Wellness trends come and go. One year, something magical is happening that everyone is a part of, the next it’s gone—only to be replaced by whatever is cool that year. But through it all, there are wellness practices that stand the test of time. Year after year, decade after decade, people flock to certain practices. This is not trendiness; this is the longevity of a practice that means something.
What makes something stick and something else not? It might not be as easy a question as “works” or “doesn’t work.”
When Wellness Is More Than Just Health
Many wellness practices that stand the test of time mean something greater than just what they can do for your health. They connect individuals to their history, to their culture, to the families that used it before them, to where it’s from, what it means to their ancestors, etc. This gives certain practices longevity even when the science behind them is questionable at best.
Consider traditional Chinese medicine and many of the treatments that have been around for thousands of years. Treating conditions by striving towards a state of balance, by using acupuncture and similar techniques, and using food as medicine, these are not just medically based practices. They are a part of a culture and an identity, and something that people may have practiced in their families for generations at this point. Someone may be more inclined to use this because it was something their mother did and her mother before her. This connects the practice to the person in a way a bottle of vitamins from a pharmacy could never do.
You can find this in so many cultures. Ayurvedic medicine for South Asian cultures, traditional herbs used in certain communities, foods that must be eaten at certain times in your life, these all last because they tie in more to culture rather than being standalone instances meant only for health.
The Expensive Ingredients That Keep Being Expensive
Some of the “wellness” practices of the past centuries include an ingredient or two that have stood the test of time and is still pretty pricey (for good reasons). Ingredients that are hard to find, take skill to create, and generally go hand in hand with cultural notions of health and wealth.
Bird’s Nest is one such example. Even with modern alternatives, the demand for fresh birdnest in Singapore and throughout Asia remains quite high because of the way that this ingredient ties cultural wealth and health benefits together. As a well-known delicacy, its expense is more a symbol of wealth than an obstacle.
It’s interesting how these traditional ingredients continue with their rich following while also developing new ones. Younger populations may use it (or not use it) differently, but the same notions of wealth and benefits do not disappear.
The Ingredients That Change But Stay The Same
Some of the best “wellness” traditions that have stood the test of time are those that can change and fit into your life while still being themselves (to some degree). There are certain elements to many practices that, if they change too much, they become relics of the past versus practices that people still follow today.
Herbal teas and tonics are one of the better examples of this. The basic notion of using certain plants to keep someone healthy does not change, although the way people use herbal teas as tonics has become quite simplified, and many people use tea bags that a company produces rather than using these to create their own tonics from scratch. Some claims about the benefits of herbal tonics remain unchanged, while others have been negated through research.
The same can be said of dietary traditions that may have once stated certain foods must be eaten at a certain time of the year or times of your life, or else you will meet an untimely death. The same notions remain despite people changing what they eat (or if they eat certain things) at certain times in their lives. Someone may still practice postpartum nutrition guidelines, but instead of spending all day cooking, just use a slow cooker.
What Lasts and What Doesn’t
Photo by Gustavo Fring from Pexels: Meditating
There’s something about wellness practices that existed before modern medicine that appeals to a lot of people today. When you’re surrounded by synthetic supplements, pharmaceutical drugs, and health advice that changes constantly, traditional approaches offer a sense of timelessness and natural authenticity that resonates.
The wellness traditions that last aren’t necessarily the ones with the best scientific backing or the easiest to fit into daily life. They’re the ones that offer meaning beyond their immediate effects, that can adapt to new times without losing what makes them special, and that stay relevant across generations by balancing cultural identity with actually being useful in practice.
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