When Noise Overshadows Essence: Returning to the True Meaning of Wellness.

Between trends, marketing, and ancestral wisdom, wellbeing calls for silence, discernment, and coherence.

It is intense [almost dizzying] to watch how social media and AI now operate. A term becomes fashionable, turns into a trending topic, and… boom. A flood. Everything gets saturated to the point where those who are not “in the know” end up rejecting not only the word itself, but everything associated with it.
And yes, this is happening [a lot] with the word wellness.

But to understand the noise, sometimes we must return to the silence of origin. What does wellness truly mean? Its etymology is as simple as it is revealing:

1. Well: from Old English wel, meaning “in good condition” or “in a satisfactory state.”
2. -ness: a suffix that turns adjectives into nouns, denoting a state or quality.

In essence, wellness simply means “the state of being well.” Nothing more. No hype. Just a state of being.

The popularization of the term is largely attributed to a pioneer of preventive and holistic health, Halbert L. Dunn, who in the 1950s already spoke about high-level wellness. He defined it as an active process, one that goes far beyond the mere absence of disease and embraces a holistic approach to human life.

So no, this is not new. Wellness is here to stay.
And along the way, it became very [very] tempting for marketing.

This is a golden moment for the industry, and let’s be honest, a deeply unsettling one for those of us who see wellbeing as a vocation, a service, and a way of relating to the world. We could safely say that:

And the numbers don’t lie. According to McKinsey’s 2024 data, analyzed even through Google’s AI tools, 82% of U.S. consumers now consider wellness a top life priority. This has pushed brands to ride the wave—and, in the process, label almost anything as wellness.

The market is energized: science, white papers, validations, testimonials, wellness hotels and residences… and we follow along. We stop drinking, but become obsessed with overtraining. We lift weights our bodies aren’t designed to sustain. We spend excessive time in ice baths or saunas. We force our cervical spine into impossible headstands or push our hearts to absurd limits—even in trendy coffee raves.

Social Fitness seems to have no boundaries. And this is not about being a party pooper. It’s about discernment. About doing what truly resonates with us, with balance. About not chasing in wellness, fitness, or longevity the same fleeting hype as a Saturday night trend.

It’s about listening to those who truly know. About coherence. About understanding that there is no need to blindly follow every trend launched by the influencer of the moment.

The Responsibility of Those in the Trenches

What does all this mean for those of us who are deeply involved—by vocation—in the creation, development, and communication of wellbeing experiences?

It implies a profound responsibility.
The responsibility to avoid well-washing.
To genuinely protect people’s wellbeing.
To recognize the measurable value of science without ever losing sight of the wisdom of the true pioneers.

Those who, thousands of years ago, taught us how to read nature, how to honor the sun and its cycles as sources of vital energy. Practices that existed long before saunas, infrared lights, running apps, or stem cell treatments.

That’s why the invitation is clear: go beyond the noise. Explore cultures of wisdom. Experience a temazcal, a traditional bodywork ritual, sound healing, restorative yoga, or immersion in thermal waters.

Because it is there—precisely there—where the heart softens and the mind finally settles.
And it is there where the true essence of wellbeing lives.