Changing Body Cultures 6/16
curated by Sonja Peinemann, Innovation Strategist for clients
l i k e E s t é e L a u d e r, e . o n o r B e B e . V.
Today on June 21st we celebrate light, the beginning of summer
and, paradoxically, the beginning of the darker half of the year.
Midsummer is a time of conscious transformation and change.
Our relationship to our bodies and health has also become
much more conscious, mindful and caring in recent years.
While our lives are constantly gaining in speed and networks,
because we can increasingly design and control our bodies, many
people long for a preventive and holistic kind of body culture.
Here, too, borders are becoming fluid: A positive health culture of
the future includes body and soul, private and work sphere, day
and night, food and apparel.
Some of the phenomena of this changing ”energy culture” I
would like to share here with you and I hope you find them as
inspiring as I do.
Namaste!
Phenomenon #1: Mass yoga on Times Square
How can mindfulness fit in our daily routines? Does meditation need a quiet space?
In which contexts are we truly ourselves? The sheer amount of festivals has
exploded in recent years. Not just rock ‘n roll: food trucking, apple festivals, even
mindfulness fests – a communal, tightly packed soul-searching with body
contact. In the midst of the bright lights of New York’s Times Square yogis have
rolled out their mats on midsummer for years. Hamburg sports the Long Night of
Yoga, in other cities people gather to meditate en masse.
TIME OUT
This massive Yoga Fest Is Coming to
Times Square on June 20
If you've been waiting to see Times Square filled with more yogis than adultstuffed cartoon characters, seize the day. On Monday, June 20, the Times
Square Alliance will celebrate the summer solstice by packing thousands of
people into free yoga classes all day long.
MORE
Phenomenon #2: Community of Souls
Joachim Löw is our „Bundes-Buddha“ and Deepak Chopra the new Mark
Zuckerberg. Chopra has just launched a new platform that includes food,
relationships and, of course, meditation. The app promises nothing short of a
long, fulfilled life: The Buddhist term ”jiyo“ translates into ”using oneself”. While
”mHealth“ is in everyone’s hands and even Apple offers an app for better breathing,
Chopra promotes individual and collective transformation through personally relevant
micro-pokes and relationships. Through contact with the self and others,
consciousness shall expand.
WELL + GOOD
Is Deepak Chopra the Next Mark
Zuckerberg?
Before the social media age, and before Millennials had sipped their first green
juice, tried oil pulling, or even went bike dancing at SoulCycle, there was Deepak
Chopra. The pioneer of the American alternative-health movement launched a
free wellbeing app called Jiyo. And with it, he says, he wants to reach and
connect 1 billion people, and help them lead healthy, spiritually fulfilled lives.
MORE
Phenomenon #3: Your body, an unknown species
What do we actually need all those apps for? What would our bodies tell us if they
could speak? And would we listen to them? Less doing, more being, is the motto of
the downshifter movement that goes back to the roots, and not just in the garden. A
call for going wild and for the rediscovery of the ecosystem body – which has
its own laws, forces, and denizens:
THE ATLANTIC
I Quit Showering, and Life Continued
12,167 hours of washing our bodies. That adds up to nearly two entire years of
washing every waking hour. Not to mention water usage and the cost of
cosmetic products—which we need, because commercials tell us to remove the
oil from our skin with soap, and then to moisturize with lotion. Other commercials
tell us to remove the oils from our hair, and then moisturize with conditioner. That’s
four products—plus a lot of water and time— and few people question whether
it’s anything short of necessary.
MORE
Phenomenon #4: New culture of sleep
What is sleep, anyway? Just time for physical recovery? Processing? Which energy
sources do we tap into and what do our dreams tell us? Our hectical times are
bringing sleep more into focus and cultivate it in a new way – as a consciously
experienced part of personal life or as a performance booster during the workday.
Companies like Google, Zappos or Ben & Jerry’s have already installed nap rooms
in their offices.
THE
GUARDIAN
How a Good Night's Sleep Became
the Ultimate Status Symbol
Sleep deprivation used to be a badge of honor: a sign you were busy and
important and very much in demand. Snoozing was losing and sleep was for
wimps. Now, however, Arianna Huffington’s The Sleep Revolution, a call-tobed that promises to transform your life, “one night at a time”, is a New York
Times bestseller, and Huffington is crisscrossing the country urging people to
“sleep their way to the top”.
MORE
Phenomenon #5: Healthy on the road
I remember a time in Moscow, when, after a long day's work, I tried to fit my
yoga mat into the 50 centimeter space in front of my hotel bed – or train rides
where I had to limit my vegetarian diet to M&Ms. Even those who succeed in
taking care of themselves at home face big challenges while travelling. Unless
they book a spa break. This concept is now being democratized. Leisure and
business travellers will soon be able to stick to their healthy routines: Hotels are
starting to offer in-house yoga and gym classes, sports gear and healthier
choices in their restaurants.
M A S HA B L E
Healthy on the Road
Hotels Are Trying to Help You Stay
Travel can be a time of indulgence, but more and more hotels are offering
amenities to help travelers stay healthy on the road. Hyatt Hotels announced
Friday a new partnership with Dr. Frank Lipman's Be Well, a wellness
lifestyle company. “Our guests are embracing healthier lifestyles and are
increasingly looking to integrate healthy habits into their travel experiences,” said
Maryam Banikarim, Global Chief Marketing Officer of Hyatt Hotels Corporation, in
a statement.
MORE
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