Wellness trends to watch

Hibiscus in food
Known for its large, colourful blooms, this flavourful flower has been cropping up more frequently as an ingredient in both sweet and savoury dishes. With a tart flavour that’s similar to cranberry and pomegranate, its dried, finely ground petals can be added to salad dressings and spice pastes or infused into hot water for a sweet drink with a delicate fragrance.

Biophilic design
Eager to capture the peace and tranquillity of nature and bring it into your home? Choosing natural materials such as rattan, bamboo and stone for your living space and adding leafy pot plants is a good place to start. Honouring this trend can bring benefits for your mind and body, productivity and mental wellbeing.

Posture priming
One in four of us have experienced new symptoms of back, shoulder and neck pain during lockdown, according to the British Chiropractic Association (BCA), and 25% of people have purchased self-support tools to help manage it. This has led to a rise in posture-correcting products, including shirts and wearable devices that alert you when you’re slouching, ergonomic desk accessories to help you to sit up straight and eyewear that detects the quality of your posture through your eyeline. Before you invest in anything, make sure you’ve got the basics covered. “When working at a desk, start by adjusting your seat,” says Catherine Quinn, chiropractor and president of the BCA. “Your feet need to be flat on the floor and your knees bent, but with a slope from your hips to your knees. Your arms should be flat and your elbows level with the desk or table.”

Affirmation apps
With research showing that focusing on positive affirmations can improve your sense of self-worth and your overall psychological wellbeing, now’s a good time to give one of these affirmation apps a go:

I am
Turn negative thoughts into more positive ones while boosting confidence and self-esteem with affirmations that are tailored to your ambitions and the support you need.
iamthatiamapp.com.

ThinkUp
Bringing you daily affirmations that you can personalise by adding music, recording statements in your own voice and adding images that make you feel instantly uplifted.
thinkup.me.

Calm
With words of encouragement to help lift your mood and ease anxious thoughts, this sleep and meditation app offers a range of guidance on how you can reframe your thinking.
calm.com.

Veganuary
More than 500,000 people signed up for the 31-day challenge to cut animal products from their diet in January 2021, and Veganuary is already showing to be just as popular this year. If you’re partaking, preparation is key. Watch your intake of vitamin B12 (which is only naturally found in foods from animal sources), and look out for fortified foods such as breakfast cereals or Marmite; chat to your GP if you have any concerns as you may need a supplement. For meal inspiration, bookmark a few vegan recipes to cook from scratch on waitrose.ae/en/recipes, and choose from a selection of vegan meals including No Chorizo Tortelloni (£3/250g) from Waitrose’s new Plantlife range.

Precision health
‘Informative’ is the word people most often used to describe genome sequencing in healthcare. Tempted? “It’s important to be realistic about what direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests can predict,” says professor of clinical genetics Anneke Lucassen. Research by her team highlights that most tests have a higher chance of being wrong than you might think. “It’s worth thinking about whether you want predictions for diseases you can’t do anything about, but it might be fun to see what percentage neanderthal ancestry you have,” she adds.

Slow travel
Holidaying more mindfully is set to be big this year. A recent survey revealed that travellers now prefer to travel slowly, taking time to explore a place, immersing themselves in the local culture and being open to new experiences. A slower and more sustainable travel ethos is also better for the planet, better for our stress levels, better for our relationships and better for the communities we visit. Resolve to spend a little more money shopping in local markets and supporting independent restaurants, rather than always going for the convenient and cheaper option. Travelling more mindfully and sustainably is a thrilling new challenge which requires us to be more organised and more intrepid.

Compleating (complete eating)
Next time you go to throw away a pile of vegetable peelings, we ask you to think again and put your leftovers to good. Try making crisps from your potato or sweet potato peelings. It’s cost-effective, delicious and an easy way to reduce food waste.