Being Well

Is there a difference between wellbeing and wellness? At Joali Being, it is so

- JONATHAN HO

OH, THE MALDIVES, globally known as a utopian paradise situated in the Indian Ocean, is reputed for attracting tourists with white, sandy beaches and luxurious resorts. For all the talk about wellness, one outstanding oasis is setting a new standard for personal wellbeing – Joali Being. Built upon the four pillars of wellbeing – Mind, Skin, Microbiome and Energy – the Maldivian sanctuary is the first of its kind, fully dedicated and nature immersive, offering its guests a personalised transformative journey of “wellness” (used in parenthesis because the brand prefers “wellbeing” to differentiate what they actually do) to rejuvenated health and happiness.

The concept of wellness has been around for a long time; however, the industry is rife with dubious claims and plenty of phony promises. At the core of all, this is the troubling definition of wellness in our current social media-obsessed world, a definition that keeps millions on a constant and impossible quest for “better health” and seems to be making us anything but well. To ensure programmes that had efficacy, the founder, Turkish entrepreneur Esin Güral Argat commissioned Gerry Bodeker, an Oxford University professor and author of the first book to address public health issues in traditional, complementary and alternative medicine, to develop a wellness concept which was sensible yet sensuous. After all, what good is a wellness regime that ignores the luxurious requirements of a holiday in paradise?