Promoting Mental Wellness in the Time of COVID

Solutions to mental health challenges and pathways for promoting mental wellness constitute a special opportunity for the wellness sector – and indeed a great responsibility to our society.”
By Professor Gerard Bodeker

The challenge of our generation

As the COVID-19 crisis progresses, scientific research is showing that the disease can cause brain and psychological effects as well as respiratory, cardiovascular and immune system damage.

European researchers publishing in the scientific journal Nature in July 2020 wrote: “While some patients with COVID-19 may show confusion and headache (non-specific neurological symptoms), others may develop specific neurological manifestations including stroke, seizures and signs of encephalitis”. Elsewhere it has been reported that following nasal infection, coronavirus has been demonstrated to enter the central nervous system through the olfactory bulb. And that brain inflammation then has an effect on various neurological and psychiatric disorders.

In China, prior to the COVID-19 crisis, the World Health Organization estimated that 54 million people were suffering from depression and about 41million suffer from anxiety disorders. A recent report from The National Health Commission of China put out a call for emergency psychological crisis intervention. In response, various mental health associations and organizations have established expert teams to compile guidelines and public health educational articles/videos for mental health professionals and the general public alongside with online mental health services. The National Health Commission of China stated that: “the rapid transmission of the COVID-19 has emerged to mount a serious challenge to the mental health service in China”.

The Mental Wellness Initiative (MWI)

We know from the WHO and from global mental health studies that the world is suffering from a mental wellness crisis: Over one billion people suffer from anxiety, and one in four people experience mental disorders. The Mental Wellness Initiative (MWI) of the Global Wellness Institute aims to understand those pathways that help people stay well and thrive mentally as well as physically.  The MWI’s mission is focused around sharing knowledge for wellness educators and influencers. This is not just about mental wellness techniques but rather is about offering data on evidence-based daily practices that serve as prevention tools; for living our full potential in everyday life.

The MWI has now produced a number of reports and research papers and has presented on mental wellness in several global online and in-person forums (https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/initiatives/mental-wellness-initiative/)

The spa industry – time to reposition

Spa Business Magazine’s August 2020 issue quotes Julie Garrow, founder and managing director of Intelligent Spas, who says: “We’ve been tracking global spa performance over the last 10 years and our latest survey shows that average revenue per spa halved during that time due to a supply and demand imbalance, in essence, too many spas opened compared to the level of demand for spa services. A 47 per cent decrease in average spa occupancy rates between 2008 and 2018 prove this. On the positive side, revenue per visit increased 29 per cent to US$129 (118, £104). Overall, the findings confirm that many revenue and visit indicators have decreased significantly and even before the coronavirus, the business environment for spa owners and managers was challenging.”

The well-known economist and future forecaster Thierry Malleret, wrote recently: “Recovery will take a long time and things will not be the same as before. A partial, wider retreat from globalisation will favour regionalism and localism in travel as people will have less discretionary spend and confidence to venture abroad again”. Malleret also predicts that there will be a new obsession with cleanliness. “Anxiety and diffidence about sharing space with complete strangers may be another and many people may decide that it’s preferable to practice yoga or exercise at home rather than going to a club or gym. It goes without saying, whenever possible, have an online presence”.

Spa design

Clearly, spas and wellness centres will need to adopt COVID-safe measures on reopening. Cary Collier, co-founder of Blu Spas, says: “Without doubt COVID-19 will impact on spa design. The technology, materials and finishes to deliver more clean, virus-resilient ecosystems for spas and wellness facilities already exist. Whether that’s to do with air quality, such as filtration systems, wearable air purifiers or air-purifying curtains; or cleanliness, such as elegant sanitisation portals, back-of-house ‘clean zones’, a reduction of ‘touch zones’ (think Star Trek type sensor opening doors, RFID opening lockers), self-sanitising rooms or bacteria-battling robots”. (www.bluspasinc.com)

Spa reopenings

Six Senses. Anna Bjurstam, VP of Spas and Wellness, Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, reports that: “Like all spa businesses, we’ve had to shut our properties. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. IHG, the owners of Six Senses, had 170 hotels closed in mid-March and almost all of those have now reopened. At Six Senses Qing Cheng Mountain in China, the restaurant had 70 walk-ins the first day the lockdown was lifted and it’s experiencing up to 100 per cent occupancy at the weekends.”

In March 2020, Six Senses launched their At Home With Six Senses portal offering advice on how to reduce anxiety and loneliness for example, as well as tips on everything from working at home to getting into good sleep routines. The At Home initiative aims to offer proactive and pragmatic ways for people to care for themselves and the people they love. 

Glen Ivy Hot Springs, California. Glen Ivy Hot Springs in California has reopened with a new private outdoor wellness ‘staycation’ to create a safe socially-distanced spa experience for returning guests. Called Passport to Wellness, the package invites visitors to enjoy a curated day of physically-distanced pool-side relaxation including open-air treatments, fitness classes, swimming and fresh dining, while exploring the destination’s peaceful grounds.

Glen Ivy Hot Springs is following local and state health guidance and has introduced several new protocols to keep both employees and guests safe while at the resort, including operating entirely outdoors, limiting capacity, exposure screenings, temperature checks, face coverings, and physical distancing, among additional safety measures.

Due to COVID-19, Glen Ivy is only welcoming a small number of guests daily. Hosts will be on hand to educate visitors about the wellness destination, remind guests about their appointments, provide food and beverage services and more.

The programme offers an outdoor mud therapy experience and 50-minute open-air Swedish massage conducted in a new outdoor treatment pavilion in Glen Ivy’s Secret Garden. In addition, guests have the opportunity to reconnect body and mind through complimentary yoga, meditation, Aqua Fit and Aqua Yoga classes.

The package also enables guests to access Glen Ivy’s extensive offering of therapeutic pools and mineral baths and enjoy a three-course meal featuring wholesome California cuisine with a focus on healthy salads and fresh seafood, with a premium wine pairing.

The Passport to Wellness is available in three tiers: Standard, Deluxe and Premium, which are based on the size and type of space people choose to spend their day in, within the hot spring resort.

Wellness coaching

What wellness coaches and spa professionals are saying is that we are all feeling vulnerable since this pandemic started. We’re all experiencing anxiety, stress, uncertainty – and, for a change, we are talking about it rather openly.

At an online Global Wellness Institute conference in August 2020, a number of wellness coaches said that openness about our vulnerability will enable many behavior changes toward living our healthiest, happiest lives. And they all agreed that if a person has a trusted advocate or coach or advisor, this will be a very powerful boost towards making positive changes in our lives. Wellness coaching for individuals and groups offers new opportunities for spas and wellness centres.

As Thierry Malleret says: “It goes without saying, whenever possible, have an online presence”.

Governments will promote Wellness 

Malleret, predicts: “the Alps in Europe and National Parks in the US are locations which were already benefitting from the ‘micro-adventure’ trend before COVID-19 and this will now accelerate. Governments will incentivise wellness because they will have no other choice when it comes to decreasing healthcare costs”. 

In Australia, for example, the state government of Western Australia, where it is estimated that up to one third of the state’s population engages in recreational fishing, has invested several million dollars into promoting recreational fishing as a COVID mental health measure. Western Australia has the longest coastline of any state or territory in Australia, at 12,889 km. Noting that recreational fishing brings in around $3billion each year to the state’s economy, the state government is promoting fishing as a means of improving mental health by way of being in Nature and focusing on a simple recreational pastime during this challenging COVID-19 era and also stimulating domestic tourism in a COVID-safe region of Australia.

New business methods

Clearly, this is the time of online development for the wellness and spa industry. Spas now need to expand into wellness and an online presence can include:

Connecting with Nature. The master of Chinese Medicine, Sun Simiao, advised that fresh air, daily walks in natural landscapes and food from a fresh and wholesome garden – cultivated in part by the owner – were the fundamentals of creating and maintaining good health. Sun Simiao was born around 581 CE and died in 682 CE after completing his 30 volume Encyclopedia of Medicine – the first few volumes of which were not dedicated to medicine at all, but to lifestyle, diet and exercise.  Green space is good for psychological wellbeing, improving recovery from stress and protecting against future stress, and improving concentration. And it turns out that the quality of green space, including its richness in wildlife, may be more important to mental health benefits than its quantity. People living near quality green space, full of wildlife and thriving habitats, were twice as likely to report low psychological distress as those living near low quality open spaces. Nature near home is particularly important for children, increasing their ability to cope with stressful life events, directed attention and cognitive function. This is something that destination spas and wellness resorts can build their marketing around, including urban spas which can begin offering programs in parks and gardens.

Movement. In addition to the well-documented effects of exercise on quality of life and longevity, there is an emerging body of findings showing that exercise benefits mental wellbeing. The Oxford University Press book “Exercise for Mood and Anxiety” translates scientific findings and principles of behaviour change into easy strategies for the general public. The focus is on helping to establish and maintain an exercise program by understanding the relationship between mood and motivation. The strategy includes worksheets and checklists to help record information on moods before and after a workout in order to improve motivation. Yoga, TaiChi, dance, vigorous exercise, walking and many other forms of movement have all been shown to reduce depression and anxiety and to enhance positive mood when done on a regular basis.

Nutrition. Essentials from the Golden Cabinet of Jin Gui Yao Lue 金匮要略, is reported to be the oldest clinical book dedicated to internal, external, gynaecological and obstetric diseases. It is also the first medical book in the Chinese literature on differential diagnosis of diseases and symptoms, along with treatment and prescriptions. Two full chapters of Jin Gui Yao Lue are dedicated to the use of food in preventing and treating illness, including the healing properties of different foods and interactions between different food types. Modern research has supported the importance of healthy eating in creating and maintaining good mental health and wellbeing.

The Mental Health Foundation of the UK notes that: “Nearly two thirds of those who do not report daily mental health problems eat fresh fruit or fruit juice every day, compared with less than half of those who do report daily mental health problems. This pattern is similar for fresh vegetables and salad. Those who report some level of mental health problem also eat fewer healthy foods (fresh fruit and vegetables, organic foods and meals made from scratch) and more unhealthy foods (chips and crisps, chocolate, ready meals and takeaways).” A review of multiple studies on nutrition and mental health has confirmed a relation between unhealthy dietary patterns and poorer mental health in children and adolescents. A habitually poor diet (e.g., increased consumption of Western processed foods) was associated with a greater likelihood of or risk for depression and anxiety. The study also found a consistent trend for the relationship between good-quality diet and better mental health. Clearly, opportunities are there for both online and in-spa courses in wellness nutrition drawing on China’s ancient traditions combined with evidence from  modern science on the benefits of a healthy diet in enhancing mental wellbeing.

Stress reduction. Harvard researchers report that meditation is one of the ways to engage in restorative activities that may provide relief for our immune systems, easing the day-to-day stress of a body constantly trying to protect itself. The prediction is that this would then lead to healthier aging. Changes associated with the practice of meditation include enhanced neural plasticity and increased grey and white matter development in the brains of meditators. With benefits ranging from enhanced mental wellbeing through to reduction of deeply traumatic stress, from changes in brain structure and functioning through to changes in gene expression and telomere length and reduced age-related decline, meditation stands as a primary pathway for lifelong enhancement of physical and mental wellness.

Laughter. Laughter yoga (Hasyayoga) is a practice involving prolonged voluntary laughter. Laughter yoga is based on the belief that voluntary laughter provides the same physiological and psychological benefits as spontaneous laughter. Laughter yoga is done in groups, with eye contact, jokes and playfulness between participants. Oxford University researchers found that social laughter produced neurophysiological changes, increased pleasurable sensations and triggered endogenous opioid release in the thalamus, caudate nucleus, and anterior insula regions of the brain. Online laughter is just as therapeutic as laughing in a real social group and offers a new option through laughter yoga for spas and wellness centres.

Moving forward

We now have substantial scientific evidence that explains how wellness habits promote our brain to change and rewire itself through a lifelong process termed neuroplasticity.

In gaining a deeper understanding of neuroplasticity and its practical applications, we can better harness its immeasurable potential, empowering ourselves and each other toward meaningful growth and positive change. We will ensure that we not only survive in our fast-changing modern-day world, but learn to thrive both individually and collectively in a shifting landscape of unpredictability and uncertainty.

As the world looks to life after COVID-19, mental wellness is a front-burner priority. Solutions to mental health challenges and pathways for promoting mental wellness constitute a special opportunity for the wellness sector – and indeed a great responsibility to our society.

Prof. Gerard Bodeker

A Harvard-trained public health academic, Gerry Bodeker researches and advises on integrative medicine and wellness. He has specialised in Asian traditions of medicine and healthy lifestyles. He has taught in medical sciences at Oxford University for two decades and is adjunct professor of epidemiology at Columbia University. Prof Bodeker has published widely, including the following books: The World Health Organization Global Atlas on Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Understanding the Global Spa Industry, and Mental Wellness: Pathways, Evidence and Horizons. He is working with the Asian Development Bank on a report and a book on Wellness in Asia.