The body is big business. The Sports and Fitness Industry Association estimates that it generated $84.3 billion in wholesale sales in the U.S. alone. If you include food, gyms, studies, clothing and equipment, that number increases dramatically to half a trillion U.S. dollars. Add the category of “wellness”—spas, workplace wellness, mindfulness programs—the figure jumps to $3.4 trillion.
Wellness, of course, is where the mind meets the body—as well as the spirit, it would seem. Indoor cycling titan SoulCycle, for example, is “church” for many of its devotees (as covered here in RD) and yoga continues to trouble boundaries between “authentic” religion and popular, secular practice.
In Sweat Equity: Inside the New Economy of Mind and Body, journalist Jason Kelly traces the connections between money and fitness culture. He recently spoke with The Cubit about running highs, meditation apps, and the inherent difficulty of selling authenticity.
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