13 minute read
Living indoors with the outdoors
Photo by Free-Photos from Pixabay
Lauren Gibson looks at the benefits of incorporating greenery into your salon environment
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Our industry has mostly been an indoor industry and environment – confined to treatment rooms for 8 to 12 hours and sometimes longer.
While the trend of bush treatments and outdoor experiences has grown, we are still seeing salon treatments being done behind closed doors – and for obvious reasons.
However, nature therapy is an extremely powerful and easy therapy to bring into your salon. It is not only important for clients having treatments, but for staff working in the salon or spa environment as well.
Connection to nature
There is science backed information to support the movement of greenery indoors. We are connected to nature and living and working with it in our space will improve our overall wellbeing.
Studies have shown that plants indoors and in your workspace can • Create a sense of relaxation – nature allows our central nervous system to be engaged and this generates a sense of calm and the beginning of relaxation before the therapist’s hands touch the client. • Improved air quality – certain plants can absorb and draw toxins out of the air. This ensures the environment is cleaner, which results in less stress on the central nervous system and immune system, as well as the skin. • Enhanced wellbeing for staff – if staff are working in a closed environment for many hours (and often exposed to chemicals in a salon), it is important to have greenery around them to remove toxins and allow for a sense of calm. This will enhance the working environment for the staff and general overall wellbeing. • Attract passing customers – should salons be lucky enough to have a window onto the street, having a living wall or area of greenery allows passers-by to see the greenery indoors and often they are attracted into the salon. It also allows for a great conversation starter about the importance of greenery indoors and the importance of rewilding (bringing nature to the skin). • Overall stress reduction – lowering blood pressure, the heart rate and overall muscular tension are positive side effects of being around nature and greenery. • Due to the calmer state of being by having plants indoors, workplaces have seen increased productivity and the sharpening of attention and creativity. • Recovery and illness – plants have been shown to speed up recovery from illness, surgery and injuries.
Safe plants
When it comes to choosing your plants, you always want to ensure you are choosing indigenous plants that are safe for pets and children.
Some suggestions of plants for South Africa include • Phipsalis casutha • Philodendron (Monstera) • Asplenium nidus (birds nest fern) • Aglaonema (silver queen) • Hoya carnosa (wax plant) • Draceana compacta (dragon tree) • Perperomia compacta • Spekboom (needs sunlight) • Aloe Vera • Air plants • Succulents • Snake plant
Engage with nature and bring some greenery indoors – the change in your staff and clients will be outstanding.
Lauren Gibson has over 15 years in the health and beauty industry with qualifications in yoga, mindfulness, content marketing and management practice. laurenleigh.gibson@gmail.com
Talking to… Belgin Aksoy
In the run-up to Global Wellness Day, which takes place on Saturday, 12 June 2021, JOANNA STERKOWICZ speaks to the movement’s founder, Turkish spa professional Belgin Aksoy
What motivated you to create Global Wellness Day (GWD) back in 2012?
Until 2004, I believed I had a fairly healthy lifestyle. I was eating well, doing regular exercise, living a happy life and thought I had it all. However, in 2004, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and had to immediately change many things in my life. I found that the balance of health and happiness is an indispensable scale. First of all, I decided that I should change my relationship with life, because during radioactive iodine treatment, I was in isolation for nine days. Moreover, my son was only 17 months old at the time and as a new mother, I had to stop breastfeeding. My hormones were all over the place, but most importantly, I had a lot of time to think while I was all alone in that hospital room. Wellness was a new thing for me in those days. While I was trying to educate myself about a better lifestyle, I was also looking for answers on how to get rid of radiation, or why I got sick. Little did I know that blockages in our chakras can make us sick and in made you sick and got you healthy. You now read life differently. So what will you do for the world?” One day, as I sat in front of my computer, I started to research when Global Wellness Day was celebrated in the world. To my surprise, I saw that there was no such day. So, I decided to create a celebration at our hotel – back then it was called Wellness Day – and we chose the second Saturday of June. In 2012, we held a modest event with 150 to 200 people at Turkey’s first destination spa, Richmond Nua Wellness-Spa. It was a day filled with physical activities, nutrition workshops, reiki and skincare. At the end of the day, a middle-aged woman told me she had tried yoga for the first time, having previously thought it was only for fit and young people, and that she was going to continue classes. I was very happy to hear that and thought about how one day
my case, the sentences I did not say (i.e. the words I swallowed), had made me sick. Between 2004 and 2012, I worked on myself to become the new me and started feeling healthier than ever before. In 2012, I started hearing a whisper in my ear – “Okay Belgin, we
Global Wellness Day - South Africa could change a person’s life. Now, with the slogan, ‘One day can change your whole life’, GWD is celebrated on the second Saturday of June every year. It is a non-for-profit day, a social project dedicated to living well with the purpose of asking the question, even if for just one day, “How can I live a healthier and better life?” The aim is to direct the thoughts of both individuals and society towards ‘living well’ and to raise awareness.
How long did it take for the GWD concept to really gain traction around the world?
During the 2014 Annual Global Spa and Wellness Summit in Morocco, I first introduced GWD to 400 leading wellness and spa delegates during a forum and surprisingly, gained their full support. At the same event, GWD also won the one-minute, graphic animation film competition entitled, ‘The Future of the Wellness Sector’. In addition, GWD’s infographic video received first place out of the 50 countries competing and was awarded as the 2014 winner. Following this amazing event, countries started to take great interest in GWD. While it was only celebrated in one spa in 2012, it turned into an international event in 2015, where it was celebrated in over 74 countries in more than 600 locations. In 2016, ISPA (International Spa Association) presented GWD with the Innovate Award in the Philanthropic Initiatives category.
When you created the movement, wellness was not the buzzword that it is today. Please comment.
The biggest obstacle we faced in all GWD celebrating countries was to make certain that communities and societies became aware of the ‘wellness’ concept. Yes, today many are well aware that eating healthily and doing physical activities is a great way to live well, but prior to the global pandemic and even before then, ‘wellness’ was thought to be something stylish, hip and more for the elite. However, our aim with GWD for over eight years has always been to make wellness a part of every individual’s life – using seven simple steps that are possible for everyone: walk for an hour; drink more water; don’t use plastic bottles; eat healthy food; do a good deed; have a family dinner with your loved ones; and sleep at 10pm.
Do you think some companies or brands have jumped onto the wellness bandwagon just because it is trendy, rather than for authentic reasons?
Prior to the global pandemic, yes. However, since COVID-19 took over the world, I believe brands, global companies, influencers
and literally everyone around the globe now truly realises the importance of both mental and physical wellness.
Do you think that the concept of wellness has now taken on a more selfcare, medical-type slant as a result of the pandemic?
Due to the pandemic and lockdown, the concept of
Global Wellness Day - Zimbabwe
wellness has often been confused with terms like health, well-being, and happiness. While there are common elements among them, wellness is distinguished by not referring to a static state of being (i.e., being happy, in good health, or in a state of well-being). Rather, wellness is associated with an active process of being aware and making choices that lead toward an outcome of optimal holistic health and well-being. It is important to know that wellness is multidimensional – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social and environmental.
Where do you think wellness is headed in the future?
Ten years ago, I said: “Wellness is not a luxury, it is the inherent right of every individual.” And I also said that there will be a Minister of Wellness for every country. I stand behind my words.
I believe you come from a spa background?
I received my degree from the Institute Hotelier Cesar Ritz in Switzerland and have been in the tourism and hotel industry for 26 years, while working with my family to carry the Richmond International Hotel Management Company brand to the future. My mission has always been to create a physically, mentally and spiritually better world for years to come. To that end, 17 years ago my personal life and career coincided and wellness became the core of my life with the opening of Richmond Nua, Turkey’s first destination spa and one of Europe’s best equipped and award-winning spas.
GWD 2020 was an amazing undertaking – a continuous 24-hour live stream from New Zealand to Los Angeles. How did you go about planning the logistics for such a huge and challenging worldwide event?
At first GWD 2020 was planned as usual – every country planning a physical celebration for June 13th, but once the pandemic spread globally and everyone was in some sort of lockdown, we had to meet with our GWD Ambassadors, Key Supporters and Advisors. We created a new game plan for GWD 2020 – cancelling was not an option, especially since wellness was needed more than ever! Once the 24-Hour Livestream idea was decided upon, the GWD HQ team started working on placing every country in their possible time zones and making sure content, speakers and experts were well placed. Our GWD Ambassadors and Key Supporters made outstanding efforts to secure the top wellness experts, trainers and celebrities. However, the most difficult part was to find a suitable production/ broadcasting company that could actually accommodate our event. After many calls we decided to work with Zenger Agency – a truly professional team of broadcasters who made the GWD 24-Hour Livestream run seamlessly.
What sort of participation did you have for the 2020 event?
We had over 50 countries take part in the event, which featured influential wellness experts presenting during the GWD 24-Hour Live celebration. These included World Record holder wingsuit BASE jumper, Cengiz Kocak, who performed a live wingsuit BASE jump. Spiritual and meditation teacher,
Since COVID-19 took over the world, I believe brands, global companies, influencers and literally everyone around the globe now truly realises the importance of both mental and physical wellness.
Sah D’Simone, led an amazing meditation, while former NBA basketball player, Omri Casspi, presented a dialogue on ‘Creating a Contagion of Wellness’ together with Dr Daniel Friedland, CEO of SuperSmarthHealth and the author of ‘Leading Well from Within’. Host of The Daily POPcast, member of *NSYNC and New York Times best-selling author, Lance Bass, made a guest appearance. There were so many
other wonderful personalities presenting wellness sessions as well.
How important are the GWD Country Ambassadors, such as South Africa’s former Ambassador, Celeste Peters, in generating support for the event and in coordinating GWD activities in their own countries?
To spread GWD’s message, we have appointed 100 GWD Ambassadors and 28 Key Supporters from around the world. GWD Ambassadors and Key Supporters work in coordination with each other and the mass media in their countries to help spread GWD worldwide by organising GWD celebration activities on the second Saturday of June each year. around the world. Having the GWD flag reach the summit of Mount Everest, a climb I will never be able to make, or seeing a bridge built in the ‘no man’s land’ border between Thailand and Myanmar, a place I will never have a chance to visit, having aid missions organised for the needy, having support from Presidents to mayors, from schools to hospitals, from world-renowned business people to Hollywood stars, and much more – it is because of the extraordinary GWD Family of 128 people, who are touching the hearts of millions.
The passion of Celeste Peters and all the members of GWD is truly inspiring – working day and night to spread wellness and in the end seeing the movement embraced by so many people the year before. Even though GWD 2021 will be celebrated virtually, we will be focusing on the quality of the content, guests and experts rather than the quantity of the content.
Global Wellness Day - Turkey
Given the current uncertainty around the pandemic and vaccine efficacy and roll-out, are you planning to do this year’s GWD virtually as in 2020?
We have decided to once again celebrate GWD on a virtual basis. However, countries that do have flexibility will also be having a socially distanced physical celebration. So this year each country will join the global virtual celebration but also, if possible, have an online or physical event of their own as well.
Will you change anything from how things were done at last year’s GWD?
Every year we try to celebrate GWD in a way that is better than
Can you reveal yet any exciting things planned for GWD 2021?
Unfortunately we cannot at this very moment – it must be a surprise. However, we will be definitely happy to give a sneak peek in the upcoming months – so stay tuned to www.globalwellnessday.org.
Celebrities have amazing pulling power in terms of awareness and marketing – can you mention a few celebrities who support GWD?
We have received the support of: Hollywood stars such as Josh Charles (‘The Good Wife’), Ty Burrell and Jessie Tyler Ferguson from ‘Modern Family’, and Mayim Bialik (‘The Big Bang Theory’); authors such as Deepak Chopra; sports stars such as Venus Williams; and leaders of the business world including Virgin Group founder, Richard Branson. Other supporters include pop legend, Rod Stewart, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King, Dr Mehmet Oz, Robbie Williams and Dame Julie Andrews, to name a few.
