Amidst the collective grief and stress of the pandemic, brands like Bloomscape have seen sales … [+]
With restrictions lifting and vaccines rolling out, hope is on the horizon. But a year spent socially isolating, caregiving and working long hours has taken its toll. People are sleeping less, reporting more aches and pains, and feeling anxious and depressed. “The prevalence of mental health disorders has skyrocketed, Headspace Chief Strategy and Science Officer Dr. Megan Jones Bell tells Forbes, “Before the pandemic, one in four to five people in the U.S. experienced a mental health disorder at some point in their life, it’s now one in three.” The mind and body doesn’t bounce back so easily when facing the collective trauma of losing over 500, 000 Americans to COVID-19. With wounds to heal amidst a health care system that fails to adequately meet needs, people are turning to wellness for support.
The Shift necklace from Komuso supports pandemic stress by acting as a reminder to practice deep … [+]
Even before 2020, the wellness market was valued at $4.2 trillion. Now, with the pandemic increasing the demand for preventative health care, telehealth services, soothing self-care and home fitness solutions, the industry is booming. From high-tech gym equipment to smart fitness trackers; vitamin subscriptions to CBD topicals—there have never been more wellness products to choose from.
The following brands are leading the charge, with products that feel especially suited to our current moment. Whether you need to break an unwelcome quarantine habit, nutritional help in the kitchen or a new self-care ritual, this wellness guide has you covered for a refreshing and restorative spring season ahead.
For Self-Care:
Bloomscape sends conveniently pre-potted plant kits to your doorstep.
Spring giving your green thumb an itch but don’t know where to start? Bloomscape wants to help. Founded by a family of horticulturists, the modern garden center offers their expertise on the best varieties for the conditions of your home and garden, then ships the pre-potted plants straight to your door. Offering over 55+ plant types, an edible garden shop and the helpful Vera plant care app, it’s no surprise they saw a fourfold increase in sales during a year spent largely indoors. With the pandemic driving the demand for greener interiors, self-sufficiency in the kitchen and new feel-good rituals that connect us to nature, Bloomscape is on its way to becoming a household name.
For Self-Monitoring:
The Oura ring—available in silver, stealth, gold and black—monitors body signals to provide detailed … [+]
With the healthcare system overburdened by the pandemic, the Oura ring is empowering people to take health monitoring into their own hands, literally. Three tiny sensors on the inner band measure your body signals to provide daily personalized insights on activity, sleep and overall health. When NBA athletes want to know if it’s safe to return to the courts, they use the ring to monitor their temperature. Research is even underway to see if Oura can help detect COVID-19 symptoms. Whether you’re trying to reset your sleep-wake cycle, meet a fitness goal or keep tabs on a health condition, this stylish, water-resistant piece of jewellery can help.
For Mindful Movement:
From launching online fitness streaming platform Alo Moves to designing a new clean beauty line, Alo … [+]
This beloved yoga apparel company had big plans to double its brick-and-mortar presence last year, but were forced to move online, literally. Their new on-demand digital platform Alo Moves boasts thousands of online classes for you to find movement at home—from yoga to HIIT to pilates. They even offer online mindfulness programs for kids.
But the Los Angeles based company remains true to its yoga roots, with breathable activewear, perfect for outdoor running this spring, that doubles as stylish loungewear for working from home. Now they’re moving into beauty with their new clean skincare line featuring Amla—the hydrating superberry known to build collagen. With a four-fold increase in online sales over the past year, this activewear-turned-lifestyle brand is clearly fulfilling our pandemic needs.
For Sexual Pleasure:
The Drop all-body massager is the latest from Maude—a gender neutral wellness brand de-stigmatizing … [+]
If any wellness brand knows how to fulfill our desire for pleasure—it’s Maude. What began three years ago as a gender neutral company hoping to challenge the stigma around sexual wellness has since become a leader in making sexual pleasure more accessible. From vibrators to lubricants; candles that melt into massage oils to compostable compressed towels—Maude’s diverse product line prove sexual wellness and self-care go hand-in-hand. With the pandemic making people more aware of their sex lives, it’s not surprising Maude is thriving: they received over 25,000 pre-orders for the Vibe in March of last year and have seen a 150% growth on their content site. Now they’re ushering in the new season with the Drop, a gender inclusive, USB-charged, all-body massager.
For Meditation:
Headspace continues to be a leader in the wellness industry for making meditation accessible to … [+]
It’s not surprising Headspace has seen a dramatic increase in downloads over the past year as the demand for virtual mental health support continues to rise. But the meditation platform isn’t sitting on their success, they’ve responded to the pandemic by giving free access to populations in need, improving the racial diversity of their narrators and tailoring content to the current moment (think, meditations for kids and zoom fatigue).
By constantly innovating to make mindfulness more accessible and by extension—reduce the stigma around mental health—the meditation platform remains a leader in an industry now flooded with virtual wellness offerings. Their latest developments? A new Netflix meditation guide and mindful eating collaboration with Whole Foods Market.
For Personalized Nutrition:
Care/of keeps you on top of your nutrition by sending customized daily vitamin and supplement packs … [+]
While we’ll be heading outdoors in the warmer season, there are some delivery services that we’ll keep around—a Care/of subscription is one of them. With our brains foggy and routines disrupted, the personalized wellness brand ensures you don’t forget to take your supplements by sending convenient daily packs customized to your nutrition needs. Whether it’s a calming formula for sleep, vegan protein powder or immune-boosting vitamin C, a quick online quiz determines exactly what you need based on your health goals and lifestyle. What sets them apart? They listen to their data—creating formulas with clinically proven ingredients based on the gaps they notice in their customer’s diet.
For Stress:
Inspired by the flute breathing practice of 17th century Japanese Komuso monks, The Shift necklace … [+]
COVID-19 may have woken us up to the importance of the breath but Komuso has been shouting the benefits of breathwork for years. Inspired by the flute breathing practice of 17th century Japanese Komuso monks, Todd and Vanessa Steinberg created The Shift—a necklace with a sleek, steel pendant used as a breathing tool to calm the nervous system. Based on research that shows deep breathing reduces stress, physical tension and improves sleep, the necklace is designed to making beneficial breathwork a daily habit.
Komuso tells Forbes their sales have doubled during the pandemic as people increasingly seek pharmaceutical alternatives for managing stress. The momentum has the company excited for what’s next: a bracelet and kid’s version of The Shift, an educational Komuso App and partnerships with the National Alliance on Mental Illness and American Lung Association.
For Sleep:
Casper no longer specializes in just mattresses, they continue to innovate with bedroom accessories … [+]
From a sunrise alarm to 20lb weighted blanket; adjustable bed frames to dog beds—Casper is no longer just that mattress-in-a-box company with witty ads on the subway. But the mattress start-up still takes their mattresses seriously: with its breathable foam and cooling gel pods, the Wave Hybrid continues to be one of the top performing mattresses on the market. In a 2016 interview with Forbes, founder Luke Sherwin said “Casper can do for sleep what Nike did for sports.” Five years later, with the pandemic wreaking havoc on our sleep and a growing awareness that a good night’s rest is an essential form of self-care, Casper is well on their way.
For Habit-Building:
Madefor is a 10-month wellness program from TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie and former Navy Seal Pat … [+]
With mental health disorders on the rise and routines fractured from all the time spent at home, Madefor—a 10-month wellness program that launched in April of last year—could not have arrived at a better time. Each month, members receive analog tools on a particular theme—think, movement, sleep and hydration—to build and sustain a new habit.
Rather than force a strict set of rules on members, Madefor encourages people to take ownership over their health and develop interceptive awareness. “We find people cultivate this intrinsic motivation and it lasts; your reflexive self becomes your best self,” says Pat Dossett, the former NAVY Seal who founded the company with Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS. While at first glance, Madefor looks like the latest fad for the bio-hacking crowd, Dossett tells Forbes most of their members use Madefor as a lifeline for tackling life challenges, and they’re finding the science-backed programming works.
For Natural Spring Cleaning:
Poo-Pourri CEO Suzy Batiz responded to the pandemic by launching a line of alcohol-based hand … [+]
“We’ve seen exceptional growth because consumers are more and more interested in using natural products to reduce the amount of chemicals that enter their homes and bodies,” Suzy Batiz, creator of beloved essential oil bathroom spray Poo-Pourri, tells Forbes. Despite having to pivot to online sales, the company continues to thrive by being adaptive to consumer interests. In April, that looked like pulling over one million bottles from planned toilet spray production to create a new line of alcohol-based, anti-bacterial hand sanitizers using essential oils. Now, Batiz is teaching aspiring entrepreneurs her life lessons in an 8-week online course. The innovation never stops for Batiz, it’s what landed her on Forbes list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women after all.
For CBD and Herbal Supplements:
Plant People goes beyond CBD to heal and support health with clinical grade, certified organic … [+]
Whether it’s a sinus congestion from the shift in season or lack of focus from all the time spent at home—Plant People has a natural remedy for our most pressing needs. “People are realizing the need to not only be reactive but proactive with their health,” says co-founder Gabe Kennedy, explaining the motivation behind their five new mushroom and herbal supplements designed to boost immunity and cognition.
As a former chef, and child of an acupuncturist and chiropractor, Kennedy brings his knowledge of plants to formulas that heal, not just through high quality, full-spectrum cannabidiol (CBD), but with 100% organic herbs and terpenes too. Whether it’s working with regenerative farms or planting a tree for every product sold, the small business continues to distinguish themselves in an oversaturated supplement market by prioritizing responsible sourcing and manufacturing. “Good supplements is good agriculture, we can only create a product that’s as good as the inputs we start with,” Kennedy tells Forbes.
For Fitness:
Peloton ensures at-home fitness never gets boring with stacked classes, a wide variety of workouts … [+]
Peloton’s immersive stationary spin classes had amassed a cult-like following long before streaming fitness became our new gyms. “COVID really just served as an accelerant for the consumer behavior we’ve always anticipated: More people would begin working out at home once they realized they could have access to better equipment and instructors in a more convenient location,” Betina Evancha, Vice President of Product Management, tells Forbes.
While it all started with the bike, they now sell the treadmill too, plus all kinds of classes on the Peloton App—from HIIT to yoga to pilates. Stacked classes mean you can hop between multiple in a single workout and lively instructors continue to maintain their strong community atmosphere, one that still feels intimate despite now consisting of over 4.4 million users worldwide. The latest innovation? Teaming up with Adidas on a clothing line designed with Peloton’s top cycling instructors.
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