Take care of yourself. Reconnect body and mind. Pushing the boundaries of age. Extricate oneself from an oppressive context. These are our new mantras, and the pandemic has exacerbated the deep-seated needs of an era of change. According to the Global Wellness Institute, with $4.4 billion in global sales in 2020 and an estimated 60% growth by 2025, wellness is a recipe. The American Express Travel survey even mentions a wellness wave, with 43% of respondents choosing their vacation spot based on the presence of a spa. "In France and internationally, demand is exploding," observes Pascal Languillon, founder and CEO of Luxe Wellness Club, a specialist in medical spas and palaces dedicated to well-being. Since Covid, we want to regain control over our health and no longer suffer the pangs of modern life." In the process, the clientele is getting younger: "These aspirations also affect thirty-somethings, with the awareness of the need to take care of oneself, especially when you hold positions of stressful responsibility."
A holistic approach
Care, cures and retreats now go well beyond a pleasant break: the programs offered aim to optimize physical and mental capacities. This is biohacking – hacking biology – which consists of taking control of the body by combining different manual, mental, medical, nutritional, physical techniques... and illustrated by the success of the epigenetic cure of Thalazur establishments. "Clients want to live longer and healthier," says Pascal Languillon. They are warned, and know that for this they must eat better, fight against stress, exercise, sleep better ..., but they need time and supervision to get there. Similarly, yoga in all its forms and naturopathy are almost always involved.
Clients want to live longer, healthier lives, but they need time and guidance to get there
Pascal Languillon, founder and CEO of Luxe Wellness Club
The boom in medical stays
Result: in countries where legislation allows it – Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Thailand ... – "we offer increasingly advanced anti-aging techniques or machines: fasting, vitamin injections, hyperbaric chambers, aesthetic interventions with stem cells, ozone therapy, physical, aesthetic and even genetic tests ...", details our expert. Everything is done under the supervision of medical staff, after a health consultation." Proof that the trend is not weakening: alongside pillars (Chenot, La Prairie, Merano, Nescens, Sha Wellness, La Réserve...) are constantly appearing new establishments (Palazzo Fiuggi...). At the luxurious Ultima Gstaad Hotel in Switzerland, the Recharge to the Full in Winter program begins with a DNA test to better understand your state of health and offer you treatments and a suitable diet that will boost your immunity.
The undisputed reference for medical fasting cures, the Buchinger Wilhelmi clinic in Germany is multiplying scientific studies to prove the benefits of accompanied fasting on health, sleep, hormonal balance, oxidative stress, blood pressure and other chronic metabolic disorders... For those who can not afford the stay, she launches a fast box at 199 euros, to make at home a five-day diet safely. In France, even limited by stricter regulations, new thermal or thalasso cures are positioned to support proven health problems, as illustrated by the almost generalization of post-cancer and menopausal cures or programs for sleep, digestive or joint pathologies, metabolic disorders ...
The individual at the heart of attention
Informed, the client also demands ultra-personalized care. Many centers no longer hesitate to break their predefined packages to offer stays where you compose your own program (Barrière La Baule, Thermes Adour, Miramar Crouesty ...). "In large wellness centers, personalized care is established from the first appointment," says Pascal Languillon. And possibly adjusted gradually according to the tests carried out, the feeling..." Increasingly obsolete too, protocols where everything is the same for all: treatments, types of massages, requested meridians, food programs, cosmetics used ... Everything is more and more personalized to optimize the result. Space, time, serenity and now the feeling of being unique: in 2023, the quintessence of luxury is here. Another telling example is the new tailor-made Inspiration massage delivered at the Deep Nature Resorts in Chamonix, which ranges from 20 to 75 minutes based on listening to the needs of the body.
A stopover named desire
"Sexual well-being is an important part of overall health and emotional well-being," says Élodie Jacquemond, founder of the Holissence platform. She's not alone in thinking so. In the heart of our countryside or at the end of the world, stays dedicated to intimate fulfillment are multiplying and spreading to luxury hotels. Not to be confused, of course, with sex tourism, which has nothing to do with it. Couple out of breath or who wants to "repair adultery", mother who has lost the way of desire, single inhibited ...
Sexual well-being is an important part of overall health and emotional well-being
Élodie Jacquemond, founder of the Holissence platform
For a long time, it was enough to go on vacation for the sea, sex and sun effect to operate, but the stress and rhythm of modern life today complicate romantic relationships. Mexico, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Australia... Some agencies such as intimacymoons.com or backtothebody.org have specialized in high-end stays in heavenly places. Coaching with a sexologist is included. But, there or elsewhere, we willingly use euphemism.
The Pro Age Program
Hatha, Vinyasa... Olivia Leclabart teaches traditional yogas in studios, video, workshops and retreats, but, little by little, she specialized in facial yoga and yin yoga, or hormone yoga. Created in the 1990s by Brazilian Dinah Rodrigues, it is reputed to improve all hormonal disorders, premenstrual syndrome, menopausal symptoms, and everything that results from it, fatigue, mood swings, sleep and libido problems... His challenge? Prepare for women's aging upstream: "To age well, you should not wait for premenopause. Estrogen (female hormones) begins to drop as early as age 35. The sooner you start doing it, the smoother the transition will be. It has been shown that after four months of regular practice, certain postures and breathing exercises increase estrogen levels via the adrenals and endocrine glands by 250%. Thus, they contribute to the hormonal balance from 25 to 80 years and more... Olivia has therefore developed a whole one-month support program (all levels and valid for six months) to follow in video according to her cycle.57 € on oh-my-goddess.com
We talk about reconnection to oneself, bodily awakening, sensory experiences, even tantric retreat or kundalini yoga. Others are dealing with the issue in a more medical way. In Spain, the Sha Wellness Clinic opens a sexual health unit focused on hormonal, sexual and emotional balance. "There is no age to enjoy life in all its aspects," says Dr. Rafael Navas, an expert in integrative and hormonal health. Radiofrequency, stem cell therapy, aesthetic gynecology, physiotherapy, hormone therapy... Here, we start by treating the physical with the most advanced technologies to free the mind. With the seventh sky on the horizon?
