June 11, 2016 is Global Wellness Day.
I say Yes!
Why?

The 7 Step Manifesto

In order to make Wellness a lifestyle, Global Wellness day -represented in 70+ countries and first celebrated in 2012 – aims to adopt seven simple steps:

Walk for an hour

Drink more water

Do no use plastic bottles

Eat organic food

Do a good deed

Have a family dinner

Sleep at 10 pm

My personal thoughts on GWD

My reaction when I first learned about Global Wellness Day a few years back was “how sad actually, it needs a celebration day for wanting to life well?.”

Of course I say Yes!, but should we not all be happily striving at doing exactly that every day of our lives by our very own motivation? To make every single day the healthiest and best for our bodies, minds and souls?

The manifesto sounds almost too simple to be of value. Or is it exactly this simplicity that makes it so valuable?

How comes, that a majority of people have lost focus for themselves and their beloved ones when it comes to wellness. Why do we all seemingly need to be reminded? Do we not recognise the value of our lives without reminder?

Just think about

… stress, anxiety and depression

4 out of 10 children have trouble sleeping
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18% of the population.
Major Depressive Disorder is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. for ages 15 to 44.3
Affects approximately 14.8 million American adults, or about 6.7 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year

…obesity

childhood obesity rates in the US have more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents
Worldwide obesity has more than doubled since 1980.
In 2014, more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years and older, were overweight. Of these over 600 million were obese.
39% of adults aged 18 years and over were overweight in 2014, and 13% were obese.
Most of the world’s population live in countries where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight.
42 million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese in 2013.
Obesity is preventable

…addictions

children’s screen time averages 3 hours a day
and 23.5 million Americans are addicted to alcohol and drugs. That’s approximately one in every 10 Americans over the age of 12

…eating disorders

One in 200 American women suffers from anorexia

…and other diseases such as diabetes, cancer and sadly, many many more…

that hurt peoples lives with regards to living and feeling well.

And yes, Wellness is a lifestyle, not a stream of income, not a fashion or fad, not a product and certainly not a new concept. It is not merely pampering or indulging, but an important use of time, energy, and resources to foster our health and wellbeing.

A wellness lifestyle means responsibly looking after ones health – mentally, spiritually and physically.

And I would actually love to add an 8th step to the GWD manifesto:

This is also what TalkWellness is about

With my site www.talkwellness.at I wish to inspire professionals and informed consumers alike about best practises, best places, best knowledge all year round. TalkWellness is a non-commercialised site that provides free access to my 30 year knowledge and experience in the industry, sharing news and trends on global spa & wellness. This is my contribution to healthier lifestyles.

Background Info to GWD

Global Wellness Day was initiated by Turkish citizen Belgin Aksoy following a challenging time during her life.

“All of us would like to be healthier, to look better, and to live well both physically and spiritually. Living well is almost the entire world’s shared dream.

With the slogan “One day can change your whole life,” we celebrate Global Wellness Day on the second Saturday of June every year as an international day dedicated to living well.”

This social project is created by volunteers and the purpose of this event is to ask the question, even if only for one day, “How can I life a healthier and better life?”.

This way, individuals and society are inspired to direct their thoughts to ‘living well’.

Institutions such as Spas, Wellness Resorts, Studios etc. are encouraged to offer special activities for this day.