It's Been a Minute Is "wellness" the answer to your problems?
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Dec 31, 2025 Alyssa Bereznak is a wellness journalist who dives into the trends reshaping our relationship with health, while Rina Raphael, author of 'The Gospel of Wellness,' critiques consumer culture surrounding self-care. They explore wellness as a $6 trillion industry and discuss how it fills spiritual gaps left by religion. The conversation touches on the deconstruction of wellness into a form of religion, the pitfalls of individualism versus community care, and the appropriation of cultural practices for self-improvement.
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Wellness Has Become An Ambiguous Market Term
- 'Wellness' is broadening into an ambiguous, consumer-driven term covering fitness, beauty, and spirituality.
- When a word means everything it risks meaning nothing and becomes primarily a market category.
Wellness Fills The Spiritual-but-Not-Religious Gap
- Many Americans identify as 'spiritual but not religious,' opening space for wellness to supply spiritual needs.
- Wellness offerings often market radical acceptance and comfort instead of moral judgment, which appeals to those leaving organized religion.
Wellness Acts Like A Deconstructed Religion
- Wellness functions like a deconstructed religion promising control and salvation through self-care practices.
- That promise is fragile because bodies age and life remains unpredictable despite optimization efforts.