Wellness. A term that entered our lexicon only a few years ago but is already a booming industry and a feature of daily life. In our pursuit of individual well-being, are we actually creating further harm?
Before we dive in, I do want to flag that there are probably some things in this article that will make you feel some kinda way. Lean into it.
For transparency, I am a white woman who owns more than one pair of lululemons. I have participated in a lot of the things I’m about to ask you to reconsider. So we’re in this together, OK? The goal is not to guilt or shame. This is an invitation to look at the wellness industry from a different perspective and explore alternative ways of participating.
Alright. Let’s get into it.
Unprecedented times
We are living through a period of “polycrisis”. Life is tough in one way or another for pretty much everyone these days. And our future is full of uncertainty. Whether it’s climate anxiety, burnout from work, struggling to make ends meet or fear of increasingly common climate disasters, it can be difficult to carve out space for peace to just be.
There is a collective yearning for tools that restore calm in our lives, and in our bodies. “Optimising” our days and hours for productivity leaves us feeling untethered and worn out. The remedies on offer through Capitalism tend to focus on numbing our stress, instead of healing it. Things like alcohol, food, Netflix, scrolling on social media, and shopping. Things based on consumerism.
People are pining for a life with rituals and some form of spirituality that modern life cannot provide, and they are looking to other cultures for inspiration. Cultures with rituals that have survived the test of time.
The “wellness” industry
The wellness industry is growing rapidly – valued at a staggering $5.3 trillion in 2023. It encompasses everything from gym classes to supplements, essential oils to leggings, scented candles to massages – it’s a very broad church. Yoga is as popular as ever, and people are becoming increasingly interested in other non-Western philosophies, like Ayurveda, and practices based on sacred rituals and ceremonies, like cacao and medicinal mushrooms.
If we know anything by now, we know that anything at an industrial scale has implications for people and the planet. So, what is the impact of this enormous industry? Where are the raw materials coming from and who is making the profit?
Environmental impact
Wellness spaces are integrating nature-based rituals in a big way. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this, natural elements were traditionally used in a specific context where the plants occurred locally. Palo Santo or Ashwagandha, for example, were used mindfully and in accordance with nature.
Essential oils
Emily Atkin and Jessica deFino teamed up to explore the connections between Big Beauty and Big Oil, and to do a deeper dive into essential oils. I highly recommend reading both pieces in full but for those of you short on time, here are some of the key takeaways.
> Gwyneth Paltrow (the reigning queen of the wellness world) is a huge fan and “stays zen” by bathing in a tub filled with “all of the essential oils.” Paltrow and her peers are seriously driving up demand for these “natural” wellness wonders.
> Many essential oils are extracted using hexane – a petrochemical, meaning that fossil fuels are involved in the creation of these so-called natural products.
> In 2020, the global essential oil market was valued at $18.6 billion and looks to be increasing. Which, of course, also means an increase in the demand for hexane.
> According to the CDC, there are 534 facilities that produce or process hexane in the US.
> The companies that produce it? Exxon and Shell for starters.
Crystals
Another staple for wellness devotees. I’m not going to get into the debate about whether crystals “work” or not. Here, I’m only concerned with the insatiable demand for them. Paradoxically, instead of creating a reverence for the earth they came from, the industrialisation of crystals for wellness is actually causing us to harm it.
Firstly, crystals are not a renewable resource. They are limited in supply and as demand continues to rise, corners are being cut. The Guardian points out that crystals are another “trend” being promoted by wealthy, influential celebs. Everyone from the Kardashians, the Olsen Twins, Adele and, you guessed it, Gwyneth Paltrow. As Eva Wiseman says, “Their investment status is compared to fine art. Women have been persuaded to welcome their presence in beauty products and fashion accessories, not by spiritual healers, but celebrities.”, says Eva Wiseman.
In addition to being a finite resource, crystals are extracted from the earth through mining – an industry rife with problems. Payal Sampat of the nonprofit organisation Earthworks, explains that “‘Healing crystals’ are mined in places like Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo where mineral extraction is linked to severe human rights violations and environmental harm.” In Afghanistan, Global Witness uncovered, the Taliban earns up to $20m a year from the country’s lapis mines.
To make things worse, it’s virtually impossible for consumers to make ethical choices. The industry is unregulated, and by the crystal reach retailers, there is no way to trace their origin.
Sage and Palo Santo
Sage and palo santo plants are dried to use for burning as part of an ancient practice to cleanse the energy in a space. Their popularity has also risen in recent years, as influencers and celebrities alike fill the newsfeeds with images of those distinctive smokey curls as part of their highly aestheticised wellness-centred lifestyles. Sage bundles are now be found almost everywhere, including your local pharmacy and even Walmart.
This is another under-regulated industry with rapid growth leading to over-harvesting and other unethical practices. Palo Santo was traditionally harvested by farmers who only collected fallen branches and twigs. Now, these sacred trees are being illegally cut down in an attempt to keep up with the demand. It has actually been added to the Convention on International Trade’s Endangered Species List. White sage, it seems, is headed for a similar fate.
Cultural appropriation
The harm created by extractive, industrial-scale wellness trends is not limited to environmental damage. Wellness, as we know it today, appropriates spiritual practices from marginalised communities around the world. Yoga is a Hindu practice that originated in India. Cacao ceremonies had their genesis in Meso-American traditions. Tea ceremonies began in China and Japan.
Cultural appropriation is harmful, it can even be considered a kind of neo-colonialism. For hundreds of years, what is now known as the Global North has stolen resources and labour from the Global South. And now, it seems it is doing the same with spirituality.
When the British invaded India, one of their aims was to convert everyone to Christianity. They outlawed yoga and Ayurveda. In the Americas, Europeans did the same – they murdered and displaced the native populations, and to make them easier to control, they made their culture, language, traditions and spiritual practices illegal. Now, in a cruel twist of fate, we have white people buying and selling these practices – for a large profit.
If yoga came from India, and the global industry is expected to reach $215 billion by 2025, this would surely make it one of the country’s greatest exports. And yet, 270 million Indians live below the poverty line. The wealth being created by the yoga industry is not making its way back to the place it came from, it’s lining the pockets of most white-owned businesses.
Decolonising Wellness
Don’t stop your self-care rituals. If they give you a sense of calm, ground you and contribute to better mental health then by all means, keep them up.
As we go about detangled ourselves from the web of Colonial ideology that is woven through every facet of life, we must be careful not to seek healing with the same mindset that that the colonisers set sail with. That is, wholly extractive and entitled. It’s not just our behaviours we need to change, but our way of thinking too.
A great place to start that work is to listen and read content by excellent creators creating awareness and facilitating discussions on how we can change our approach. Susanna Barkataki calls in yoga practitioners to talk about their cultural appropriation and shows them how to honour its roots. Angie Tiwari discusses how we can create diverse, intuitive, and inclusive yoga (and did an excellent podcast with Venetia laManna). Fahira Roisin, the author of “Who is Wellness For”, a book that ask who the industry was created for, and who is being excluded from it.
True wellness is not just individual, it is collective. To be well, we must foster reciprocal relationships with one another and with the Earth. We need to move away from extractive practices that seek to take and hoard as much as we desire, and instead engage in a wellness culture that is based on sharing. When you take something, from the earth or from another culture, what can you give in return?
Making our practices sustainable
> Instead of buying sage from a huge multinational corporation like Walmart, why not grow your own? You get the twin benefits of tending to a plant as well as harvesting bundles for your spiritual practices. You could even forage for plants unique to your locality instead.
> Skip the Palo Santo, unless you can be sure you’re buying it from a truly ethical source that is mindful of both the environment and the Indigenous communities that have kept it sacred for centuries.
> Curb your crystal collection. Cherish the ones you have, but be cautious not to fall into the marketing trap that encourages endless consumption of more and more.
> Be honest with yourself about your motivation to buy more wellness-related products. Are you truly connecting with sacred and spiritual practices, or are you chasing an aesthetic? Are you honouring the sacred roots of the practices?
> Be mindful of where your money is going. Seek out businesses run by people that come from the community whose culture you are benefiting from.