Mala McAlpin With the interest in epigenetics gaining widespread traction, it is becoming more widely accepted that our lifestyle choices have the largest influence on how genes express themselves, and how this affects both our inner health and outer beauty. Our sleep, diet, exercise, stress levels and social activities all play a much larger role than just our DNA alone.
In light of this, World Wellness Weekend was established, to encourage healthier choices and a more active way of life. Now in its second year, WWW (or W3) launched in 2017 in France & Belgium, and is now supported by 36 Spa & Tourism Associations and celebrated across the globe. The pro-bono event aims to engage millions of people around the world in fun, creative and free activities organised by participating health, fitness and wellness facilities.
Day spas, salons, clinics, hotels, yoga studios, fitness clubs, sport associations, and tourism offices throughout 80 countries will be inviting participants to join in a variety of free classes and activities across September 22nd – 23rd that aim to boost vitality, serenity and beauty. Depending on location, these will include yoga, pilates, Qui Gong, dance lessons, sunrise fitness sessions, massage workshops, makeup tutorials, painting classes, barre, rebounding, reflexology and everything between.
Participating Australian locations include Crown Spa Melbourne, Shangri-La Sydney, Hepburn Bathhouse, Onsen Retreat & Spa, Peninsula Hot Springs, White Spa Mountain Retreat and Willow Urban Retreat. All global participating businesses appear on the multi-lingual W3 website (English, French, Italian, Spanish and German).
The first official sponsor of W3 is luxury frech skincare range Biologique Recherche. “We are very supportive of Jean-Guy de Gabriac’s new World Wellness Weekend initiative,” say Rupert Schmid and Pierre-Louis Delapalme, the brand’s Co-Chairs. “The combination of wellness, hospitality and personalisation is at the heart of what we firmly believe at Biologique Recherche!”
The weekend also has its own social media campaign this year in order to drive further awareness around the festivities, and many have already entered the competition as a ‘sneak preview’ of their W3 plans. ‘Welfies’, or wellness selfies, encourage participants to share their wellness activities and adventures, snapping their shots on Instagram and Facebook using the #wwwell2018 tag. According to the W3 website, “The most original and most commented will be rewarded ?”
If you’d like to join in and host your own official W3 wellness activities, register to participate here – it’s free to sign up.
The World Wellness Weekend’s main objective is to remind people that “while health is a relationship between your body and a doctor; wellness is a responsible relationship between your body/mind and yourself.” #WellnessForAll
