and commercial. But what might more inclusive, structural, and equitable wellness look like now? What would it feel like if care was not conditional on performance or exclusivity?

At the same time, some of the most grounding forms of wellness draw from simple, sensory connection. Water, heat and cold, light, forests and trees — these are present in many traditions around the world. In Japan, shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, has long been recognised as a formal practice for restoring wellbeing through time spent in nature. In Finland, similar elements are part of daily life through sauna culture and seasonal swimming, often shared and low-barrier - free or public. These practices remind us that wellness doesn’t always need to be invented or optimised, sometimes it’s already there, woven into rhythm and place.

Some newer initiatives are deepening these traditions. Terhen, a Finnish sauna and wellbeing collective, blends ancient ritual with contemporary design and sensory practices. Their approach is both grounded and thoughtful, rooted in nature, community, and slow rhythms. It reminds us that wellness doesn’t need to be invented. Sometimes it needs to be remembered.

Spiritual Wellness

Another layer of wellness is expanding. Not always religious, but centred on meaning, ritual, and the inner life. Globally, spiritual wellness is now a 9.6 billion dollar market. The category includes everything from intention-setting journals and breathwork apps to prayer beads and manifestation candles.

In China, Gen Z is shaping what some now call a new spiritual economy. Practices like tarot, astrology, and incense are part of everyday routines. In the West, similar tools are often sold alongside supplements and skincare. Crystals, sound baths, and oracle cards have become part of a broader lifestyle that blends intuition, self-reflection, and ambient calm.

Gender patterns shape this space in different ways. Men, in some regions, lean toward structured forms like church, organised religion, or philosophy-driven routines. And at the same time many young women leave traditional religious spaces, some are turning toward more intuitive or individual forms of spiritual connection - ones that feel more personal, inclusive, or emotionally grounded.The forms may differ, but the underlying need seems shared. A way to feel rooted, seen, connected to something beyond the self.

Emotional and relational care are also part of this inner terrain, though less visibly. Loneliness, uncertainty, and the need for connection often sit behind wellness choices, even when the language stays focused on appearance or productivity. Increasingly, people are turning to AI tools for support - not just for sleep or focus, but to process relationships, handle conflict, or explore therapy-like conversations. The lines between wellness, tech, and emotional care are starting to blur.

Whether symbolic or structured, these practices point to something often left out of wellness. The search for grounding. Not just feeling better, but making sense of what matters.

Wellness as Aesthetic

Wellness also moves through lifestyle and aesthetics. What we wear, how our spaces look, and what rituals we share all signal something about how we want to feel or be seen.

Athleisure continues to hold cultural weight. It offers the appearance of ease, health, and readiness — a body in balance, even when still. What began as functional clothing has become a soft uniform for everyday optimisation. The aesthetic remains, even as some of the original voices behind it move on.

On social media, Pilates girls have become shorthand for a certain kind of lifestyle. Toned, calm, minimal. The look is as important as the workout. Pale sets, slicked hair, green juice, reformer studios lit like skincare ads. It is less about exercise, more about atmosphere. Wellness as quiet status.

That atmosphere is being carefully designed. Around the world, wellness spaces now focus as much on visual identity as on care. Sculptural saunas, beige-toned cryo lounges, spa cafés styled like concept stores. In Dubai, a recent two-day pop-up by Dove and Paus combined branded rituals with aesthetic backdrops, made to be experienced and shared. Wellness, in these contexts, becomes not just something you feel but something you step into. Curated, photographed, and remembered.

Beauty and wellness are becoming closely linked, especially through the spaces and experiences that surround them. Fashion is beginning to enter this territory, using wellness to expand its reach and deepen its atmosphere. In New York, Dior has opened a spa inside its flagship boutique. The treatments focus on skin, stress, and lymphatic health, offering care that blends cosmetic results with sensory restoration. Wellness becomes part of the fashion experience, designed to reflect the same values of care, refinement, and self-expression.

Other trends suggest a different kind of aspiration. Grandmacore, a slower movement built on nostalgic aesthetics, has also gained visibility. Knitting, birdwatching, tea rituals, simple domestic joys. A pace that resists striving. It is often described as mindful, even healing. Perhaps it reflects a longing for softness, familiarity, and care.

At another end of the spectrum, Meghan Markle’s brand As Ever presents a curated lifestyle of gentle uplift. Aimed largely at millennial women, it speaks of inspiration, everyday joy, and small rituals of personal care. Crafted to elevate your everyday, the tagline says. Not quite grandmacore, but perhaps circling the same desire to feel good in simple, beautiful ways.

Even as wellness is branded and styled, the atmosphere often speaks louder than the function. In a world shaped by distraction and visual noise, aesthetics can offer a kind of structure. Not only to show who we are, but to create a mood we want to stay in.

Realistic Wellness

Access also matters. Much of modern wellness is expensive from boutique classes to supplements to skincare to tech-enabled calm. Economic access shapes the paths available. Who gets to optimise, and who is left managing? Managing stress, symptoms, or survival without access to the same tools. Increasingly, money defines which spaces people can enter, how they are treated, and what kind of care is considered standard.

At the same time, a quieter version of wellness is emerging. Less about upgrades and more about rest. Not everything needs to be optimised. Sometimes the most sustainable form of self-care is one that feels ordinary, repeatable, even lazy.

For companies, whether in wellness or not, this matters. Wellness may not be your core business, but the way people perceive identity, appearance, control, or belonging increasingly shapes expectations in product design, customer care, brand positioning, and experience strategy.

Relevance is not found by chasing wellness trends. It is found by noticing how meaning shifts, and choosing, with intention, where you stand in that shift.

Questions for Business and Brand Leaders

• What subtle cues are shaping your industry?

• What expectations are starting to shift?

• What feels newly relevant?

• Where is your attention drawn lately?

• What kind of care does your brand signal?

These were just a few of the signals that surfaced in our feed, in our bubble. The topic is broader, with more layers, examples, and contradictions worth noticing. At Vivian White, we help businesses make sense of what’s ahead and explore the opportunities it could open up.