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Global Wellness Summit’s The Future of Wellness Trends 2026
As wellness priorities evolve, the environments we live in are increasingly recognized as part of the solution.
WORDS Lisa Sternfeld
I attended the Global Wellness Summit this year with a simple question in mind: where is wellness actually heading? What stayed with me most was not a single trend, but a broader shift in how health is being framed. Across conversations on female health, nervous system regulation, neurowellness and longevity, one idea kept surfacing: wellness cannot be separated from the environments in which we live.
One of the strongest themes was a long-overdue shift in how women’s health is being understood. Women age differently than men, and wellness frameworks built on male-based data are finally being questioned.
In the home, this has meaningful implications. Sleep quality, light exposure and stress regulation all play a role in supporting hormonal balance and recovery across life stages. Circadian health, in particular, is not something that can be outsourced. It is shaped by how bedrooms are lit, whether evenings allow the nervous system to wind down and whether mornings begin with natural light rather than artificial stimulation. For women especially, a home that supports hormones and natural rhythms can be deeply supportive over time.
Another idea that surfaced repeatedly was a growing fatigue with over-optimization. Wellness that feels overengineered, data-heavy, and demanding is losing its appeal. Many of us track our sleep, count our steps, and monitor our metrics, yet the emotional cost of constant self-monitoring was openly acknowledged, alongside a desire to move beyond performance and toward emotional repair.
This is where ideas like emotional infrastructure and structural calm became especially resonant. Homes filled with alerts, screens and visual noise keep the body in a subtle state of vigilance. When environments are intentionally designed to reduce sensory load and allow for rest, creativity and pause, wellbeing becomes something you experience rather than manage. This aligns closely with WLLW’s belief that calm should be designed into daily life, not added as an afterthought.
This naturally extended into conversations about nervous system regulation and neurowellness within the built environment. Anjan Chatterjee, MD, director of the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics at the University of Pennsylvania, spoke about neuroarchitecture and the idea of genome lag, noting that our brains have not yet adapted to the pace and conditions of modern built environments.
Here, the home becomes especially relevant. Light quality, sound levels, materials and spatial clarity all send constant signals to the brain. Hard, echoing spaces and bright, unchanging light tend to keep the body alert. Softer acoustics, natural materials and a sense of enclosure allow the nervous system to settle. These choices may seem subtle, but over time they influence whether we feel regulated or depleted.
Scent was another area that felt newly reframed, particularly through the idea of layering. Rather than a single, dominant fragrance, there was discussion around scents designed for specific areas and moments, offering ritual and emotional support. At WLLW, we think of scent as part of the atmosphere rather than decoration. In the home, scent is deeply emotional, signaling comfort, safety, transition or rest.
What resonated most was the idea that scent works best when it supports the environment rather than overwhelms it. Different fragrances in different areas of the home may help support daily rhythms, invigorating workspaces while calming rooms intended for rest. When scent is approached as part of the overall sensory experience, it becomes grounding rather than intrusive.
Resilience emerged as another key theme, encompassing both climate readiness and psychological wellbeing. Homes designed with climate awareness offer a sense of safety that is both practical and emotional. Passive cooling, thoughtful insulation, water management and backup systems reduce vulnerability, which in turn reduces anxiety.
When these elements are integrated quietly into design, they create a feeling of steadiness. What felt especially important was the framing of readiness as a form of preventative wellness. Preparedness, when approached thoughtfully, empowers rather than frightens, contributing to both personal and community resilience.
Discussions around microplastics were sobering, but also pragmatic. There is broad recognition that microplastics are now embedded within global ecosystems, and that awareness alone is no longer sufficient. In sectors such as hospitality, we are seeing more intentional choices aligned with standards like WELL and EarthCheck, where wellness architecture is tied to measurable health outcomes.
What I appreciated was the focus on achievable change. In the home, this looks like material choices, filtration and everyday habits rather than perfection. Fear does not support health. Clear, incremental shifts do. Reducing unnecessary synthetics and improving indoor air and water quality are meaningful steps that fit naturally within a health-first home.
Longevity and wellness residences were discussed at length, and this is where I felt the greatest need for nuance. According to the Global Wellness Institute, wellness residences focus on supporting physical and mental health, while longevity residences extend this approach through services such as neurofeedback and adaptive health plans.
While I understand the appeal of integrating longevity strategies into the home through technology and tracking, there is also a risk in turning the home into a site of constant optimization. Many longevity approaches rely on intentional stressors and continuous measurement. In contrast, the home should be a place where stress is reduced, not introduced.
I return again and again to the idea that longevity is best supported indirectly through wellness. A home that prioritizes sleep, clean air, natural light, movement and adaptability supports healthspan without turning daily life into a project. This is a conversation I think we need to keep open.
Leaving the summit, what stayed with me was a sense of recalibration. The home is no longer positioned simply as a backdrop for wellness practices, but as an environment that quietly shapes how we feel and function. At WLLW, this reinforces our core beliefs: health begins with foundations, and health begins at home. When homes are designed to reduce stress, support rhythm and allow recovery, longevity naturally follows.
Key Trends:
- Women Get Their Own Lane in Longevity: A long-overdue shift toward women’s biology, healthspan and life-stage specific care.
- The Over-Optimization Backlash: A rejection of hyper-tracked wellness in favor of emotional repair, regulation and calm.
- The Rise of Neurowellness: Nervous system regulation becomes central to preventing burnout and chronic stress.
- Fragrance Layering: Scent reframed as personal expression, mood and emotional language rather than product.
- Ready Is the New Well: Climate preparedness positioned as preventative wellness and psychological resilience.
- Skin Longevity Redefines Beauty: Moving beyond anti-aging toward long-term skin health and regeneration.
- The Festivalization of Wellness: Collective, expressive and cathartic experiences redefine social wellness.
- Women and Sports The Revolution Continues: Women’s athletics reshaping culture, fitness and longevity through strength and capability.
- Tackling Microplastics as a Human Health Issue: A shift from awareness to action across health, design and daily life.
- Longevity Residences: Healthspan concepts move into the home through design, technology and prevention.
The Future of Wellness 2026 Trends report dives deeper into each of these shifts, with research, case studies and global insight from across the wellness industry. You can purchase the full report directly from the Global Wellness Institute to explore all the trends in detail.
Photography: Global Wellness Summit 2026. On stage, from left: Alexia Brue, Founder of The Practice and Co-Founder of Well+Good, and Dr. Robin Berzin, Founder of Parsley Health.
