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Global Wellness Summit Day 1
Global Wellness Summit Day 3
The Future Of Integrative Health, Wellness, Longevity And Optimal Living
Moderated By Sue Harmsworth, MBE, Founder, SATCC and ESPA, United Kingdom
Sue raises the issue of staffing, noting that hospitality companies are often unwilling to invest in advanced training. Without proper expertise, complex treatments cannot be carried out effectively.
Simone Gibertoni, CEO, Clinique La Prairie, Switzerland
Simone advises that some people think in the next three years technology will be discovered to help us live forever, or at least drastically increase our lifespan, Simone does not believe this will be the case. The importance of personalization is key, in addition to maintaining human-to-human contact. Wellness and longevity retreat stays in facilities where the environment is carefully curated will continue to grow in importance and popularity. Simone guides with the three C philosophy: care, competence, and customization.
Isaac Jones, Founder, Health Experts Alliance Founder & CEO, Centagio, United States
AI will become a powerful tool in the coming years and is already being used in medicine. New innovations allow the creation of an AI Nurse to aid with patient discovery and diagnostics, even helping to discover errors that can be made when a patient is treated by multiple physicians for different conditions. However, a strong foundation in healthy habits and time spent in nature remains essential. The future must include education of the consumer so that people who are asymptomatic take an active role in their health, wellness and longevity.
Leadership In Action: Inspiring A New Era Of Wellbeing
Moderated By Lindsay Madden-Nadeau, Senior Director Development – Wellness Strategy, Red Sea Global, Saudi Arabia
Panelists:
Michael Acton Smith, Co-Founder, Calm, United Kingdom
After discovering conclusive research on the benefits of meditation, Calm was created to make meditation accessible for everyone, via an app on their phone, aiming to become to go-to brand for the performance of the mind. At Calm, seeing the feedback from users via the app review is their motivating factor as users share stories of how it has helped them face anxiety, saved relationships and even for some, their lives.
Michael sees loneliness as one of the biggest challenges and Calm will look at how to connect people with communities and get people offline, bringing them together. One idea is to create Calm Island as a physical location where people can connect offline.
Lina Almaeena, Co-Founder, Jeddah United Sports Company, Saudi Arabia
As a young mother facing daily challenges, Lina found relief by taking 90 minutes to play basketball at a women’s sports facility in Saudi Arabia. This transformed her life and she dedicated herself to helping women connect with sports.
In modern Saudi Arabia, the country is striving for a new reality with equality and women’s rights. The vision 2030 aimed to increase women’s participation in sports from 30% to 40%, however, it has already reached 50%. Now, with over 35% of women in the workforce, they have surpassed all their goals.
Vanessa Fuss, Managing Director – Strategy And Insights, VML Intelligence, United States
Vanessa emphasized the power of radical simplicity in wellness: appreciating your feet and your vision, getting into the ocean and taking a morning walk. A return to the basics makes wellness accessible to everyone.
AI has the power to facilitate travel planning, via preferences and customization, in order to better connect with the place. AI can help adapt travel to the reality of the moment, whether you are early and need a massage on arrival or running late and need a meal served as soon as you get to your hotel. Could AI anticipate what kind of wellness treatment would be best for your current state of mind and goals?
Community At The Heart Of A 150-Year-Old Company
Ashley Kohler, General Manager – Wellness, Kohler Hospitality, United States
Nina Kohler, Strategy & Design Consultant, Kohler Co., United States
As Kohler’s fifth generation craft the future of the company, community is as central as it has always been. The Kohler headquarters were moved out of the city and a community was built where people could build a home and raise families. Their philosophy is that associates of Kohler deserves not only wages but also roses. The employees have access to facilities and activities that encourage connection and personal wellness.
AI And Compassion: A Cutting-Edge Approach To Technology & Humanity
Victor Koo, Co-Founder, Tianren Culture, Hong Kong (SAR China)
Victor invited the audience to ‘Be Like Water’, exploring the concepts of regenerative vs generative, natural vs artificial, wisdom vs intelligence. Water, he explained, cleanses, self-cleanses, and converges.
In our world, we have a mental health crisis, geopolitical conflicts, a pandemic and climate change. Can we rebuild connections via ancient wisdom, community, practices and service?
Via the creation of the Compassion Bot, AI can advise on wellness practices and lifestyle recommendations in a matter of seconds. Try it here: https://ai.servicespace.org/chat
Wild Swimming: The Incredible Benefits For Body And Soul
Robert Hammond, President & Chief Strategy Officer, Therme Us, United States
Robert expresses that the social benefits of wild swimming far outweigh the physical health benefits.
Vicky Allan, Journalist & Author, The Ripple Effect, The Art Of Wild Swimming And Taking The Plunge, Scotland
Many people who practiced wild swimming shared stories of revelation and self-discovery of the practice, without having been told about it by anyone or hearing it was recommended. Combining wild swimming with sauna helps to attract those who are less enthusiastic about the cold water experience on its own.
Anna Deacon, Photographer & Author, The Ripple Effect, The Art Of Wild Swimming And Taking The Plunge, Scotland
Anna started taking pictures of wild swimmers she would see out in the winter and asking swimmers their reasons for taking part in this unusual practice. The water was helping people cope with grief, and overcome a variety of challenges, including physical and mental health issues. It definitely started as something middle-aged women took part in, but has spread to groups of men who are also talking about mental health challenges. There are also student groups taking part and those struggling with loneliness can join and find community in the activity.
Neuroaesthetics In Mental Wellbeing: Explorations For A Better Future
Anna Bjurstam, Wellness Pioneer, Six Senses, Sweden
In Conversation With
George Goldsmith, Co-Founder, Boundless Productions, United Kingdom
Ekaterina Malievskaia, MD, Co-Founder, Boundless Productions, United Kingdom
George was a pioneer in the research and application of psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression and other mental health conditions. The psilocybin is not a magic pill, the setting and complementary therapy are essential. On its own, 37% of people experience significant improvement and this improvement tends to be long-lasting.
In comparison to anti-depressants, which are often barely better than placebo, this presents a much better model, which is only given once or possibly twice if needed.
Patients receiving the microdose, in comparison, showed much lower rates of improvement, but some did still improve. The process of visualizing their life without mental illness and the auditory soundscape provided during the experience seemed to be part of the effect even when the psilocybin was negligible.
Working with AI has enhanced and streamlined the process and helped to collect robust evidence in the process. Using AI, visual and auditory experiences can be curated based on each person’s data and biofeedback.
The Scientific Evidence For Optimism
David Stewart, Founder & CEO, Ageist, United States
New data on mindset and wellness shows that 70% of your health is determined by your behavior, not your genetics. Are you an optimist? This mindset has been shown to be good for your health!
People’s actions follow their beliefs, those who believe they will live a long life, will prepare for this. Optimists are four times as likely to invest in wellness-promoting behaviors. There is a clear correlation between optimism and life-extending behaviors. Pessimism, on the other hand, is a stress state which leads to epigenetic damage in the body.
How can we increase optimism?
Practice gratitude
Self-compassion
Reframe negative situations
Engage in acts of kindness
Visualize your best possible future
Can we spread optimism? When we see others achieve what we consider impossible it opens the door for us to believe. Can you be the person that inspires others?
Taking The Spa Industry To Task For Water Usage
Aradhana Khowala, CEO, Aptamind Partners; United Kingdom
In Conversation With J. Carl Ganter, Founder, Circle Of Blue, United States
The spa and wellness industry needs to shift from passive reliance on water to active responsibility. Wellness tourism is growing and is forecasted to double by 2028. This growth comes at a cost, in peak season water usage spikes: a tourist uses up to three times as much water than a local. A single hydrotherapy session can utilize 20 gallons of water. Are spas becoming ethically obsolete? How could the water be cleaned, and returned to the source to be reused?
To make people care and therefore change, we need to make the message of climate change more engaging, telling better stories to unite people to join the cause. We need to connect with the left brain and right brain, to scare and save, use data but relate it to real life, with a plan for success.
Funding and finance are gaps, but understanding and policy at the government level is what will lead to change. Closed loop systems need to be part of the future, putting the water that we use back into the system.
Diving Deep Into Memoir: How Writing A Memoir Changed An Entrepreneur’s Understanding Of Herself And Her Family
Melisse Gelula, Co-Founder, Well+Good; Founder, Memoiring, United States
Melisse read from her upcoming memoir and shared how the idea came to her while on a wellness retreat in the Caribbean, taking part in a yoga class. The process of writing her mother’s story has challenged her in what and how she wrote, from the perspective of her childhood self and the current day version, who has grown and gone to therapy. Melisse suggests that we write what should not be forgotten.
Pleasure Health: It’s Not Necessarily What You Think
Anna Bjurstam, Wellness Pioneer, Six Senses, Sweden
During COVID in 2020, Anna lost her sense of taste, after two months, she decided to take psilocybin and her sense of taste returned the next day!
Pleasure is part of our design, it drives us to seek food and reproduce. Fungi also respond to pleasure and grow seven times faster when certain music is played.
Healthy living is often a battle between willpower and our innate desire for pleasure. If you scroll on your phone for 30 minutes in the morning, you will receive as much information in that time as you would have in a week 50 years ago.
Why does getting healthy feel like punishment? The habit of voluntary suffering, like ice baths, could be marketed better, like promoting the all-day benefits in mood. How can we make wellness addictive?
Why is tracking your Amazon package more rewarding than a spa booking confirmation?
Points systems work, why are spas not utilizing points systems and turning engagement and spending into rewards that benefit their health? If you lead with pleasure, people will stay on track with wellness programs.
What if wellness felt like falling in love? Are you ready to swipe right on yourself? Sustainable pleasure is the new frontier of health!
The World Travel & Tourism Council: Pulling Back The Curtain On Wellness Tourism’s Global Impact
Greg O’Hara, Chairman, WTTC, United States
Having lost over 50 kilos, Greg began focusing more deeply on his healthspan. From the perspective of the travel industry, demand was outpacing supply for wellness destinations in recent years. Wellness travelers want health experiences and excellent hospitality standards.
Ideally, a baseline is used for each guest and their progress is carefully measured against this on each visit to show progress.
Greg’s company will be starting a chain of clinics to supply this increase in demand for wellness travel experiences. He states that the American client (from the US) is the most attractive client to any business.
Heart Felt: The Art & Science Of Sound
Freddie Moross, Founder & CEO, Myndstream, United Kingdom
Peter Kater, Grammy Award-Winning Artist, United States
Peter guided us through a breathwork exercise while Anna Burjstam, wearing a heart monitor, laid under the piano. We saw heart rate and HRV rise as the music intensified, and fall as we were instructed to exhale and hold. Think about the wellness journeys you create and consider the goals and how sound and music play their part in that journey.
Water As Central To Gathering: Communal Baths Reimagined
Robert Hammond, President & Chief Strategy Officer, Therme US, United States
In Conversation with Jane Withers, Design Consultant, Curator & Writer, Jane Withers Studio, United Kingdom
Bathing, which combines physical wellbeing, social interaction, and spiritual connection, has deep roots across many cultures. The largest of the Roman baths accommodated up to 3000 people at once. Middle Eastern Hammam treatments inspired the Turkish baths that opened in the UK in the Victorian era. Japanese onsen pools and Finnish saunas created gathering spaces for all.
Bathing has always been a social infrastructure, however lately it has been overcome with protocols for health and longevity. We need to remember the pleasure of bathing!
Global Citizenry: Business As The Great Equalizer
Sammy Gharieni, Founder & CEO, Gharieni Group, Germany
Sammy shared the story of his upbringing between Tunisia and Belgium, building toys and selling them to school friends. He turned to international trade at the age of 10, selling Belgian stamps in Tunisia and Tunisian cookies in Belgium. He earned an engineering scholarship and went on to create his brand, covering spa, aesthetics, medical and wellness devices.
With a truly international company, Sammy was a digital nomad long before it was fashionable, always driven by innovation and connection. Being able to travel and be in the moment and feel at home, without having to miss being somewhere else or long for ‘home’ enables him to travel almost constantly.
Debra Simon Award For Furthering Mental Wellness
Presenting Sponsor: Lauren Wright, President, Debra Simon Family Foundation, United States
Congratulations to Michael Acton Smith, co-founder of Calm, for being recognized with the Debra Simon Award for his outstanding contributions to mental wellness..
You Are Not Alone: The Transformative Power Of Communal Wellness
Luuk Melisse, Founder, Sanctum, Netherlands
Gabriel Olszewski, CEO & Co-Founder, Sanctum, Netherlands
Luuk’s morning fitness sessions at GWS encouraged attendees to sweat and then brought them to tears. Sanctum uses silent disco headphones to teach inspiring fitness classes that foster unique emotional and social connections. These wellness gatherings, which take place in diverse locations, create sensorial rituals that bring people together in this new age of socializing.
