Gospel of Wellness

Journalist Rina Raphael looks at the explosion of the wellness industry: how it stems from legitimate complaints, how seductive marketing targets hopeful consumers-and why women are opening up their wallets like never before. Rina Raphael has been there. She's bought cases of kombucha, she's paid $45 for an exercise class, she's sprinkled mushroom "superpowder" in her coffee, she's gone on luxury mindfulness retreats, and she's hung out with Hollywood's crystal healers. . . . She's a respected journalist who has specialized in health and wellness, so she should know better right? Yes. And No. You see Raphael was once a wellness junkie. Like millions of other women out there, she held out hope that clean eating or the newest strength training class would give her the salvation she sought. Why? Because the modern American woman has been sold a bum deal. In their male dominated workplace, stress levels for women are 1.5 times higher than for men. They then venture home, only to be confronted by "the second shift." Just how bad is it? Google searches for "self care" are at an all-time high. Dentists have seen an uptick in angry women grinding their teeth at night. What have women been sold as coping mechanisms? Meditation apps, "detoxes", manifestation gurus--things that only a few years ago might have been considered fringe that are now mainstream. But deep within the underbelly of self-care--hidden beneath layers of clever marketing--the wellness industry beckons women with a far stronger, more seductive message. It promises women the one thing they desperately desire: control. They are told they can manage the chaos ruling their life by following a laid-out plan: Eat right, exercise, meditate, then buy all this stuff. This mass consumerism is a metaphor for harnessing ev...