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The Wellness Trend Americans Spent The Most $$ On In 2017

Emma Loewe
Author:
December 27, 2017
Emma Loewe
mbg Sustainability + Health Director
By Emma Loewe
mbg Sustainability + Health Director
Emma Loewe is the Senior Sustainability Editor at mindbodygreen and the author of "Return to Nature: The New Science of How Natural Landscapes Restore Us."
Photo by Boris Jovanovic
December 27, 2017

The mobile app Foursquare just released its annual report that details what Americans are searching for and how they're spending their money. By compiling data on popular travel destinations, in-demand restaurants, and highly searched activities, the tech company painted a comprehensive picture of 2017. And, no surprise here, wellness practices played an integral role.

This year, we watched as women voiced outrage during the January march (which brought a 750 percent increase in visits to government buildings in Washington, D.C.—and a boom in office supply sales), and people around the country paused to appreciate nature during the August eclipse. Along the way, searches for Unicorn-colored food soared, Americans hit the gym harder than ever, and people continued to experiment with boutique fitness classes, too, though to a lesser extent. This year we saw a 2 percent decrease in the number of people joining a gym leading up to summer, which could signal that fitness is becoming less about fitting into a bathing suit and more about feeling strong year-round.

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Perhaps the most interesting wellness trend, though, was the one Foursquare uncovered on Valentine's Day. Though V-Day is typically an occasion defined by flowers and chocolates, this year the holiday spurred a massive increase in search terms like "morning yoga," "morning walks," and "meditation." This serves as a refreshing reminder that self-love is paramount, and it emerges when we connect to our bodies, our breath, and the world around us. With breathwork pegged as one of mbg's wellness trends of 2018, we only see this reliance on the self getting stronger as we move into the new year.

Check out what else will dominate the future of wellness with mbg's complete wellness trends report.

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Emma Loewe author page.
Emma Loewe
mbg Sustainability + Health Director

Emma Loewe is the Sustainability and Health Director at mindbodygreen and the author of Return to Nature: The New Science of How Natural Landscapes Restore Us. She is also the co-author of The Spirit Almanac: A Modern Guide To Ancient Self Care, which she wrote alongside Lindsay Kellner.

Emma received her B.A. in Environmental Science & Policy with a specialty in environmental communications from Duke University. In addition to penning over 1,000 mbg articles on topics from the water crisis in California to the rise of urban beekeeping, her work has appeared on Grist, Bloomberg News, Bustle, and Forbes. She's spoken about the intersection of self-care and sustainability on podcasts and live events alongside environmental thought leaders like Marci Zaroff, Gay Browne, and Summer Rayne Oakes.