Wellness practices are becoming increasingly commonplace within the City, a shift from previous attitudes where such routines were openly scoffed at. Practices including ice-bathing, fasting, breath-work, Pilates, journalling, and meditation are now being quietly admitted to by individuals.
This change was observed at the FIX EMEA trading conference in London, where a Wellness Hub featured stands from a Pilates instructor, breath-work specialists, a wellbeing solutions business offering blood-pressure tests, and Emotional Equity, a divorce coaching service for high-achieving men.
The conversation around wellbeing has evolved, with City firms now reportedly looking at preventative wellbeing services. Poor employee mental health is estimated to cost employers £51bn annually, and the UK financial sector experiences the highest proportion of staff burnout and the highest average annual cost per employee.