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Global Wellness Summit Day 2
Global Wellness Summit Day 3
Transformation in the Natural World: Life Is Change
Louie Schwartzberg, Founder & Filmmaker, Moving Art, United States
Louie Schwartzberg opened the event with stunning videos of Mexican monarch butterflies, highlighting their dwindling numbers due to the use of roundup in North America and announced his new film TRIP (Treatment research in psychedelics) that has shown to be successful in supporting mental health during trials with Psilocybin.
The Louie Channel premiered on September 21st, launching videos twice a week on ‘Mindful Mondays’ and ‘Wellness Wednesdays’. Subscribe here: www.louiechannel.tv
Gratitude in a World Turned Upside Down
Nancy Davis, Chief Creative Officer & Executive Director, Global Wellness Summit, United States
After taking the difficult decision to pivot the summit from Qatar to Miami, Nancy thanked the extensive GWS team for bringing the event to fruition on such a short timeframe here in Miami.
The State of Our Industry at a Time of Transformation
Susie Ellis, Chair & CEO, Global Wellness Summit, United States
Susie shared her belief that our industry is at a time of transformation, tech, geopolitics, post-Covid, and medical tourism.
The model of healthcare and self-care is firmly taking hold. Wellness, happiness, and health are clearly all related, and upcoming research will continue to support this fact.
The wellness moonshot and the geography of wellness continue to highlight country-specific data and indigenous wellness practices.
Susie is particularly excited about the wellness and sports trend and the growth in this area that includes not only athletes but also spectators.
The number one value of GWS is the commitment to being truly global, on this 17th summit having taken the event around the globe with 92 countries having attended. The spirit of the summit is collaboration and a focus on shared goals and achievements, maintaining high standards and evidence-based research.
Consciousness: A New Paradigm
Tony Nader, MD, PhD, Global Leader, Transcendental Meditation® Organizations; Bestselling Author; Speaker, United States
The field of consciousness is like an ocean, with depths and waves, as frequencies ripple through the field, acting from the level of the wave is one perspective, acting from the depth of the ocean gives another perspective. This is just one philosophy of consciousness from which transcendental meditation stems,; by going to the depths we can influence the surface.
Why is consciousness important? Wellness is an experience in consciousness, in awareness. Love, relationships, understanding, and knowledge, all happen in consciousness. It is primary in the meaning of life.
How the physical energy translates to consciousness cannot be explained, but there are philosophies. Either the energy creates consciousness or consciousness creates energy. In the quantum mechanical field, things are entangled, and typical rules of physics do not apply.
Potentially, our existence is an illusion, our experience of reality depends not only on the object but also on the subject. We create the reality in which we live. Being conscious of existing is our ego, conscious of knowledge is intellect.
Transcendental meditation has been shown to reduce anxiety and decrease heart attacks and strokes.
What Keeps Viewers Glued & Why That Matters for Wellness
BBC StoryWorks
Simon Shelley, Global VP, BBC Studios, United Kingdom
Claire Small, Executive Producer, BBC Studios, United Kingdom
Simon shares that across the BBC they are showcasing more and more wellness content across the board, covering a variety of categories.
Wellness relates to communities, the environment, and the self. Through individual stories, the BBC highlights different aspects of wellness. A recent survey showed that 25% of participants did not feel healthy enough to participate in sports.
Common traits of the top performing films, connect emotionally with the viewer, they will remain glued. Compelling characters, viewers want to understand how these characters view the world and navigate their journey.
Taking viewers from passive to actively engaged is achieved by motivating narratives, and community building, with optimism and hope. Rather than thinking of guests or clients, think of our customers as viewers first!
The Updated Global Wellness Economy Monitor… A New Bubble Chart Is Revealed!
Tonia Callender, Research Fellow, Global Wellness Institute, United States
Katherine Johnston, Senior Research Fellow, Global Wellness Institute, United States
Ophelia Yeung, Senior Research Fellow, Global Wellness Institute, United States
It’s now ten years since the first iconic bubble chart was released with the first of the global wellness economy monitor reports. The global wellness economy monitor will now be released annually, with an in-depth report on at least one sector each year.
The global wellness economy is currently 5.6 trillion USD and is forecast to reach 8.5 trillion USD by 2027.
When comparing the growth of the wellness economy with GDP, we see that the wellness economy growth continues to grow faster than GDP.
Growth leaders throughout the pandemic:
Wellness real estate
Mental Wellness
Healthy eating, nutrition & weight loss
Public health, prevention & personal medicine
Shrank initially but recovered:
Physical activity
Traditional & complementary medicine
Personal care & beauty
Shrank and have not yet fully recovered:
Wellness tourism
Workplace wellness
Spas
Thermal/mineral springs
In 2022 tourism was just 62% of the pre-pandemic level, tourism is a contributing factor to these.
The year-on-year projected growth for the wellness economy is 8.6% compared to 5.1% for GDP.
Keynote Conversation
Simone Biles, Gymnast, United States
In conversation with Susie Ellis, Chair & CEO, Global Wellness Summit, United States
Simone proved to be an exceptionally powerful gymnast from a young age, dedicating several hours per day to training, both morning and night. As an elite athlete at the peak of her career, Simone’s advice to others is to not hold yourself back, don’t be afraid to be great, and unleash your power. Seeing a sports psychologist helped her overcome her fear of judgment. As a young athlete, she learned eventually to not be so stubborn and to trust and listen to her coaches.
At 26, this is old for a gymnast, but Simone is pushing the boundaries of the sport and plans to continue competing. “When you look good and feel good, you do better,” says Simone, “a red leo[tard] would always make me feel powerful and strong.”
When she stepped back from the competition in Tokyo due to mental health reasons, Simone explained that she lost her air awareness, the spatial awareness of the body as it moves through the air. To teach people that it is okay to not be okay is important. When people can’t see a physical injury, they often don’t understand that someone can still be suffering and need help. After stepping back, Simone’s training took a different approach, having fun in the gym without a structured plan or goal. This still led to competitions and medals, even though she didn’t imagine competing this year.
Global Wellness Award
Debra Simon Award for Furthering Mental Wellness
Lauren Wright, President, Debra Simon Family Foundation, United States
Bill Kapp, MD, Founder & CEO, Fountain Life, United States
Simone Biles was recognized with the Debra Simon Award for Furthering Mental Wellness for her advocacy to mental health.
My Journey to Wellbeing
Timbaland, Founder, Beatclub; Multiplatinum, Grammy Award-Winning Producer, Artist, Author & Entrepreneur, United States
In conversation with
Freddie Moross, Founder, Myndstream, United Kingdom
Tim, AKA Timbaland, talks about the creative process when producing music tracks, “Each artist brings a different energy into the room, and brings something different out of me.”
Timbaland became attuned to sound from an early age, he was aware when certain notes or sounds weren’t attractive and cohesive. Growing up in Virginia was like isolation in a way, having fewer tools to create. When talking about Pharrell, Timbaland says he was always different, always destined to set trends. He claims Missy Elliot was instrumental in the success of his career, as she brought him in to produce her tracks as they produced a unique sound together.
For young artists, often the only thing that matters is the work and getting into the right rooms, what Timbaland would like artists and producers today to know is that balance is so important and minimizing the less healthy choices can benefit their careers.
Having been caught in crossfire while working at Red Lobster, he was left partially paralyzed on his left side, it clarified what he wanted to do with his life, and didn’t let it deter him from pursuing his dreams.
During his journey to better health, he never focused on weight loss, but on what felt good for his body, working on mobility, fitness, and healthy eating with the goal of being active and staying healthy for his children. Overcoming addiction to painkillers, withdrawal was the worst and most painful experience of his life, but he was able to put it behind him and move on.
Wellness Reimagined 2.0: A Time for Inner Transformation
Victor Koo, Chairman & Co-Founder, Tianren Culture, Hong Kong
Victor explains the disconnections that are the root cause of the poly crisis. Disconnections from self, society and community, and environment. At this time of inner transformation, consider the six wellness categories, health, fitness, nutrition, appearance, sleep and mindfulness.
Inner wellness comes from the practices, secondary source from other wisdom, outer wellness via service and primary source from community.
Beauty Is Not Actually Just in the Eye of the Beholder
Anjan Chatterjee, MD, Professor of Neurology, Psychology & Architecture, University of Pennsylvania; Founding Director, Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, United States
Jessica Jesse, CEO, Founder & Creative Director, BuDhaGirl, United States
Anjan explains the concept of slow looking, helping people engage with art for longer periods of time and identify their reactions to that work of art. This taxonomy and vocabulary will help people slow down and appreciate art to obtain the full sensory benefit.
Veronica shared her recent experience of seeing the Mona Lisa amongst crowds of people, all vying for space to take their selfies. She claims, “You don’t know beauty when you see it, you know it when it moves you.”
Transforming Wellness Through Sensory Integration
Led by Anna Bjurstam, Wellness Pioneer, Six Senses; Partner, Raison d’Etre; Strategic Advisor, Pegasus Capital Group, Sweden
Participants
Luuk Melisse, Founder, Sanctum, Netherlands
Gabriel Olszewski, CEO & Co-Founder, Sanctum, Netherlands
Anna talked about sensory awareness, we have up to 21 senses. The creation of sensory profiles will allow hospitality businesses to cater specifically to each guest, creating sensory comfort. Virtual communication can recreate the sensation of touch, this technology is only just beginning.
Luuk of Sanctum explained the philosophy of their movement classes. Hosted in iconic buildings with sacred geometry, copal and incense, binaural beats and healing frequencies. When listening to voices through headphones, your brain perceives the voice as your own.
Luuk then led the audience through an interactive movement session to energize and connect us.
The Impact of AI on Music & Wellbeing
Freddie Moross, Founder, Myndstream, United Kingdom
Freddie played a short breathwork video before discussing generative AI and the impact it will have on the Music Industry. Soundful allows any user to create music, never before heard. But music predates language, and AI can never replace the human connection and intention that is brought to musical performances. This AI can produce 39,000 tracks per day… But do we need this much music content?
By Sara Jones, editor
