Wellness girl chat with us as we chat the intersection of luxury & wellness! We cover how luxury brands are easing their way into the health & wellness space and how you can create your own luxury wellness retreat at home!

loving the pod? click the follow button, & we'd love if you could leave a review!

insta:: @dr.kelsyvickdpt & @elaa_wellness & @wellnessbigsispod

youtube:: @dr.kelsyvickdpt

tiktok:: @dr.kelsyvickdpt

sign up for the free wellness big sis newsletter!

sign up for our patreon for exclusive content & workouts!

00:00– 00:17 Intro

00:18– 00:39 Introduction to Luxury Wellness

00:40– 01:23 Exploring Luxury Wellness Trends

01:24– 01:34 Creating Your Own Luxury Wellness Retreat

01:35– 03:32 Anthropological Insights on Wellness

03:33– 04:11 Luxury Wellness Retreats: A Closer Look

04:12– 08:09 DIY Luxury Wellness Weekend

08:10– 10:29 Elevating Your Wellness Routine

10:30– 12:39 Luxury Gym Memberships and Equipment

12:40– 13:16 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

13:17- 14:08 Thorne

Mentioned in this episode:

Thorne Website:: https://s.thorne.com/Zgk7Y My Thorne Dispensary & Recs:: https://www.thorne.com/u/drkelsyvickdpt Message me for 35% off your Thorne orders!:: https://www.instagram.com/direct/t/17842574915346652

So I've been very interested in

sort of this ification of wellness.

2

So today we're gonna talk about

some of the more luxury aspects

3

of wellness and how you can create

that yourself in your own life.

4

Welcome back to Wellness Fix the Pod.

5

I'm your host, Dr.

6

Kelsey Vic, a board certified

orthopedic doctor, physical therapy,

7

and a pelvic floor physical therapist.

8

And if you guys are following things

in the same realm that I am in this

9

health and wellness sphere, you've

probably noticed how a lot of the

10

luxury brands are coming out with

fitness equipment, luxury, active wear.

11

There is luxury.

12

Gyms and spa and wellness experiences.

13

There's luxury resorts now and

wellness retreats, and it's just

14

super interesting to me how something

like health and wellness can be luxed

15

and something that, I don't know.

16

I see all of these like luxury wellness

retreats and I'm like, wow, how amazing.

17

How wonderful.

18

When in reality all they're doing is

just slowing down their pace of life

19

in another location besides their home.

20

So I wanted to.

21

Talk about some of the trends that I've

been noticing, but then also how to lux

22

your own health and wellness routine in

your own home for like a 10th of the cost.

23

So that's what we're

gonna dive into today.

24

But before we do, I wanna mention a book

that I've read before called Exercised,

25

and I think I've referred to this book a

lot because it was hysterical to me and

26

helped change my mind and approach to

health and wellness a little bit where.

27

I believe it was an anthropologist, a

human physiologist slash anthropologist

28

who was researching hunter gatherer

societies and hunter gatherer societies

29

like way back when, but then also

current hunter gatherer societies today,

30

and unfortunately there's a lot of.

31

People who are interested in how hunter

gatherers societies live back then, and

32

in order to research them, they need to go

to these hunter gatherers societies today.

33

So this infiltration of research into

these societies is really affecting, I

34

guess, the natural way that they live.

35

And maybe not as similar as to how

hunter gatherers societies back in the

36

day function, but it's still like as

close as we can get to this modern day.

37

So he was saying.

38

With all of his research, it's just so

funny that our ancestors who hunted, who

39

gathered, would be cracking up that we

are actually spending money on running

40

marathons, on a treadmill, on exercise.

41

Classes on things that get us to move,

we are paying money for, and he brought

42

up the point that a lot of the time,

the hunter gatherers societies, they

43

were conserving energy a lot of the

time for hunting, for gathering for.

44

Reproducing, a lot of it was more

sedentary than what we believe in order

45

to help them conserve energy and calories

for these larger bursts of activity

46

for hunting or for these more sustained

bursts of activity and caloric expenditure

47

when growing and developing a human.

48

So I just thought that was.

49

A funny take to think of our hunter

gatherer ancestors like laughing at us for

50

paying for a half marathon or a marathon,

and it sort of brings this lighthearted

51

element to health and wellness to me.

52

So back to luxury.

53

I guess we're flip flopping on either side

of the spectrum because we go from hunter

54

gatherers all the way to luxury, but.

55

Let's just start off with these

luxury wellness retreats, and we

56

actually have one here in Austin

called Val Resorts, and I think

57

there's a few throughout the states.

58

Maybe they're global, I'm not quite

sure, but it's a luxury wellness

59

resort or luxury wellness retreat.

60

And online, they talk about just

different things that they do throughout

61

the weekend to really help you center

yourself Or to reach the goal of whatever

62

intention you have set for the weekend,

and they actually lay out a sample day

63

in the life while you're at this resort.

64

So I thought it would be fun to chat

about how you can make your life and

65

maybe a weekend in your life or a

day in your life mimic this luxury

66

wellness resort, but in your own home

or in your own city as a staycation.

67

So I think one of the appeals of

luxury is, or a few of the appeals

68

of luxury are the quality that you

get, the customer experience, the

69

exclusivity, the investment that you

put into it, the community, and then

70

the aspirational of it all, I guess.

71

And so being able to copy, paste

those pillars into our own sort of

72

wellness weekend that we create for

ourselves, it's what's gonna help

73

make it feel like a luxury experience.

74

So for quality.

75

I feel most comfortable in my own home.

76

I get the best sleep in my own bed.

77

I have the right atmosphere around

me, so already we're setting up

78

the quality of our experience

better than we could at a hotel.

79

The customer experience

too, again, comfort's key.

80

I'm way more comfortable in my own home.

81

Exclusivity.

82

We all hate crowds and there's

no way to get less crowded

83

than I guess in our own home.

84

The investment.

85

Now, a lot of the time this is

financial, but for me, I feel

86

like a huge investment is time.

87

taking time out of my day or outta

my weekend in order to invest it in

88

myself is a large investment for me.

89

So rather than paying all of this

money, think of it as a way to

90

take out a chunk of another part

of your investments, your time, and

91

putting it into a self-care weekend.

92

Community and aspirational.

93

So thinking of how you want to

connect with others, whether that's

94

solo thinking of how you can improve

your relationships, or if you wanna

95

do this little day or weekend with a

group of girlfriends or your partner

96

or husband's, spouse, whatever.

97

I think that would be awesome.

98

And then as far as aspirational goes.

99

Miraval mentions that at the beginning

of their weekends they set an intention.

100

So whatever your intention is for that

day or weekend, try and really hone

101

in on that and then picture how you

will be after you do certain things

102

throughout the weekend in order to

reach the goal of that intention.

103

Whether that intention is rest,

recovery, connection, relaxation,

104

silence, whatever your intention is.

105

Trying to think, okay, How can I

structure my weekend or my day,

106

in order to reach the goal that

I have set with my intention?

107

So Miraval gives a

breakdown of a sample day.

108

They start off with 8:00 AM

morning hike, and that can also

109

mean a morning walk around your

neighborhood, just noticing different

110

things throughout your environment.

111

I've seen a lot of these like color walks,

which I love, where you choose a color

112

like blue and you just start to focus more

on the blue things in your environment

113

and be more mindful, or use it as a way

to be more mindful during your walk.

114

Nine 30 AM's breakfast.

115

10 30 is a challenge course,

which can also mean a workout

116

that you're super excited about.

117

1230 lunch, 2:00 PM a yoga flow, 3:00

PM Your favorite specialty grocery

118

store for farm fresh ingredients, 5:00

PM a mocktail cocktail making class,

119

and you can even like YouTube, a class.

120

7:00 PM dinner and then 9:00 PM Sound

Bath or Nons Sleep Deep breast meditation.

121

So creating this whole day or

thinking about ways to sprinkle

122

in some of your favorite things.

123

Other ideas I have are farmer's market.

124

You can actually invest money into a

massage or a spa day, skincare, kindles,

125

anything to . Calm down, relax, recover.

126

Take some time, take some breaks, build in

breaks throughout the day in order to give

127

your body time to rest, recover, refocus,

128

and really be more mindful

about where your body is.

129

So since it's the summer, I love this idea

as a way to end out the summer on this

130

sort of like day of wellness or weekend

of wellness, where you can create your

131

own wellness retreat with some friends as

accountability partners or just friends

132

to do it with, or as a way to just like

refocus after the summer before the fall

133

starts to pick up pace a little bit.

134

There's also luxury athletic wear,

and I'm talking more like beyond the

135

Lululemon and Allos of the world.

136

There is an athletic wear

and then also gym equipment.

137

Gucci has partnered with Oura Ring before.

138

We have the Hermes leather

band with the Apple Watch.

139

We have the Seline gym equipment with

like a leather wrapped kettlebell.

140

There's all sorts of ways that.

141

Luxury and high-end stores are

partnering with health and wellness,

142

and I've always been a proponent

of like, look good, feel good.

143

I always wear jewelry during my workouts.

144

I do like usually put on a

light thing of makeup, perfume.

145

I don't know.

146

It makes me show up better in my

workout if I look and feel put together.

147

So ways to, I guess, luxuriate

your active wear and your exercise.

148

For active wear, you can get a

matching or monochromatic set

149

jewelry, of course, light makeup.

150

I also love the like double

layered sports brawl look.

151

Right now I haven't found some that work

for my own wardrobe, but I do love that.

152

Look.

153

Again, perfume, just things to, I guess.

154

Make your workout a

little bit more elevated.

155

This also helps if you

have low motivation.

156

If you picture yourself as showing up

to your favorite class, even if it is

157

an at home workout and putting on your

favorite set, putting on jewelry, your

158

favorite perfume, a little light makeup

I don't know, something about that helps.

159

For skincare, I say like, make

your everyday experience elevated.

160

So rather than being like, oh, I gotta

do my, like vitamin C, my retinol, my

161

moisturizer, like whatever my eye patch

is, try and make it an experience.

162

Turn on some calming music, light

a candle, and spend time on this

163

part of your routine during the day.

164

For elevating your sleep.

165

Again, lux, purifying your sleep.

166

Make it a routine.

167

Make it a wind down routine.

168

Mouth tape, a silk pillowcase, comfy

bedding hatch alarm if you have

169

one, which I still do not yet, but

I know having the sun rise and set.

170

With the hatch alarm a little bit

can help lux purify the current

171

routine and then lighting a candle.

172

And then for nutrition, maybe plate your

meals on a fancy plate or a fun way where

173

maybe you're used to just throwing things

on the plate and eating it right away.

174

Maybe make it more of an experience

and something that if you got it at a

175

restaurant, you'd wanna photograph it.

176

And then the last thing,

luxury gem memberships.

177

And I think of the equinoxes, the Tracy

Andersons the form of Pilates, the

178

Barry's Bootcamps of the world where

there is a premium cost for sometimes

179

a premium experience, sometimes not,

but that's a topic for another day.

180

But they usually do have premium

experiences built into the

181

membership where there's exclusivity,

there might be higher end.

182

Post shower, like a Dyson air

wrap in the gym after the workout.

183

There's all sorts of ways that they try

and build in value to that exercise class.

184

So some of the most luxury things about a

workout to me are their ability to coach

185

me through this warmup and cool down.

186

That really does set

my body up for success.

187

So if you're like me and sometimes rush

through your warmups and cool downs,

188

maybe take it a little bit slower.

189

That's a way to just.

190

Build in that sort of higher end

experience into your own workout at

191

home by actually giving yourself,

giving your body the time to

192

warm up and cool down the music.

193

Of course, one of the biggest reasons

to go to an exercise class is the

194

music and the instructor's ability

to curate the perfect playlist.

195

So take that into your own hands, try and

create that perfect playlist for yourself

196

to, again, just elevate your workout.

197

I say create a vibe entering and

exiting your workout through the warmup,

198

through the cool, down with the music.

199

Make it an experience just like we

all love the experience of going

200

to our favorite exercise class.

201

And then, as I mentioned, a lot of gyms

have quality equipment for after the

202

workout or before the workout, whether

that's like toning pads or the Dyson air

203

wrap, or just higher end shower equipment.

204

So mimic that in your own

home or with your own routine.

205

Use your favorite bar of soap.

206

Use a shower bomb where it does

the scent or the eucalyptus.

207

Use your favorite shampoo conditioners.

208

Spend time on your blowout

after whatever it is just to.

209

I guess put more time and effort into

your exercise and wellness routine.

210

And I understand this can't be done

daily or even weekly, but some of

211

the time it is nice to make our

current routines a little bit more.

212

High end quality or feel like a

luxury experience without actually

213

having the luxury price tag.

214

So this was a fun little thought

experiment for me based on some

215

of the trends that I've seen of

different luxury brands creating

216

wellness experiences or equipment

217

Trying to ease their way

into the luxury space.

218

So I hope this gave you a few ideas,

especially as we start to like come

219

to the close of summer, into fall.

220

Maybe there's a time to make your own sort

of little wellness retreat and a luxury

221

wellness retreat in your own home and in

your own world, in your own environment.

222

So I hope you enjoy this Fun Girl chat

episode and I'll see you guys again on the

223

next episode of Wellness Exists, the pod.