Being Well In An Unwell World
Ice cubes. 4cl Aperol. Prosecco. Sparkling water. A slice of orange. Repeat sixteen times. It was a golden summer day in 2022, under a spotless Algarve sky. A deceptive beauty as wildfires raged just an hour away.
We were nearing the end of a seven-month journey and spent our last month in Portugal, workawaying at a Quinta near Lagos, where we served breakfast, helped with housekeeping, and folded laundry.
The beautifully renovated country house had eight luxury bedrooms, surrounded by 10,000 square meters of botanical gardens. The perfect sanctuary for those longing to escape their reality. A pool and sun loungers with Asian-inspired touches invited to let the soul linger. A yoga studio with large, open doors sat atop the garden, overlooking the trees and flowers, inhaling the breeze. The owners, a couple who had inherited this marvelous space, gradually began shifting their business model toward wellness retreats and weddings.
That afternoon, a group of American women on a weeklong yoga retreat had just finished their class and were heading toward the pool, which we were only allowed to use when no guests were around. My hair was still wet as we lined up their pre-ordered Aperol Spritzes.
Ice cubes. 4cl Aperol. Prosecco. Sparkling water. A slice of orange.
I remember this moment because it was while making that sixteen Aperols that I suddenly realized and was able to identify an uneasy feeling that had been with me since the beginning of our travels.
The visual absurdity of women jumping straight from yoga class into the pool, orange drink in hand, utterly detached from the spiritual depth, roots, and philosophical foundations of yoga, made me first question the commodification and whitewashing not just of yoga, but of New Age spirituality as a whole.
What was once philosophical teaching has become a performance, a form of consumerism, and even a means of social status. Practices such as yoga and meditation have been rebranded in the West as lifestyle choices and success habits marketed through products, fitness routines, curated retreats, and aesthetic content on Instagram.
By removing historical and cultural contexts, we've transformed collective spirituality into a wellness trend primarily aimed at white, affluent audiences.
Without a doubt, meditation, journaling, and smoothies have improved my mental and physical well-being. An Ayahuasca experience with a female shaman in Peru and a 10-day Vipassana meditation helped me break old patterns and confront my shadows.
Similar to yoga, Ayahuasca has gained popularity. Ceremonies can now be found in Brandenburg, Spain, and the Netherlands as part of an increasingly saturated industry of retreats, coaching, spiritual workshops, and self-help books.
The popularity speaks to a more profound truth: our search for existential meaning.Especially in the West, where consumerism has substituted community and spirituality.
In our desperate desire to comprehend suffering, we have become obsessed with optimizing ourselves through breathwork, green juices, and endless gym sessions. When the world feels like it's falling apart, our bodies seem to be the last refuge that we believe we can still control. The global wellness industry, valued at $4.4 trillion in 2020 and projected to grow to nearly $7 trillion by 2025, has thrived on this collective vulnerability.
This wellness shift is also reflected in the rise of wellness travel, particularly among Gen Z and Millennials, who are driving the growth of the self-care industry. While this encourages more place-based and community-supported travel experiences such as immersive nature stays, digital detoxes, and slow travel, there are growing concerns about potential negative impacts, including the risk of spiritual exploitation and cultural decontextualization.
In favored destinations like Bali, Tulum, and Costa Rica, many luxury wellness retreats promote themselves as eco-resorts. However, despite their eco-friendly branding and green messaging, their actual practices may still lead to problems such as water overuse, ecosystem disruption, rising land prices, and a gradual decline in local presence.
For conscious travelers, it is a constant challenge to differentiate between genuine regenerative actions and greenwashing.
That day, while preparing Aperol Spritzes, a question emerged that I still haven't been able to answer clearly.
What does it mean to be well in an unwell world?
If we are more focused on wellness than ever, why are we experiencing higher levels of anxiety, loneliness, and depression? Why are suicide rates rising, especially among younger generations?
Maybe it's because we have replaced practicing well-being with consuming wellness. Co-opted spiritual practices are marketed back to us as a promise of freedom and healing - if only we buy, sign up, manifest, or align. Once wellness becomes capitalized, it becomes a privilege, accessible only to those who can afford it.
But actual well-being cannot be purchased. It comes from within. It's a lifelong, messy process that requires us to ask fundamental questions, shift our perspectives, and grow beyond our comfort zone. Genuine well-being is collective; it means little if it isn't shared with others.
Commercialized wellness creates separation, even isolation. It distinguishes between the "awakened" and the "unhealed," blaming personal struggles on an inability to manifest or maintain a high vibration.
It's not that caring for ourselves is wrong; it's essential. But we are part of a larger, interconnected system. Our well-being is inseparably linked to the well-being of our collective systems and Mother Earth.
True wellness, or regenerative wellness, is rooted in reciprocity.
Without awareness, always putting ourselves first can create walls and foster narcissism. When we hide behind our screens, we often overlook that the life we enjoy is built on exploitation and extraction. Working on ourselves also means learning to live with less. To compromise. To have hard conversations. To take accountability. To stop projecting our pain onto others.
Maybe it means becoming okay with discomfort. Maybe it means listening more than we speak.
Well-being is a cycle of giving and receiving. Just as the Earth sustains us, we have a responsibility to be its caretakers and stewards in return. We must focus on both personal and collective healing. Because, more and more, we are coming to see that we cannot be well in an unwell world.
Day in April
Sometimes, we forget that the most genuine moments of joy are the humblest. My favorite day last month was when we hiked away from our screens and our overthinking minds, following a path up the mountainside.
We sat in the grass, observing the village below while ants tickled our feet, ate homemade pasta salad, and I read aloud from All About Love by bell hooks. As her words floated between us in the air, they created space for deeper conversations. Reading to someone we care about and sharing words that have touched us can be a way to offer pieces of ourselves when we struggle to find our own language for the feelings and thoughts that live inside us.
Wellness is this too: not adding, not buying, not fixing - just being present with each other.
Line That Kept Me Thinking
How come the faces of Yoga are always white?, writes Dinah Akua.
Her question led to another shifting moment. Dinah Akua, a former yoga teacher, offers a vital voice (she is also now publishing on Substack), especially in a wellness world that is often blind to spiritual bypassing and appropriation. Although her words can seem harsh, they contain an important truth.
It was her post that made me stop and take a closer look at the yoga content I had been consuming over the years. All the "famous" trainers were white and slim, building their yoga empires. And somehow, I'd never really questioned this representation.
I hadn't asked why I wasn't seeing Indian or other BIPOC teachers or why the very people whose cultures shaped these traditions weren't the ones centered in them.
This awareness not only influenced my choice of instructors but also underscored the strong intersectionality between regeneration, wellness, and travel.
Regeneration is not solely about healing the land or systems; it involves decolonizing our minds. It is also about restoring visibility, voice, and leadership to the communities whose wisdom has been consistently whitewashed and appropriated.
Little Things I’ve Been Trying at Home
Inspired by Dinah, I started searching on YouTube in a new private browser, not my usual account. Typing in “yoga,” the first pages showed exactly the kinds of faces she had mentioned.
It was through a more conscious search that I discovered Akshaya Agnes, and I want to take a moment to highlight her here. For anyone looking for a yoga teacher who focuses on breath, intention, and presence (not just aesthetics or performance), she’s your woman.
The truth is, yoga has always been just a kind of stretching routine for me. However, since practicing with Agnes, I’m learning to appreciate it as the deep, mindful practice it is.
Behind the Scenes at the Hotel
Ironically, at the hotel I work in now, it often feels like the opposite of everything I believe in. Guests come to capture the perfect Instagram moment: coffee with a view, an outdoor jacuzzi, a bikini selfie in front of the mountains, and floating champagne.
In the language of Carl Jung, everything is curated for the spirit of the times, not the spirit of depth.
I watch people performing stillness without ever being still.
There’s little interest in the layers of place and people. Still, it’s undeniably a lesson on the journey toward building my own business. It helps to know what I don’t want, and it challenges me to ask the tough questions. It brings to light the kind of place I envision creating in the future - a space to slow down, practice love and connection, care and presence, and celebrate food and culture.
A space for people to be in relationships, with themselves, with others, and with nature. That’s the kind of hospitality I aim to live.
Upcoming Travel Plans
**Berlin in June**
We have some exciting travel plans coming up! It's been two years since I was last in Berlin during the summer, and I can't wait to wake up to coffee on my balcony, see people sitting in cafes and bars until late at night, and stroll along the river with a bottle of beer in hand. This trip will be a culinary exploration of my hometown, as I plan to visit food places I've always wanted to try but never had the chance to, along with newly emerging concepts.
A visit home often brings a return to familiar routines and rhythms. But this year, I want to taste Berlin with fresh senses and discover parts of the city I’ve never known, as if I were arriving for the very first time. What’s your favorite Berlin spot?
**Sri Lanka in November**
In November, the hotel closes again, and we are already well into researching and planning this year's trip. Since Trip 22, we haven't left Europe, and although three weeks may feel too short for exploring another corner of the world (especially for someone like me who needs time to settle in and likes to feel at home), the time has come for a new adventure. Who knows when we'll have the next chance to cross oceans!
In recent years, Sri Lanka has risen high on my list of travel dreams, right alongside Mexico. It's strange how we can feel drawn to specific destinations even if we've never visited them before. Often, this fascination begins with a single article or image that tickles something within us. Before we know it, we find ourselves reading more about the place, imagining what it would be like, and feeling that pull growing stronger.
Curiosity transforms into a mystical longing, a sense that lessons are waiting, even if you don't yet know what they are. If you have some tips on Sri Lanka, l would love to hear them!
Latest on the Blog
May has been an emotional month and also a month of reflection rather than writing. Each is part of the creative process, and I am okay with writing slowly and intentionally for people rather than for algorithms. This month, no new article has been published; therefore, there are numerous drafts in the works. Meanwhile, here are a few previous reads:
Social Media’s Impact On Travel: How Mindful Practices Can Restore Authentic Experiences
Himarë, Albania: A Simple ‘Thank You’ Reveals Cultural Insights Regenerative Travel:
Why It’s The Future Of Sustainable Tourism Recommended
BOOKS / MUSIC / PODCASTS / FILMS / ARTWORK
On Connection by Kae Tempest - Their words speak to me like the truth spoken into a room of uncomfortable silence: sharp, necessary, and impossible to ignore. On Connection is a book about creativity, presence, and the courage it takes to stay open in a world where we often struggle to connect. Art, like travel, is most powerful when it comes from a place of honesty and relationship. It challenges our perspective and helps us get out of our own heads. I’m just about to finish its 117 pages, and already I want to reread it - to find comfort in words, in poetry, in music, in Connection.
Green Dreamer Podcast - While books remain my primary medium of connection, I also enjoy podcasts. One of my favorites is Green Dreamer, hosted by Kamea Chayne. Her thoughtful conversations with diverse communities and thought leaders are always mind-opening and grounded, making a great companion for slow mornings, long walks, or any moment when you're longing for hope. I recently listened to the episode with Alnoor Ladha on Sacred Activism and Contextualized Spirituality.
The talk explores several thought-provoking topics, including the concept of New Age spirituality, the lack of spiritual depth in contemporary activism, the ways we perpetuate dominant systems, and how we can move forward with greater integrity and awareness.
Want to Share Something Too?
This newsletter turned out much longer than I intended it to be, so thank you for reading till the end. I know your time is precious, and I hope you found something valuable in these words. If something resonated with you, maybe share it with someone who might enjoy it, too. We’re all walking our own journeys, in our own time. I’m curious - what’s been moving, shifting, or circling in your mind lately? If you feel like sharing, I’d love to hear from you.
With love, Zaza
