Unconventional (and Slightly Bizarre ) Wellness Trends

Unconventional (and slightly Bizarre ) Wellness Trends You Should Try

The concept of wellness and self-care is not anything new. It has been around for centuries. Let's be honest, the world is always searching for the next latest and greatest wellness craze, -basically, anything that boosts well-being, productivity and happiness. Practicing self-care has often meant buying products and experiences to facilitate comfort and happiness.

In recognizing the importance of wellness, individuals are coping with stress and anxiety in various ways. However, after the last year and a half, which forced us to redefine and reimagine self-care, it’s time to shake things up a bit.

In this article, we take an unconventional approach to wellness, by introducing you to six unconventional, and we must admit, slightly quirky wellness trends, which are all the rage right now.

Hay Bathing is a centuries old tradition

Hay Bathing

If you're wondering what on earth this is, the name tells you all you need to know about the practice. It’s literally bathing in hay. That’s right, you read that correctly. Hay bathing has been a tradition in the Dolomites for centuries. Apparently, farmers, who would sleep in the hay after a hard day's work, found it to be a great solution for their aches and pains. The herb-enriched grass helped the farmers recover quite quickly. Enthusiasts claim that this unconventional method is Mother Nature’s pain reliever.

According to Elisabeth Kompatscher, co-owner of the centuries-old Hotel Heubad, this quirky new wellness trend is guaranteed to make you feel amazing. She's convinced you’ll live to 100 if you take a hay bath everyday. ^[1]

Flaneuring

Originally used to describe affluent French men, who would promenade in the streets of the city during the nineteenth century, the word flaneur has now evolved to generally mean someone who just wanders with intention. We think it's safe to say that in the challenging times of the last year and a half, we've all rediscovered the joy of a stroll. This simple act of wandering can help you become more calm, creative and accepting of change.

The whole point of wandering is to avoid fixating on a map or a specific route. When you become too focused on getting from one place to another, you tend to miss all of the small moments you’re supposed to be enjoying. Flaneuring basically means walking and taking in your surroundings with no particular destination in mind. You might want to bring a phone for safety, just in case you do get lost. However, leave it turned off in your purse or pocket to avoid unnecessary distractions. Allow your brain to orient itself with your new surroundings before you start looking at Google Maps for help.

Biohacking

Biohacking is sometimes referred to as human enhancement or human augmentation. It’s sort of a do-it-yourself approach to human biology, aimed at health and overall well-being, including boosting performance, focus and concentration, through deliberate actions, such as meditation and intermittent fasting. Biohacking also takes on many other forms, but it mostly consists of making small, incremental lifestyle or diet changes in order to boost your health and overall well-being. Did you know that getting the proper amount of quality sleep is considered a biohack? Yes it’s true! Getting enough quality sleep is essential to our well-being and can even prevent diseases, since sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on our immune system. Check out our section devoted to better sleep, and read about why giving your body the rest it needs is vital to your health. ^[2]

Earthing/Grounding

We covered the topic of earthing and grounding, separately, in an earlier article on our blog. Earthing/Grounding is a type of self-care or alternative medicine based on the idea that people become sick because they need to balance the electrical charges in their bodies. The claim behind the practice is that when we make direct contact with the Earth through earthing/grounding, we discharge our excess energy, producing a healing effect on a cellular level. It’s an unconventional therapeutic technique which involves performing activities that ground or electrically reconnect you to the earth, such as walking barefoot or working in the garden with bare hands. This means you need to touch the earth with your bare feet or hands in order to let the electrical charges enter and leave the body.

Before you dismiss this eccentric practice as too "new age," you should note that studies have shown that grounding or earthing may have many beneficial effects on our physical health and overall well-being. We go many of them in detail, in the article on our website. ^[3]

Sound Baths

To put it in the most basic terms, sound baths are a meditative experience where the participant is “bathed” in sound waves. An increasing number of people are hyping this meditative practice's supposed benefits, such as being amazing for relaxation. Regardless of our age and who we are, chances are that stress is affecting our life and we could definitely benefit from a little bit of relaxation. Although many probably have never heard of sound baths, the use of music for healing is nothing new. Healing with sound has been used for its therapeutic effects for thousands of years. It has really been around since recorded history. It is believed to date back as far as ancient Greece, when music was used as an attempt to treat mental disorders, aid in digestion, and induce sleep. Throughout history, from Aboriginal didgeridoos to Tibetan singing bowls, music has been used to help people work faster and be more productive, boost morale among military troops, and even ward off evil spirits. In fact, Aristotle's De Anima (On the Soul) detailed how flute music could cleanse and purify the soul.^[4]

We all know that meditation is excellent for managing stress and improving your health and overall well-being. However, for some individuals, meditating can be quite difficult. It's very difficult to disengage from your physical environment and silence all the distractions around you, let alone the distractions in your own brain.

If you are one of those people who find meditation a bit difficult, but would like to experience its benefits, you may find sound baths helpful. A sound bath is a full-body listening experience that's deeply-immersive. It uses repetitive notes at different frequencies which allow your thoughts to quiet down. Most often the instruments used to create these sounds are cymbals, gongs, traditional crystal bowls and gemstone bowls.

Sound Baths intentionally use sound to create a powerful, but at the same time gentle experience that simulates the restorative and therapeutic effects of traditional meditation.

Otonamaki

If you don't like tight spaces, this wellness trend might not be for you. Otonamaki, also known as ‘adult wrapping,’ is a bizarre-looking physical therapy practice in which people are wrapped in breathable cloth for approximately 20 minutes. However, some people may opt for longer sessions.

The idea for the practice of Otonamaki comes from the practice of Ohinamaki, which is used to wrap babies up in cloth, in a similar way. This practice is supposed to imitate the sense of comfort and well-being, similar to that of being in the uterus, helping to improve sleep and physical development

Otonamaki is used as physical therapy in Japan as a therapeutic method meant to alleviate posture problems and stiffness. It is also supposed to relieve shoulder and back pain, as well as even reduce stress.

Do you know any other unconventional wellness practices? Which of these unusual practices are you willing to try?

If you enjoyed this article, please check out similar ones featured on our blog and learn more about proven tips for better health and overall well-being.

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Unconventional (and Slightly Bizarre ) Wellness Trends