What.
Trend reports show the wellness industry is booming. There is an appetite to attend retreats, learn about meditation, mindfulness, and acquire coaching services; we crave the wisdom of thought leaders, wonder about spiritual rituals, and revise all sorts of health programs, etc., as if life had to be mitigated or balanced with alternative or complementary therapies and experiences. In the academic world, programs increasingly invite the study of happiness and the pursuit of meaning. Furthermore, cognitive science, psychology and spirituality explore the use of psychedelics to expand on the confines of the mind. What is to be found in these altered states of mind? Why does the mind suddenly feel insufficient?
Anyways, for those who can afford it, well-being goodies are all over.
On the tragic side, the World Health Organisation, along with many other institutions, report on studies regarding the ongoing mental health crisis. Suicide rates are alarming, especially in younger generations, and the numbers of people experiencing depression and anxiety are on the rise. Nihilism and frustration are abundant.
We are all somewhere in this spectrum of disorientation and disconnection. Some adeptly navigate this intricate web, dismissing the noise, while many among us yearn, search, question, and hope. It is hard to navigate the currents of a reality that offers little anchoring; we swim in an ocean of uncertainty.
It’s not only that we are spending too much time in our virtual environments. It’s also that we are living in an era of misinformation; the truth, whatever it used to be, no longer exists.
This means everything is covered and immersed in bullshit. Tensions escalate as democratic systems grapple with eroding trust in political and judicial structures. The widening wealth gap has stripped the general populace of its influence in shaping societies. The majority struggle in poverty, while many others enjoy an illusory sense of abundance that exacts a toll on our environment.
On a smaller scale, in our daily routines, we live with all sorts of stressors that are under-regulated, ignored or undermined because they are bad for the economy. We can't blame the system. We are all accountable for this. The fact is we are all afraid to live with less. Less comfort, less agility, less fun, less sugar, less luxury, less abundance. So, we ignore the impact of our habits on our well-being because we live gaslighted and addicted to our toxic reality.
The boom in the Well-being industry is the resiliency in our culture that responds to so much toxicity. The collective system is looking for the outlets. We are seeing the full artillery of well-being being deployed and surfacing with interesting truths. Science is shaping its limitations, and in the esoteric alleys, one hears that the “beginning of a consciousness revolution” is just starting.