In 2022 I wrote about how traditional wellness’s one-size-fits-all approach is failing guests. Today, I feel even more passionately about this as I see hotels pack their programming with more yoga, more sound bath healing, more forest-bathing. Newsflash: these are not the only supportive activities that you can offer guests. Please, for the love of hospitality, diversify your experiences!
Any Hotel, Anywhere
After spending several years in the spiritual wellness space many years ago, I came to the realization that a lot of it wasn’t for me. I was trading one set of societal rules for another (more awakened) set of rules. I was trading traditional ‘shoulds’ for more new-age ‘shoulds’. When I expressed this all to my husband he responded “what’s a sound bath??”
To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with these activities, but I can only imagine that they resonate with the teeniest tiniest percent of the population. And even in my peak spiritual days, I would never have signed up for one of these activities on vacation, nor can I think of a single friend who would. And it's not because I dislike these things, but because I can easily do these things at home. One of the main reasons I travel is to experience new things that are unique to the culture!
If a wellness guru in your community comes to you and says “I can host sound bowl healing for your guests” your first question should be: does this jive with our concept? Your second question should be: do our guests really truly want to spend their precious vacation time doing this?
People need healing now more than ever and I don’t believe one hour meditating to the beautiful sounds of crystal is the answer. Case in point: I go to acupuncture and pilates every week - have all my problems disappeared? I wish. These activities don’t truly get to the root cause of our collective (often emotional/psychological) issues.
People in today’s world struggle to feel seen, heard, supported, loved, understood - and throwing them into a group of strangers for some stretching isn’t the solution. Sure, it might helpful for the 1 in 6 Americans (possibly higher numbers overseas) that do yoga at home who want to keep up their health routine. And you might get a few curious souls that are bored and just looking to try something new. But what about the rest?
I’m going to let you in on a secret. Any experience or activity can be healing. A rock concert. A cooking class. Fishing. Painting. Paint-balling. As long as the experience is designed thoughtfully with the right intention, even something extreme and terrifying like bungee jumping can be supportive of the people who need it most.
In fact, there are several well-respected somatic practitioners, like Irene Lyon, who say that a lot of the traditional mindfulness practices are incredibly triggering for the masses and may be jumping the gun for many. If you’ve ever felt shame for not being able to follow a simple guided meditation, or felt trapped during a mindfulness exercise, you may even be one of them.
If you’re reading this and you’re thinking to yourself “but yoga is bang-on with our concept and it’s what our guests desire more than anything!” Then I am going to challenge you to explore putting your own novel twist into it. Take yoga and make it yours. Mix in your special sauce, make it pop with your unique personality. Don’t let it be the same yoga activity they do day in, day out at home. Find a way to make it the most meaningful yoga class your guest has ever done.
Sound bath in a canoe at the beautiful Nimmo Bay Resort? I'll allow it.
One of my favorite techniques that I will share with you today is combining and layering with nontraditional wellbeing activities. What would yoga + painting = ???? Or sound bathing + poetry = ???? Or forest bathing + games = ???? Just typing this already has my creative wheels turning and I can begin to envision more dynamic activities that shake things up and engage guests more deeply. Wellbeing and the world of creativity make a natural, beautiful partnership that I’d love to see more of in our industry.
If you want to create wellness & wellbeing experiences that have a strong, lasting impact, here are a few questions to ask yourself:
What is the actual root (psychological/emotional) problem we want to support our guests navigate?
What new ‘way of being’ are we helping them explore in a safe yet novel way?
How do we support them experience this shift in a way that aligns with our concept AND their interests?
If this resonates you and you need help diversifying your programming or creating a more meaningful retreat program, let's chat.
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