Cold plunges. Organ supplements. Mushroom coffee. A $23 smoothie infused with collagen, spirulina, and the suggestion of spiritual alignment. What used to be a quiet, personal pursuit of balance has become a booming global industry, projected to reach seven trillion dollars.
But how did we get here?
The wellness movement didn’t begin with influencers and Instagram infographics. Its roots trace back to the 1970s, when neighborhood wellness centers offered yoga, massage, herbal remedies, and meditation. These were small, local spaces that invited curiosity and community. Healing wasn’t about optimization or metrics. It was about care.
Today’s landscape looks very different. The language of self-care has been replaced with the pressure to self-upgrade. Wellness has become sleek, algorithmically curated, and largely unregulated. And instead of herbalists or healers, many of the loudest voices are online personalities with massive followings. They offer solutions for everything from hormone i…
