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By Holly Duckworth Wellness in meetings has long been limited to predictable activities like yoga sessions and 5K fun runs. Expecting attendees to engage in unhealthy habits during meetings while still achieving strong ROI is no longer viable. In 2025, wellness has been redefined to include working with attendees, who are now understanding and, in some cases, demanding the ability to maintain their healthiest selves while participating successfully in events. Wellness now includes meal planning, movement, mental wellness stations, creativity and energy management—offering both invigorating and restorative experiences. Tahira Endean of IMEX recently stated, “In 2025, expanded wellness is about fostering meaningful social connections and creating inclusive, safe spaces while having the opportunity to experience something new.”
Planners who integrate wellness not only into their lives but also into the events they create will drive the industry forward. As you develop your events with the newly expanded definition of wellness, we must acknowledge that attendees are bringing more stress, overwhelm and burnout with them. If planners do not address this, you will have bodies in the room but not fully engaged participants, thus sacrificing event ROI.
Spring is a time of renewal, growth and transformation. Just as nature moves from dormancy to vibrancy, meeting planners and attendees—often running on fumes—can use science-backed biohacking techniques to enhance their energy, focus and recovery. Instead of just surviving the chaos, they can grow through it, emerging stronger, more resilient and thriving in their careers. At the pace of life today, we must make a choice: Will we painfully go through the challenges, or will we grow through them?
While movement mental and physical wellness is a key starting point, true wellness for meeting planners goes far deeper. Today’s most effective wellness strategies focus on bio-individuality—personalized, science-backed approaches that support resilience, recovery and peak mental and physical performance.
The modern meeting planner,or attendee doesn’t always have 30 minutes for a run—but they do have three minutes for a brain reset, a recovery hack or a micro-moment of mindfulness. The future of wellness is about integration, not interruption.
Here are innovative ways to enhance your personal wellness and integrate it into meetings:
• Use VR meditation, sound and/or light therapy,or binaural beats for on-the-go recovery.
• Offer trends like wellness concierge services at events, biohacking lounges and longevity-focused retreats.
• Include “power foods” for participants—dark chocolate, walnuts and green tea for focus. Aromatherapy for uplift, energy and wellbeing.
• Sleep hygiene: Make sure to set up optimized sleep times and techniques when possible aligned to the circadian rhythm of daylight exposure.
While some of these techniques were once considered out of reach or “woo woo,” today many of these modalities are mainstream and science-backed. Wellness does not have to be hard; schedule regular check-ins with yourself to assess mental and emotional well-being.
The global meetings and events community must play its part in developing and driving solutions in support of health promotion and disease prevention across a wide range of dimensions. The business case for doing so is undeniable.
When we curate healthy meetings, we create healthy people that grow healthy businesses.
Holly Duckworth, CAE, CMP is a 20-year events industry veteran sharing insights at the intersection of impactful leadership and personal well-being. She is the co-author of "Sell More, Stress Less: 52 Tips to Become a Mindful Sales Professional." For more on her work coaching and speaking, visit HollyDuckworth.com.