6 min
When we think of our health, we often think of our physical well-being and tend to neglect the other, equally important type of well-being: our mental and social health.
But, what is holistic health? The World Health Organization (WHO) states that “health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.’
In short, holistic health is how we care for the whole person.
Therefore, for someone to maintain good health, all aspects of well-being should be addressed.
Why Is Holistic Health More Important Than Ever?
Throughout the pandemic, we have seen a rise in mental health disorders, from depression to anxiety and stress. As a result, people are moving less and overthinking more.
Over the last year, we have seen the closure of gyms and studios around the world. The good news, however, is that the fitness industry has adapted!
We’ve seen many gym and studio owners take their businesses online, allowing members a sanctuary amid the uncertain.
Taking your classes online is one way to get your business moving. However, providing a more holistic service can not only transform your members’ health but is also an opportunity for your business to grow.
If you’re wondering how to get started, we look below at some of the ways your business can embrace technology and provide a well-rounded service to its members.
Step 1: Build Your Community
Building a sense of community and inclusion can help to bring the social aspect of the gym to your members’ homes, improving mental well-being.
Building a sense of community and inclusion can help to bring the social aspect of the gym to your members’ homes, thus improving mental well-being.
1. Digitize Your Club’s Offerings
Finding the motivation to work out at home can be hard, but feeling connected can help gym members stay engaged and fit throughout the pandemic.
Utilizing technology such as tailor-made gym software means you can host workouts live ! This creates interaction, with members able to leave comments, ask questions, and see one another.
Plus, the endorphin rush from exercise will boost mood and energy! Win-win.
2. Make It Social
This is a no-brainer: encourage members to get involved – and give them the platform to do so!
Utilize a custom app for your health club to set tasks, challenges, or competitions. Make it easy for people to join in on the conversation via community boards or even Zoom, your website, and your social media channels.
3. Be consistent
Whatever you do, do it consistently so your members will know what type of quality service they can expect from you. For example, adding a ‘Monday Motivation’ challenge or ‘Friday Funday’ challenge can be a nice touch, and is a fuss-free way to keep to a member-engagement cadence.
This is a great way to encourage customer loyalty and build motivation.
Group tasks are another great way to build a sense of community. For example, setting a group step goal for the week, and asking members to submit their daily step count on leaderboards in the app.
4. Add an Online Members Area
Building a member’s area via your social media channels or club’s very own platform can provide a sense of digital community. People can chat, interact with each other, and ask questions.
You can also post top tips, inspiration, and daily visuals to get people talking. When your facility opens up to its full capacity again, you’ll have a strong-knit community that is familiar with one another – pandemic who?
5. Do Q&As
Many gyms and studios are now offering online seminars and webinars around a variety of topics, such as mental health awareness, nutrition, and holistic wellness.
This presents a great opportunity to use your collective voice! Q&As bridge the gap between the knowledge your business holds and benefitting your members.
Here’s a suggestion: Utilize technology! Create a topic of the week, with guest speakers, and hold a live wellness talk – maybe even on a lazy Sunday morning when people are lazing around at home, to promote ‘kicking off your week right.’
Step 2: Scale and Diversify
If your members feel like they’re getting the added value of holistic health through your efforts, they’re more likely to stick with you. Meaning, your business will grow.
Now it’s time to think about scalability and diversifying your offerings to introduce additional revenue streams.
1. Get Tech Savvy
Smart health professionals are hopping on the app bandwagon because they realize this is key to reaching members. Don’t get left behind in your holistic wellness offering. In fact, some of the most successful health apps are Headspace and Calm – not Muscle Sweatmaster 3000.
This is where it all comes together! You can hold your community.
Increasingly, technology is becoming a fundamental way to bridge the gap between studios and gyms, and its members. It also provides a digital venue for all of your services.
Not only can you hold classes, seminars, Q&As, live workouts, and competitions here, you can record them too. This means you can post them to your website, members area, and social channels to promote your services.
Use these spaces to interact with members – top tips, daily motivation, workout of the day, for example. Be creative!
2. Try A Holistic Health App
Many studios, gyms, and personal trainers are now offering access to holistic health services to their members. Consider how you too can app up.
Virtuagym has its own holistic wellness gym software, MINDVIBE . Whether members are looking to build muscle, drink more water, or improve sleep, fitness tech can help everyone.
With MINDVIBE, you can track daily fitness activities and body metrics, watch exercise demonstrations, and check class schedules, as well as find tips on nutrition and wellness.
Offering physical and mental well-being services in one app is a fantastic way to diversify and add value.
3. Mix Up Your Wellness Offerings
Yoga and meditation are great ways to add variety while addressing mental wellness.
Meditation allows us to check-in with our bodies and take ourselves down from our ‘fight-or-flight’ mode; that is, our body’s response to stress. It is proven to reduce anxiety , mood swings, and symptoms of depression.
Yoga is a powerful tool for mental, physical, and spiritual well-being, and helps to reduce symptoms of depression, low mood, and anxiety.
Consider adding slower-paced classes, such as yin yoga, into the mix!
Lastly, remember to take a breather. Running a health business has been a challenge, but as you strive to provide better wellness services, remember to take a moment for yourself too!
As we wait for normal life to resume, this is a great opportunity for the industry to take hold of the reigns on holistic health; helping us to look inwardly, before we can get back outside.
