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Forbes
24-04-2025
- Health
- Forbes
Quick Wellness Hits For Mental Health Awareness Month
Sometimes just looking at a relaxing scene in nature is enough, but imagine how much better it is to ... More be there. These days, stress is all around us. After all, there are so many objective reasons to feel stress. This month is National Stress Awareness Month, intended to shine a spotlight on all that stress and motivate us to do something about it. And it slides right into May, which is Mental Health Awareness Month. Whether you (finally!) get out the ashwagandha gummies, crack open that bag of mushroom-fortified coffee or take a class on decocting relaxing herbal elixirs, self-care can diffuse and distract from stress and anxiety, which can be quite therapeutic. Doing something right now, preferably something that fosters a sense of community, can help get you back on track toward feeling a sense of calm, balance and well-being. Here are a few easy ways to re-calibrate, de-stress and beat the doldrums. Beach, forest, mountains—a nature-immersive getaway will always relieve stress and make you feel ... More more balanced. Plan a getaway–and then actually go! Last year, two out of three people surveyed by Ipsos Consumer Tracker planned to take a summer getaway. But only half that number actually went! A long weekend is a great refresher, and you don't need to go far. Be spontaneous and book it on the fly. If you can break for the beach, the salty sea air and pounding surf is a great restorative. The Sanctuary Beach Resort, a 60-room beachfront getaway set along 19 acres of natural sand dunes and California coastline along the Monterey Peninsula, outside San Francisco, is a perfect restorative. Recently reopened after an extensive renovation, Sanctuary offers accommodations right on the beach along with a range of wellness experiences that include beach or power yoga, journaling, chakra alignment reiki, sound bath meditation and more. Whether you are seeking solitude, immersion in nature or a reconnection with family or friends, you will find it in a comfortable and cozy seaside cottage, where your choice of lavish breakfast is delivered in a picnic basket directly to your door. If you are looking for a structured wellness weekend, the Burnout Recovery Journey begins with a Nourishing Welcome Basket of snacks and nonalcoholic aperitifs. Head for the Renewal Studio & Spa for a 90-minute Relaxation Massage and 30-minute HIGHERDose Infrared PEMF Mat experience. Also included is a a SLNT Faraday Phone Sleeve for digital detox and a 20-minute Sleep Hypnosis Audio, if the sound of the ocean waves outside your door isn't enough for you. Also new, the Solstice Detox Massage will stimulate circulation along with the lymphatic system and the body's natural endorphins. A la carte, the new Solstice Detox Massage begins with dry brushing followed by a seaweed mask applied to the body to detox and hydrate the skin. The coup de grace is a 60 minute relaxing massage followed by a natural mood-boosting HigherDose red-light mask. That, along with beachfront yoga and mediation should coax you back to a state of well-being quickly! With the Salt Wood Kitchen & Oysterette restaurant and bar at hand, you will be deliciously nourished and fortified. If you do feel like venturing off property, Sanctuary isn't far from the Monterey Aquarium or the picture perfect town of Carmel-by-the-Sea. At the close of day, enjoy the beautiful sunset 'BondFire'--a private beach bonfire overlooking the sea, intended to foster connection with family and friends while you share a glass of wine, snacks and maybe dinner on the beach. The Ranch Motel, a renovated vintage property in San Antonio, offers membership passes and a roster ... More of popups and programming to foster a sense of community. If you can't get away, enjoy a staycation–or plan several. For those who love hotels, the purchase of a ResortPass can be an easy way to enjoy a day stay at a hotel not far from home, where you can book a pool cabana and spend the day poolside. Find a luxurious spot to do nothing, or, if you must, bring your laptop and work, while enjoying hotel wellness and spa amenities such as steam and sauna; access to a hot tub, beach or fitness center; yoga or kayak rentals. Resort Pass offers access to 1500 luxury hotels in 250 cities across 35 states, including Four Seasons, Fairmont, Waldorf-Astoria, Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott. (If you are booking an Airbnb in a warm weather destination, the Resort Pass allows access to hotel pools and spas nearby, without staying there.) Many hotels also now offer their own 'membership pass' which can allow access to their pool, grounds, wellness classes, spa and other hotel-stay-for-a-day amenities. At the vibey Ranch Motel & Leisure Club, a re-upped motel in San Antonio, owner Jayson Seidman, founder/CEO Sandstone Ltd., has tapped into a nostalgia for community with day passes, popups and programming and memberships that include use of the facilities from pickleball courts to live music, the mescal lounge and pool. He's rolled out the concept to eight other properties around the US. 'People miss belonging, having a sense of community,' Seidman says. 'It's not about being exclusive, for us it's about people who enjoy having interesting conversations and meeting people.' When it comes to a dance class at Fly Dance Fitness, enjoying yourself just comes with the ... More territory. Head to a dance class. For years, I would walk by the Alvin Ailey Dance Studio on Manhattan's West Side and peer into the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, watching students who looked like they were having a great time. I finally tried it, and guess what? They were! Dance is a surefire mood booster. Dancing not only feels good and makes you happy, it releases endorphins, reduces cortisol levels and releases oxytocin (the bonding hormone that is released when connecting with others) and dopamine along the way, according to Stacey Marks, CEO, Fly Dance Fitness, a gym that fosters community through dance. 'Dance as a fitness modality is more than just a physical workout, it's a mental health oasis,' she says. 'Dancing to high energy music from our clubbing days brings back a sense of nostalgia, making the workout that much sweeter. Everyone is there to have a good time and great workout. So much of what we do at Fly Dance Fitness is building friendships, forming bonds and loving what you see in the mirror.' Especially over the holidays or in the dead of winter, go out dancing, or join a class and get those joy boosters shaking. Dancing reduces cortisol levels and releases oxytocin (the bonding hormone that is released when connecting with others), dopamine and endorphins. And 'dancing to high energy music from our clubbing days also brings back a sense of nostalgia, making the workout that much sweeter,' says Marks. The Latin American Contemporary Art Gallery at the San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA). Visit a local gallery or museum, discover something new and look at an awe-inspiring piece of art–it will restore your faith in humanity. It may even enable you to stumble onto something new, get outside yourself and lift your spirit, even for an hour. This past week, I popped into the San Antonio Art Museum (SAMA), a beautiful building filled with Ancient Egyptian and Asian galleries, along with rotating exhibitions that feature contemporary Latinx artists such as Amalia Mesa-Bains. And I stumbled on a modern gallery that I'd never seen before, with works by Philip Guston, Helen Frankenthaler, Richard Diebenkorn, Helen Frankenthaler, Philip Guston, Dorothy Hood, Hans Hofmann, Frank Stella, Diego Rivera, David Siquieros, Orozco. I also found a contemporary Indigenous Australian art collection and an entire gallery devoted to Art of the Americas pre-1500 that I didn't know was there! That brief immersion completely recalibrated my stress levels and brought me back to balance. Yoga instructor Kevin Joseph starting the day with a few asanas. If you practice yoga, now is a good time to ramp up your practice, and if you don't, it may be a good time to start. Stress can cause you to hyperventilate or take shallow breaths, and yoga puts a focus on coordinating movement with deep breathing. And if yoga is not your jam, when you find yourself feeling stressed, while sitting at your desk, try mindful breathing: Kevin Joseph, yoga instructor, Ay Well + Fit Studio, recommends taking a moment to take a deep breath in through your nose, count to 4 then release the breath slowly. Repeat three times. Take a walk and focus on the smallest things along your path with curiosity about how it makes your life easier. 'Breath work, meditation and yoga practices de-stress the body by allowing the parasympathetic nervous system to be activated, allowing the oxygen to be carried through the most integral areas of the body,' says Joseph. A friend and fellow yoga lover used this to sign off on an email just this morning: Inhale. Exhale. Repeat. Take advantage of this time of year and motivate yourself to work on small ways to de-stress and jump-start Mental Health Awareness Month.
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Why Are We Treating Tech Burnout With… More Tech?
All products featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by Condé Nast Traveler editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, Condé Nast may earn an affiliate commission. Rosebar at Six Senses Ibiza Like a lot of us, I often find myself fried from days spent staring at my computer screen and nights circling back to emails I haven't answered. So when I heard that the Sanctuary Beach Resort in Monterey Bay, California, offered a package known as the Burnout Recovery Journey, I had to try it. When I arrived, I was happy to find the kinds of treatments on the spa menu I've been seeing more and more of lately: science-based offerings like infrared light therapy, IV drips, and electromagnetic pulse therapy. My outstanding massage took place on something called a Pulsed Electromagnetic Field mat. I was grateful that the hotel offered signal-blocking phone bags for the ultimate unplugging experience. Then I realized the irony: I was treating my burnout with…more tech. One has to wonder: How did we get here? In Europe, spa traditions have blended health and wellness for centuries, as evidenced by a long-standing enthusiasm for homeopathic medicine and a predilection across the continent for 'taking the waters' as a cure for ailments. Hungary's health insurance reimburses citizens for using the country's legendary thermal baths; France's covers many herbal remedies and acupuncture; Switzerland's allows for traditional Chinese medicine procedures. But the US has historically emphasized the individual's responsibility for their own health, eschewing Europe's more community- and environment-based models. Much of this tendency can be traced to the 1910 Flexner Report, a notoriously sexist and racist document, backed by the Carnegie Foundation, that encouraged medical schools to educate future doctors solely on treating pathologies, completely ignoring overall wellness. 'The US system is built all around disease care,' says Darshan Shah, MD, a board-certified surgeon and the founder and CEO of Next Health, a Los Angeles–based chain of medical health optimization centers that provides treatments for the Four Seasons Resort Maui spa. 'Anything outside of that does not get approved by the FDA.' Such a system rewards advancements like easily patented pills and surgeries over preventive wellness, which is unprofitable by comparison—a fact that's less an issue for Europe's publicly funded health care systems. So why is America hopping onto the preventive health trend now? Shah believes, to use a well-worn phrase, that Americans are sick and tired of being sick and tired—and of the endless game of whack-a-mole they so often have to play to get health problems treated. 'Americans see that European destination spas are places to actually get healthy and want to find that for themselves,' he says. I can't help but wonder whether our uniquely American culture of avowed techno-optimism is also partly responsible: We embrace the driverless car, the soy-protein-based meal replacement, the Kim K–endorsed salmon-sperm facials—and we love keeping up with the Joneses. This past summer I got a poolside vitamin IV treatment, and instantly two people who'd seen me receiving it called the nurse over to book their own. Twenty years ago it might have been confusing to hear that some of the most famous people in tech and science, like Larry Ellison and Dave Asprey, the 'father of biohacking,' had gotten into the spa business; nowadays it sounds par for the course. From the most exclusive resorts to neighborhood spots, many spas seem less like the lavender-scented, Enya-pumping spaces of yore and more like futuristic medical labs. Several of the biggest names in the game, like Sha Wellness Clinic, have built their popularity on such offerings as genomic testing and biofeedback therapies. Spas can biohack your trauma with psychedelics in the morning and map your personalized genetic wellness plan in the afternoon. Americans no longer visit spas only for a hit of temporary relaxation, but to invest in our long-term well-being, because the health care we have—'disaster care,' as Shah calls it, for its focus on accidents and cancers—doesn't do it. We want to live longer, age more slowly, and learn to manage our own mental health more effectively. Americans aren't looking to just survive. We want to optimize and thrive. Getting into science-based wellness can be intimidating. I asked Shah how to cut through the marketing noise and find legitimate establishments that suit your needs. He recommends going only to facilities that employ someone with a medical license, such as an overseeing doctor or medical director; conducting your own research on a provider's claims; and speaking to someone in the scientific community, like your physician, about whether the treatment is effective, safe, and—importantly—worth the often high cost. Maybe someday these science-based treatments won't be categorized as luxury services. But until then, they just might be worth the investment. This article appeared in the March 2025 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here. Originally Appeared on Condé Nast Traveler The Latest Stories from Condé Nast Traveler Want to be the first to know? Sign up to our newsletters for travel inspiration and tips Thanksgiving in Paris Is One of the Most American Things You Can Do 15 Unwritten Rules to Know Before Visiting New York City Welcome to Park Ranger Instagram—the Most Wholesome Corner of the Internet
