It’s Not Just For Hippies Anymore

When you can buy palo santo sticks at your local Urban Outfitters, you know something’s up. Or when Birkenstock sandals, a longtime symbol of a crunchy, free-lovin’ lifestyle, started featuring regularly on L train ads and your IG feed two years ago, you probably caught on that a shift was occurring. With today’s soaring demand for gluten-free goods and more smoothie bowl ‘grams than the internet needs, your suspicions have been confirmed: a lifestyle incorporating wellness, spirituality, and organic everything— it’s not just for hippies anymore.

Companies like crystal accessories-crafter Hidden Hippie, meditation app Headspace, and the wellness empire Moon Juice (with its Gwen-endorsed herbal blends) are making woo-woo mainstream, one clear quartz hair tie at a time. Gone are the days when a ticket to Burning Man and a probably-offensive “tribal” tattoo were the only ways to participate in “hippie culture”. With so many brands today working to integrate hippie vibes into everyday life, we’ve got to wonder at the sudden demand for these products and services. Why, over the last few years, has the wellness world’s popularity skyrocketed and the lifestyle tips it prescribes embraced in such a mass fashion?

I think the answer, quite simply, is that most of us want to be better. Not stronger than the woman on the bike beside us or healthier than the guy having a salad for lunch, but better than the people we were a year, a month, a minute ago. Many of us want to feel more comfortable in our bodies, have more control over our thoughts, and be proud of the way we show up in the world and in our relationships. But while these goals ultimately amount to gaining love and knowledge of the self, it’s just not in the habit of our culture to look inward for solutions.

Enter: the wellness industry. 

Taking this modern tendency to look outside oneself for answers and spinning it on its head, the wellness world provides products and services that make us more ourselves. A good yoga practice helps you tune in to how your body and mind are feeling, and that trendy $9 green juice reconnects you to the beautiful natural world, even if you’re sipping it on the subway underground. Because wellness makes us more ourselves, it’s only fitting that it should be a part of our everyday lives rather than some calendar event we count down to. It’s not just for fitness pros or vegan restauranteurs (or even—peep the title— card-carrying hippies); wellness is for everyone.

Now, because wellness is for real people like us who work and go out and maybe don’t make healthy choices 100{c16bcf3ba2abb8233979eae53d4b6880aaaf9203448918a45fd16bd01d82b40b} of the time, the question is: how can we incorporate wellness into our lives without totally dismantling our lifestyles? Personally, I’d love to drop everything and flee to a commune in the woods somewhere, but, you know, life. For most modern people on this path a complete lifestyle reboot isn’t practical or even possible, and we’ve got to get our hippie fixes in whatever small ways we can.

Luckily, you don’t have to be a raw vegan to dig that açai bowl, or a Burning Man regular to enjoy self-expression and exploration. You can go out, drink, hook up, eat that burger, and still claim a space in the wellness world. The key is to make wellness work for you. Next time you’re swiping right on Bumble, slip on some amour-attracting rose quartz jewelry and let the Universe be your wingman. Wake ten minutes earlier to fit a quick meditation practice into your A.M. routine before throwing some elbows for a seat on the 6. Even something as simple and intuitive as following up a night of partying with plenty of water and self-care is a way to make room for wellness without screwing up your weekend plans.

Contrary to what social media often suggests, wellness doesn’t always look like a Lululemon ad. Your leggings and sports bra don’t have to match, and your avocado toast doesn’t have to be pretty. You don’t have to be pretty. Sometimes, wellness does look like a woman doing yoga on the beach. Other times it looks like a person wearing sunglasses at the gym hoping to sweat out their Sunday hangover.

It looks like you and me.

You don’t have to be a hippie to be “wellthy,” but if you feel the urge to ohm— don’t fight it.