Over the years, the world has become fast-paced, with people having to do more to achieve their goals. Slowing down does not seem like an option in highly competitive markets, which ends up taking time from the need to pause and take care of oneself.

The business may need constant oversight, the job may require non-stop effort on everyone’s part, the family may need to be taken care of from sun up till sundown, but people have to take care of themselves as well.

Wellness is just as important in daily life, and what World Wellness Weekend has been doing for the last 10 years has instilled that priority in individuals who want to lead a healthier, calmer and happier life.

World Wellness Weekend was founded by Jean-Guy de Gabriac in September 2017 with 160 venues in France and Belgium. For their 10th anniversary edition from 18th September to 20th September, 12,000 venues have signed up on wellmap.org across 187 countries, with Maldives being one of them.

At its core, World Wellness Weekend is a pro bono initiative that has five supporting pillars:

The initiative works to support the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing), with their efforts meant to bring awareness and opportunity to everyone around the world.

The Edition spoke with Jean Guy de Gabriac to bring to you the inspirations behind the initiative. We asked him how does World Wellness Weekend set up local events while keeping the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing) in mind. He responded that firstly, their Wellness movement encourages every participating venue to offer at least one genuinely free activity, because “Wellness for ALL” cannot carry a price tag.

He continued, saying that secondly, they ask every venue to think beyond its paying clients, and design something for its colleagues (workplace wellness) and its local community ( neighbors, healthcare workers, a retirement home down the street). And thirdly, they award a Wellness Champion or Wellness Hero badge only once a venue proves it has organized at least three distinct free activities.

When we asked him about social media and what he would recommend as a first step in achieving serenity and mindfulness by attempting to move away from or reduce time spent on social media in situations where it can have negative effects on people, Mr. Gabriac said that he would suggest a “digital sunset” under their Serenity & Mindfulness pillar: choose one hour, ideally the first after waking or the last before sleep, where the phone stays in another room. More than a resolution, it can be a ritual, done with a Wellness Buddy, a friend, partner or colleague who holds you accountable, because willpower alone rarely survives a notification.

He continued by stating that the World Health Organization has flagged loneliness and depression as rising public health concerns worldwide, and paradoxically, these often climb alongside the platforms designed to keep people “connected”. He said the crazy part is that McKinsey & Company's 2026 Future of Wellness research suggests that up to 50 percent of health content circulating on social media today may be AI-generated.

He wrapped up the answer by saying that when the wellness advice in your feed may not even come from a human being, the most serene, most mindful thing you can do is close the app and go join a yoga class, or a walk with a friend. Some answers cannot be found on the internet, but rather on the “inner net” when you pause and meditate.

The next question to him was, since the inception of World Wellness Weekend in 2017, how has the initiative impacted societies across the globe in prioritizing their wellness. He said that McKinsey & Company's latest Future of Wellness research shows 84 percent of consumers now rank wellness as a top life priority, alongside family relationships, above career success. Wellness moved from something people do, to who people want to become.

He outlined some countries where wellness has become priorities, such as:

He said that their positive impact is that with one global event, professionals organize thousands of local proofs that wellness starts with “WE”, not “ME”.

As many would know and experience, we live in an extremely fast paced world. In regards to the working individual, we asked Mr. Gabriac what is the best advice he can give to achieve a night of perfect rest when it comes to sleep, to which his advice was to stop treating sleep as the pause button on your day, and start treating it as the foundation you build tomorrow on. He went on to say that some people build a wind-down ritual, about 20 minutes every night: charge your phone outside the bedroom and dim the lights. This will signal your nervous system that the day is closing.

A substantial amount of the workforce conduct their business while sitting down. We asked him when it comes to movement and vitality, what would he say is the most efficient way to get the body moving and feeling healthy during working hours. He replied that everyone needs to take regular breaks. Just five minutes of deliberate movement every 60 to 90 minutes: a walk while you take a call instead of sitting through it, ten squats between meetings, going up and down the office stairs, etc. Movement does not need to be a workout, it needs to be a habit small enough that we can actually keep it.

World Wellness Weekend has partnered with World Cleanup Day, a UN-recognized program. We asked Mr. Gabriac: how does one benefit the other, and where does a cleaning initiative fall into the spectrum of wellness. He said that they have been partnering with World Cleanup Day since 2023 and that it proves that Purpose & Solidarity and environmental care are the same gesture seen from two angles.

He gave us some statistics to go along with his answer; Since 2018, World Cleanup Day has mobilized over 15 million participants a year across 211 countries and territories, and cleaned up over 543,000 tons of waste.

On 20th September, venues celebrating World Wellness Weekend are encouraged to organize a cleanup of a beach, a park or a riverbank, and then follow it with a guided relaxation or meditation session recorded by Sandie Ashing, a hypnotherapist. An outer cleanup becomes an inner cleanup, and all is connected. Nutrition & Immunity depends on a healthy environment; Serenity & Mindfulness is easier to access once the space around you (and the mind) has been decluttered.

Costa Rica and Bhutan understood years ago that investing in environmental wellbeing attracts a visitor who genuinely cares for the place they visit. That is Wellness For ALL: for people, and for the planet.

World Wellness Weekend has partnered with Wellness in Travel & Tourism (WITT) and the Wellness Tourism Association (WTA) for its 10th edition. We asked what these partnerships entail for resorts in Maldives, to which Mr. Gabriac answered that the partnership with Wellness in Travel & Tourism and the Wellness Tourism Association can inspire and empower properties in the Maldives, and globally, with international best practices to enhance guest experience and connect each property with the local community.

He also said that a resort's commitment to wellness cannot stop at the reception desk, with all 10 Mandara Spa Maldives participating spa locations achieving Wellness Hero status this year, the first spa group in the Maldives to do so across every property. All ELE|NA properties are also going above and beyond as Wellness Champions this year.

The World Wellness Report highlights travelers seeking epigenetics & biomarker testing, deep cultural immersion, and lasting lifestyle transformation. In regards to the steps World Wellness Weekend can take to ensure this change comes about in Maldives, or other parts of the world, Mr. Gabriac said that he highly encourages resorts to partner with biomarker, epigenetic and longevity innovators, so a guest can take the testing before, and then curate a bespoke program while in the Maldives.

He stated that this is a topic he will be moderating on a panel at the World Spa & Wellness Convention in London on October 4-5 with speakers from Chenot, SHA and Pallazzo Fiuggi.

World Wellness Weekend in Maldives is almost exclusively celebrated at resorts. When we asked whether the organization has plans to collaborate with local wellness centers, spas, salons and gyms so the event becomes more accessible to locals, the founder said that the next step is to bring World Wellness Weekend into Malé itself and into the inhabited islands with local gyms, salons, yoga studios and wellness centres that serve Maldivians, not only visitors.

He continued, saying that in Cancún, the city's largest public park opens its gates for free community yoga during World Wellness Weekend. In Santo Domingo, the Mayor organizes free activities across 90 public parks. That is exactly what he hopes to see replicated across Malé and the atolls: local wellness professionals opening their doors for one free class to Maldivian families rather than only among hotel guests. Reaching local communities across an archipelago needs partners on the ground, not a headquarters in Brussels. Wellness starts with WE, and “we” has to include the people who call the Maldives home, said Mr. Gabriac.

Planning such a mass-scale event requires a perfect grasp of logistics. Mr. Gabriac explained how World Wellness Weekend moves around the hurdles of organizing inclusive events across varied locations, stating that firstly, they solved logistics by decentralizing it. They share the Participation Kit available online, the five pillars of Wellness, the Wellness Champion and Wellness Hero badges, so that every venue (a yoga studio in Rishikesh or a Spa in Brazil) knows exactly what to build without needing us to build it for them.

Secondly, he said their growing network of 150 Ambassadors and Coordinators across 187 countries, are engaging with 50 Mayors, Ministers of Tourism and Governors around the world, who understand their own city's culture, calendar and regulations far better than he ever could from Brussels.

And thirdly, wellmap.org, their geolocator, now in 18 languages, enables any venue to register itself and any member of the public to find activities near them, available every day, on every time zone, on any device.

He wrapped up his answer by saying that their success is not built on logistics, but on trust. They trust that a spa director in the Maldives, a Mayor in Portugal and a beauty school in France will each build something true to their own place with the same five pillars and the same Wellness For All philosophy. Passion is worth Passing on!

World Wellness Weekend has proven time and again that wellness is not something that requires an extreme amount of effort, and it is worth having a program or ritual every day where people can unwind, address inner peace and approach incoming stresses in a calmer and clear-minded manner.

World Wellness Weekend in Maldives will be held from 18th September to 20th September, where 37 venues across the country will be offering a total of around 200 activities for everyone visiting.