Feb 18, 2025
2024 wellness trends were exciting for sure, but it keeps getting better! The top wellbeing trends for 2025 and beyond include a range of wonderfully innovative approaches to health and wellbeing.
By the way, the wellness industry is expected to hit US$9 trillion by 2028, and already represents more than 6% of global GDP!
Personally, we’re thrilled about the intensifying focus on holistic wellness retreats delivering
sustainable self-care and, most especially, unique spa experiences that include the whole range
of hot-and-cold contrast therapy.
Read on for our pick of some of the year’s most compelling wellness tips and
trends to improve and maintain your wellbeing. Plus discover what Bawah’s new, re-imagined Aura Spa & Wellbeing Sanctuary has to offer!
Let’s face it, there is no silver bullet when it comes to either sustaining general wellbeing or
working to overcome a specific health issue. In other words, you can’t rely on any single wellness
practice, therapy or nutrition plan. For optimal health and longevity, a holistic approach is
essential.
So, what are the basic requirements for health and longevity? Depending where you look, you’ll
find slightly different lists, but they all include somewhat similar thinking. Jesse Chappus’s
Ultimate Health Podcast, for example, suggests six pillars of health – clean water, whole foods,
sleep, exercise, mental wellbeing and community/social.
Popular UK health leaders like King’s College London’s Sarah Berry, and Dr Rangan Chatterjee
in his podcast Feel Better, Live More, focus on just four main pillars of health – sleep, good
nutrition, movement and relaxation. Here’s how Bawah Reserve ticks all these boxes, and then
some!
Whatever your current choice of tribe in the diet wars, be it vegetarian, Paleo, omnivorous or
even carnivorous, just about every nutrition guru worth his or her Celtic salt agrees on one thing:
favour whole foods and ingredients, and avoid ultra-processed food-like substances. Fortunately,
that’s a given at Bawah.
Regular physical activity is another key pillar of health – boosting mood, reducing stress and
enhancing cognitive function. With so much natural beauty to discover at Bawah Reserve, you’ll
be keen to get out and move: hike to a jungle vantage point, snorkel the lagoon, island-hop on a
kayak or even swim to a nearby island. You could also hit the gym, zen out in a yoga session or
join in a friendly football match. Anyone for tennis?
Restorative sleep is crucial for health because it supports so many essential functions of the
body and mind. It’s vital for memory consolidation, emotional regulation and learning; and less
than the required seven to nine hours a night can cause depression and anxiety.
Circadian rhythm is a major determinant of healthy sleep/wake cycles. So, prepare for a good
night’s sleep by going outside first thing in the morning to expose your bare skin and uncovered
eyes to a healthy amount of natural light. Sunrise with its high percentage of red light is ideal –
but if you’re not an early bird, just get outdoors soon as you can. Try to avoid blue light after
sunset, especially from devices; and sleep in a cool room that’s as dark as possible.
With chronic stress becoming a public health crisis, it’s essential to recognise our own stressors
and find ways to deal with them. Taking time out to decompress in a pristine, other-worldly
natural environment like Bawah might be the best possible gift to yourself and your loved ones.
Contrast therapy alternates hot and cold therapy in a single session, promising to deliver a
synergistic wellness double-whammy that is greater than the sum of its parts. According to
proponents such as thealtuslife.co.uk, the alternating constriction and dilation of blood vessels
improves blood flow and oxygenation to tissues, thereby reducing inflammation and speeding
healing.
At the heart of potentially stressful exposure to extreme temperatures is the concept of
hormesis: what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Health and longevity seekers love the idea
of hormesis: the understanding that exposure to optimal amounts of stress will make us fitter,
more resilient and – in the words of David Asprey, the “Father of Biohacking” – harder to kill.
“Anti-fragile” is another great way of putting it.
We all have our preferences, and many people are more at ease with being hot than being cold.
Heat can feel comforting and even relaxing – think of the frog in the slowly heated pot of water! –
while the mere idea of sudden immersion in icy water can be daunting.
How hormesis works:
Here’s how hormesis works physiologically:
* Exposure to high temperatures – in a sauna or steam room, say – immediately triggers the
release of heat shock proteins. Benefits include speeding up post-exercise muscle recovery,
boosting immunity, improving heart health and more.
* Cold therapy ranges from simply standing under a cold shower to immersion in icy water or
even using a cryotherapy chamber. Cold exposure can improve circulation and boost
metabolism, partly by increasing both the amount and the activity of mitochondria-rich brown fat,
which has been shown to burn calories in order to keep the body warm. What’s more, it’s been
linked to better mood, cognitive performance and the duration and quality of sleep. How
amazing!
When it comes to contrast therapy, Bawah Reserve’s Aura Spa has been transformed into an
oasis that offers the full range of hot-and-cold modalities: a traditional sauna, a steam room, a
polar room and an invigorating ice plunge pool. On the other hand, don’t expect ice-cold water to
gush from the shower in your private villa at Bawah Reserve – this is the tropics, after all!
“While saunas have been around for thousands of years, they’re currently enjoying an incredible
renaissance,” says the latest annual Future of Wellness report from The Global Wellness
Summit.
It’s true that the evidence of saunas dates back more than four millennia to Stone Age Finland.
But the best and most advanced saunas – like the one at Aura Spa Wellness Sanctuary – are
light years ahead of the firepits those ancient Finns dug into their snowy hillsides.
It's also true that we humans have never needed this ancient practice more than we do now…
the human body didn’t evolve to cope with today’s crushing environmental burden. Good news is
that profuse sweating can help to remove not only heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, lead,
nickel and copper, but also forever chemicals like the phthalates found in plastics, many
cosmetics and household products.
Communal sauna is exploding! An article in outdoorswimmingsociety.com discusses the amazing
resurgence of communal bathing in the UK. It asks whether the current trend towards communal
sauna spaces indicates a renewed interest in traditional bathing cultures such as Roman
baths, Japanese onsen and the Russian banya. Maybe it reflects our desire to reconnect as
humans through communal and wellness activities… especially after the dark, lonely and isolated
days of the recent pandemic.
Forget the small, cramped saunas you may have experienced in the past. Aura Spa’s new
spacious, delightfully convivial sauna setting fosters such a sense of communal wellbeing and
joie de vivre that you won’t want to tear yourself away.
Whatever floats your boat – or, better still, try both! A steam room’s warm, moist air opens pores,
flushing out impurities and promoting a natural glow. It can also relieve respiratory concerns by
gently loosening mucus and clearing the sinuses.
Aura Spa’s sauna temperatures range from 62°C for aromatherapy sessions and 82°C for the
traditional sauna experience. Likewise, the temperature in our state-of-the-art steam room can
be varied from 38°C, for gentle treatments such as aromatherapy sessions, up to 48°C for a full-
on steam session.
Bawah Reserve’s new Aura Spa is embracing the 2025 wellness trend of Himalayan salt therapy with stunning salt walls in its sauna.
Beyond their warm, ambient glow, these walls offer natural antibacterial and anti-inflammatory benefits. Halotherapy, or salt therapy, is known to support respiratory health by helping to clear congestion and improve airflow.
Combined with the tranquil setting of Aura Spa, this experience will enhance relaxation and overall well-being, making it a must-try for guests seeking rejuvenation.
Water scarcity is a growing problem in many parts of the world, says GWC’s Future of Wellness
Report (mentioned above), often made worse by greed or gross mismanagement.
No wonder the travel and hospitality industry is under scrutiny with regard to water management
and sustainable practices. And so it should be. Far from being one of the spa industry’s “water
hog villains”, however, Bawah is one of the few leading by example to promote what the report
calls “water conservation and environmental stewardship”.
How do we do that? It starts by: (a) understanding that plentiful access to pure water is
absolutely essential for health and wellbeing; and (b) realising that water is a most precious
resource in an island ecosystem like Bawah Reserve.
Rainwater is one source, nano- and micro-filtered after being captured from roofs via gutters and
downpipes connected to underground tanks. But most of our water we desalinate ourselves
using RO (reverse osmosis) filtration.
But that’s not all! At our new bottling plant, the clear, clean water goes through another series of
processes using membrane filtration, bio-ceramic filters and carbon filters to enrich it with
essential minerals such as calcium, sodium, selenium, potassium, silica and zinc. We’re more
than proud.
A survey of 2,000 Americans reported in Newsweek predicted gut health to be among these
respondents’ three top health concerns for 2025. The other two were: cutting out processed
foods, and healthy ageing. No surprise, really, seeing how these issues overlap!
People’s growing interest in maintaining a healthy gut microbiome is strongly linked to overall
health benefits. Ways to achieve this include ingesting fermented foods like live yoghurt, kefir,
kombucha and sauerkraut, plus the use of probiotics, prebiotics and other gut-friendly
supplements.
Gut health is nothing new. Two millennia ago, Hippocrates is quoted as having said that all
disease begins in the gut. Though this wisdom seems to have been forgotten for too long, the
world has finally woken up to the gut’s crucial role in immune function, neurotransmitter
production, metabolism and many other physiological processes. What’s more, fascinating new
information is being discovered every day.
Comprising trillions of bacteria, fungi and other microbes, it’s amazing to think that the gut or
intestinal microbiome of each person is unique – as unique as our fingerprints, in fact. What’s
more, the delicate balance of microbial species changes constantly, for better or for worse, in
accordance with our diet, environment and other lifestyle factors. It’s the same for every organ of
the body, including skin, nose, mouth, throat and vagina; even our eyes have their own
microbiomes.
Get a Bawah gut microbiome
Diversity is key: a diverse microbiome is generally a flourishing, health-supporting microbiome.
And studies show that exposure to nature tends to increase that diversity. So, can you imagine a
better place than Bawah Reserve to positively influence if not reset your own gut microbiome –
not to mention all the others? We can’t.
Apart from daily exposure to the rich microbial diversity of soil and sand, flora and fauna both
above and below our waterline, you’ll be delighting in a wide range of delicious and highly
nutritious whole foods. Ingredients are either grown organically on Bawah, fished from our waters
or sourced as close to home as possible. Finally, they’re prepared with expertise and served with
love.
Bawah Jamu workshop is a must do:
Made from a variety of locally grown herbs, drinking a daily dose of Jamu is one of the most popular and widespread rituals in Indonesia. This herbal drink has been known to increase immunity, detox your gut, and replenish your body with antioxidants, helping to give you a natural boost. Learn how to make it with us!
Functional fitness is all about the kinds of activities that you might need to do in everyday life. It’s
achieved through workouts and other activities that improve balance, co-ordination, functional
strength and endurance.
According to the 2025 ACSM Worldwide Fitness Trends, functional fitness training – along with
outdoor fitness activities and body weight training, interestingly! – remains a major trend, as
voted on by health and fitness professionals all over the world. It connects with the overarching
trend towards longevity, the idea being that functional fitness helps the ageing population “live
younger for longer”.
Speaking of longevity, one of the best ways to promote longevity and healthy ageing is through
strength training. Leading advocate for what she calls “muscle-centric medicine”, Dr Gabrielle
Lyon recommends a combination of resistance training and cardio for effective muscle
maintenance.
Bawah’s Jungle Energy Bootcamp – putting the fun back into functional fitness training!
Yes, you could do all this in the gym – and the gym may be your best or only option, given the
busy-ness of everyday life together with seasonal weather challenges. By taking it outdoors,
however, we don’t only heighten the fun factor but also reap the benefits of being surrounded by
nature and bathed in sunlight. And at Bawah, it’s warm all year round!
Bawah’s guests love our Jungle Energy Bootcamp! We take you up to our pristine forest,
where you can unleash your inner adventurer with your choice or a combination of brisk hiking,
trail running and a series of dynamic workouts that cater to all fitness levels.
Other functional fitness options include stand-up paddleboarding – a great way to hone your sense of balance, kayaking, swimming and more.
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