scruffily negroes: The Global Spa and Wellness Summit 2013MissFit

The Global Spa and Wellness Summit 2013

Hiya Everyone,

I attended the 7th edition of Global Spa and Wellness Summit on Saturday. It was held for the first time in India. The summit was a congregation of travelers, ministers of tourism, entrepreneurs and big players in spa and wellness industry. The Summit was based on the theme that these days a traveler is not just a business or a leisure traveler but also a wellness traveler. As in nobody wants to come back fatigued and obese from travel. A traveler wants his/her wellness also taken care during his/her travel. I found this idea intriguing.

In the beginning of the summit, there were certain presentations which explained the meaning of wellness tourism from international perspective, followed by presentations which talked about the estimates regarding the growth of this sector. Honestly, I was in double minds before attending this event. As I thought that after attending the event, what value addition will I come back home with?

1 hour into the summit, I was still looking for my answer as to why have I come here when one of the speaker said that why are we here? We are here because we are not normal. We are here because we think about health and fitness so much that we cannot separate it even from our travels. Huhh! from then on I was all ears to all the speakers and I came back home with some good food for thought.

The best part of the summit was that I got to interact one on one with a minister from tourism and a young entrepreneur. Basically I asked them a question that as a young Indian entrepreneur and as a fitness person who loves yoga, believes in ayurveda, and who likes to explore this world of spas and wellness. I want to see opportunities. As when I look as a lay man from outside I feel that spa and wellness is more of a luxury thing in India. It is still not a culture in our country. Where, How and what shall I initiate with to start to make it a culture?

Mr Veer Singh, A young entrepreneur who started Vana answered my question. He said,” The chances are immense you will have to explore and find out what do you find more creative and intriguing”. He said,” when you come to such summits and meet new people then extract new ideas and information from them. And be an opportunist ”.

I got his point . He told us about his wellness retreat Vana. I loved the concept of Vana. It is a wellness retreat in Dehradune. I believe it is something similar to Yoga retreat that I attended in Goa. Something like living in the nature, eating simple Indian food and rejuvenating oneself with yoga therapies and ayurvedic massages.

Honestly, when I came back home. I found myself questioning that I do not go to these events and summits as a media person. I am not a media person. nor I want my company to be a media company. We are all about fitness, health and wellness. And such events kind of help me question myself as to what more I am yet to explore on things related to fitness, health and wellness.

Mr Veer Singh gave me USB of Vana. It had some enchanting instrumental music and some document on the vision and philosophy of Vana. The music took me back to my yoga retreat days when I use to stay in a bamboo hut and travel on foot through the barren beaches and jungles. Whenever I think what I want to be in next 10 years of my life. I think of practicing Yoga at advanced level. I think of running in the jungles, running on the mountains or the outskirts of the cities. I think of being the most expressive dancer. I think of diving into the deepest sea.

So my dream is to live somewhere in between the nature Loud music of the gyms and fast life of the cities is not my energy. I always believe that choosing a career option is about how do we chose to express ourselves in life. I would chose to express through peace and nature.. How? I am not sure But one day I will for sure and then may be I will sit and connect the dots.

It got a bit emotional Let us carry forward the same emotional energy in the comments. Have you ever thought that 10 years from now how would you like to express yourself in life? #foodforthought

These are some pic from the event

Mr Amitabh Kant from Incredible India

The Global Spa and Wellness Summit 2013