Has Wellness Lost its Way?

Has wellness lost its way? This was the thought that kept me up at night as I was returning back to work after maternity leave last Summer.

Wellness is everywhere these days. So in theory, there's never been a better time to be a consultant for brands in this space.

But for all its growth, and all my opportunities, something felt deeply off.

The promise of wellness was always wholeness. A return to self. A reconnection with body, mind, community, and planet. But what we’ve ended up with is something far thinner: a hyper-individualised, often inaccessible, and relentlessly commercialised version of wellbeing that treats our struggles as personal failures, and our healing as a luxury product.

My fear is that wellness has been co-opted by capitalism. It’s become a market category. A trend. A set of curated aesthetics. A product to consume rather than a practice to live.

Meanwhile, people are suffering.

Mental health services are overstretched. Chronic conditions are on the rise. Stress, grief and trauma are running deep – and yet mainstream systems continue to offer fragmented, short-term, siloed solutions. And in this gap, many are turning to holistic wellness. But what are they finding?

Great marketeers over deeply informed support. Products that promise the world yet deliver nothing. Overwhelming, deeply conflicting information. Healing modalities devoid of any real context from where they started.

We need a shake up. We need to regain control of the narrative.

So, it’s time to gather!

Brighton Wellness Festival was created to do wellness properly. To celebrate where we started with holistic care, and to gather people, brands and spaces with integrity to promote authentic wellness together.

So this is a call to all the practitioners, coaches, space-holders, teachers, business owners, brands and advocates who feel the same way. Who believe that there is a better, deeper, more courageous way forward for wellness.