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The mentally stressful world is causing Gen Z to seek meditative experiences and products that support relaxation. A new trend towards mediative wellness is emerging and impacting different sectors of the wellness industry.
Meditative Wellness
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Out of all the generations, Gen Z is the most likely to try meditation and like it, according to a study conducted by Civic Sciences. The study shows that 8 out of 9 enjoy mediation and would do it again. Meditation is predicted to become a part of Gen Z's daily life, helping them deal with the stress and mental health issues they are facing. The long-term benefits of controlling their mental state will be essential for this generation born in a digital world. Gen Z, being raised in a digital world and constantly being around social media, struggles with mental health issues. More than nine in 10 Gen Z adults have said they have experienced at least one physical or emotional symptom due to stress, according to The American Psychiatric Association.
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As a result of COVID-19, mediation has become a part of a daily routine for many consumers. According to research released by UCL, more than half of the UK population are now exercising or meditating at least once daily due to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. The mediative wellness trend will impact different parts of the wellness sector. The world stands at the crossroads of a climate crisis, a crisis that has the potential to impact every industry and every human on the planet. The full consequences of global warming remain an unknown, but sustainability worries are already changing the attitudes, behaviors and expectations of consumers around the globe.
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The rise of social media has created an epic global shift – connecting brands to consumers, enhancing transparency and contributing to an always-on culture. The world is only going to be more mentally stressful. Being constantly around digital media, and with the pandemic, the number of consumers struggling with depression, anxiety, loneliness and addiction is at its highest. This is due to the fake world social media presents, where influencers, filters and fake news are shaping our idea of reality.
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Furthermore, health and wellness have become a demarcation of status. Mindfulness, healthy nutrition and a balanced lifestyle are increasingly areas in which consumers can flex their consciousness and out-perform each other. And as awareness of burnout and depression grows, self-care will become even more important. A fast-paced world creates a complex array of worries and fears. From global threats to local issues, natural disasters to man-made terrors – occurring once-in-a-lifetime or everyday – there’s a lot for consumers to worry about and it’s time to release the pressure,
and find stress-reducing solutions.
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Tech mediation apps in China
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China's mindful economy is growing fast, with the younger generation realizing the benefit meditation can have for their mental health.
Meditation apps such as FLOW and Heartly Lab secured a multi-million US dollar seed round in 2021. The mediation app NOW has seen a double growth in app downloads, growing with one million per month, due to COVID.
For meditation app Tide, the demand has been highest amongst Chinese Gen Z', accounting for 40% of their users. While the mindfulness market is gaining traction in China, the emergence also sounds the alarm for the mental health problems Chinese Gen Zs are facing.
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Picture: Heartly Lab
Picture: Flow
Meditative Beauty Rituals
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As the daily practice of meditation is becoming normal amongst Gen Z, brands are starting to look into the opportunity of incorporate meditation into their products and offerings.
According to a report conducted by Sciences Direct, rituals have proven to reduce anxiety. Adopting a routine helps costumer regain a sense of control and empowerment in an uncertain environment.
Customers will seek beauty rituals to reduce stress and anxiety and take a step back to enjoy self-care. In a stressful post-Covid time, we will see how meditation and beauty rituals will come together to create synergies for brands and customers..
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Picture: About Her
Picture: Glass House Journal
Psych Dermatology
"Studies conducted by BMC Dermatology show that 30 percent of dermatology cases originate from a psychological problem."
Beauty brands must enter the minds of psych dermatologists to meet the demands of the next generation of consumers. Psych dermatologists pay extra attention to mental health effects on the skin.
Beauty brand Strange Bird has created a six-minute self-care ritual kit consisting of the Inner Clarity Cleanser, The Inner Balancing Serum, and the Inner Light Moisturizer paired with six minutes mediations to tap into customers' mindful self-care moments.
The ritual is focused on washing away both physically and mentally, with the final step being to practice self-love. All products are infused with crystals and flower essence.
Picture: Strange Bird
Meditative VR Salons and Spas
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Virtual reality can be used as a tool for spas and salons to add a dimension to consumers' well-being. VR has been shown to be a powerful tool for promoting positive mood and reducing levels of anxiety and depression. Spas and salons have started to add VR to their services to provide customers with a more immersive and therapeutic experience.
According to Green-light VR and Touchstone Research, 79% of Gen Z US Internet users between the ages of 10 and 18 said they are interested in virtual reality.
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Amooma Spa & Sanctuary, located in Hong Kong, offers restorative nail treatments for visitors wanting to achieve a more mindful state while having a nail treatment done. The spa is incorporating VR to enhance the mediative experience for the customer. The VR tools add another dimension to their spa, offering a quick reality escape and relaxing experience.
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The company, Escapes Immersive Relaxation, has created a spa environment where people could go to relax by just putting on a VR headset. The technology can take you to a tropical island, or a mountain top, while your body is being massaged with a high-end massage chair. There are ten experiences and scenarios to choose from, all created to immerse users into a mini vacation lasting just 30 minutes.
Picture: Amooma Spa & Sancturary
Picture: Escapes Immersive Relaxation
Clinical-backed mediative beverages
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Mediative beverages are an appealing way to escape from the stressful world with a simple wellness drink. A new trend of meditative drinks is arising, helping customers fight anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. The swanky meditative drinks trend offers "an evolved state of wellness," says Kara Nielsen, the director of food and drink at WGSN to Glamour. The wellness buzzword is adaptogens – certain medicinal herbs that have calming and mood-boosting effects.
With younger customers drinking less and being more aware of their health, Gen Z calls for nonalcoholic beverages containing super-foods & adaptogens that could have mood-boosting or anxiety-reliving effects.
From 2019 to 2024, the global functional beverage market is predicted to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 8.66%. Source: LINCHPIN
Blossom, a Chicago-based mental wellness company, has launched a line of super-food lattes called "meditation in a mug." The oat milk latte mix has clinically effective ingredients to improve mood and reduce stress. The company has teamed up with functional medicine doctors and psychologists to develop these clinically backed super-food lattes.
With customers paying more attention to ingredients, the time has come for clinically backed functional beverages. Nearly two out of three consumers say that ingredients have at least a moderate influence on their food and beverage purchases, according to research from the International Food Information Council (IFIC).
Picture: Veggie Kins
Picture: Philosophie Superfoods
Bringing meditation to the metaverse
The metaverse has the potential to impact different sections of each sector of the 4.4 trillion wellness economy. The metaverse has the potential to become the "better verse" and improve the wellness sector and people's general well-being. Bringing meditation and mindfulness to the metaverse unlocks many opportunities for wellness brands.
Alo-Yoga, the Los Angeles-based activewear brand, has entered the metaverse. All yoga fans can enter the virtual well-being space Alo Sanctuary, hosted by Rob-lox. Alo Sanctuary is a virtual destination for yoga and meditation and seeks to bring the importance of well-being and mindfulness into the metaverse.
The metaverse demographic currently sits with Gen Z and millennials, but WGSN has predicted that other generations will also get involved within the metaverse by 2024.
Picture: Alo Yoga
Mental Fitness Apps
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Research conducted by EY, investigating Gen Z's view on wellness, reveals that physical health goes beyond a healthy diet and exercise for Gen Z. Gen Z sees mental health as very important, as it can prevent them from taking care of their physical health. Gen Z has a holistic approach to health and understands that physical fitness is linked to their emotional and overall well-being.
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Gen Z has a more holistic approach to wellness, which opens up opportunities for the fitness sector. Fitness brands are starting to look at how they can improve the customer's mental fitness before they improve their physical fitness.
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BetterMe is a lifestyle mental health app that has recently launched the BetterMe Health Coach app, which focuses on helping customers reach their goals by focusing on the physiological health of the customer. The basis for the app is that the customers can only reach their full physical potential when their minds are in the right place. BetterMe has a system with guided courses for mental well-being and customized medication courses, quick breathing meditation, and mental health specialists to help the users reach their best possible results.
Picture: Sage
Picture: BetterMe