The2020 MINDBODY Wellness Index ranks the health of the 50 most populous cities in the US—naming the healthiest city in America, the most unhealthy, and every city in between. (See the list of America’s Healthiest Cities here.) And from their study results, they pull out data for other reports including Top Wellness Trends. For the full report and this blog post in full (written by MINDBODY Marketing Content Specialist Katherine Wernet), visit MINDBODY.

TOP WELLNESS TRENDS of 2020

1. Experiential wellness rising

Wellness is more than just an appointment squeezed into a busy day. In many cases, it’s an event all its own. 47% of Americans surveyed attended a wellness event or experience last year—and 55% want to attend at least one this year.

Top three wellness experiences people want to try in 2020:

1.           Spa retreat (24% want to try)

2.           Nutrition/cleansing event (16%)

3.           Wellness festival (15%)

And travelers are already embracing wellness. Thirty percent book fitness, beauty, or wellness services at least half of the time they’re away from home.

2. Lashin’ is in fashion

Lash services are booming in beauty, and don’t expect that to slow down in 2020. Lash services are in high demand—with eyelash extensions being the most popular, followed by lash tinting and lash lifts.

Top motivators for getting professional lash treatments:

1.           To feel more confident (51%)

2.           To try something new (41%)

3.           For a special event (38%)

4.           To eliminate the need for mascara or fake lashes (36%)

5.           To save time on make-up routine (29%)

6.           It’s part of my regular routine (20%)

Forty-three percent want to try lash extensions, 38% lash tinting, and 36% lash lifts. Both women and men alike want to treat their lashes. Nearly a quarter of men say they want to try lash extensions.

3. Sleep goes luxe

Sixty percent of Americans say they’re frequently exhausted at work. Nearly 22% say they regularly nap in their cars during the week.

Though the majority say they’re more productive after a midday nap, few employers encourage them. More workplaces are focusing on wellness...can this extend to nap time? MINDOBY results indicate almost 71% of people want to try nap pods at the office. So far, though, only 16% of workers say their companies offer a place for shuteye.

The demand for nap bars and nap pods is growing. In fact, 54% of us want to try nap bars for some midday Zs. On average, MINDBODY survey respondents reported taking 2.1 naps a week.

4. Emotional wellness

What dimension will people will focus on most in 2020? Emotional wellness.  A big part of emotional wellness is all about being able to express and acknowledge one’s feelings. Talking to a therapist or confiding in a close friend are a couple of ways to boost emotional wellness.

On average, people say they spend 3.4 hours a week on their emotional wellness. In 2020 according to MINDBODY, they’re looking to bump that to an average of 3.6 hours.

5. Integrative health

With the popularity of intense workouts, MINDBODY says we all need a way to recover. Survey respondents say they’re most eager to try meditation, breathing, visualization, and guided imagery in 2020.

Meditation can boost emotional wellness and help people maintain positive emotions for longer periods of time. Meditation was the most popular form of integrative health last year, with 18% of people having practiced it.

Bodies need to heal too, though. Following meditation, people are most eager to try acupuncture and acupressure—both of which can help with pain and promote self-healing. Sixty-eight percent say integrative health/alternative medicine is a good complement to modern medicine.

SURVEY STATS FROM MINDBODY:

The MINDBODY Wellness Index looks at different factors that contribute to the wellness of a city's population. These include residents’ overall health, behaviors, and attitudes towards wellness and business success factors of local wellness businesses (like fitness studios and gyms, salons, spas, and integrative health businesses). Studying both a city’s wellness businesses and residents provides a more complete picture of its health and the wellness market in the city.

To rank each of the top 50 cities, we use a proprietary statistical scoring algorithm that incorporates anonymized, city-level analytics data from the MINDBODY software, third-party data from sources such as the US Census, Google and other business listing services, and data from a large-scale MINDBODY consumer survey. The scale can range from zero to 100—and resulting scores are ranked, with the highest ranking associated with the healthiest city, and the lowest denoting the most unhealthy city.

Over 20,000 adults from 50 US cities participated in a 15-minute online survey between September 13 and October 20, 2019. Participants were provided through a third-party panel provider that recruits participants from a variety of social media and ad platforms.  Survey participants span the ages of 18 to 65, with a mean age of 36. The survey included a variety of behavioral, attitudinal and preference questions related to consumers engagement in wellness and health behaviors. The sample is 40% male and 60% female. While 0.04% do not identify with female or male genders, we do not include this data in gender comparisons—due to the low base size.