My friend Suzy and I visit a luxury forest spa before Christmas. Neither of us are really sure what we are supposed to actually do in the luxury spa for three hours. Along with a sauna, steam room and jacuzzi, many of the rooms – “experiences” – appear to simply be designed for sleeping. There is a Scandinavian snug, for example, with a fire and huge fluffy blankets that you can lie under with a view of the forest beyond. I lie blearily on a chaise longue, watching robed figures wander through the trees outside and thinking about Ari Aster horror films. The spa offers a class in sleep as it happens, another in mindful meditation, and a third in skincare, which is just beginning when we arrive. Behind a glass partition, a row of women in identical fluffy white robes all face front. There’s a distinctly Wall-E feel to the whole spectacle. They stare earnestly ahead at an invisible instructor, all gently massaging the delicate skin around their eyes with the fourth finger of each hand in neat, circular motions.

What comes to mind when you think of wellness? It might be colostrum serums, aura points or simply having enough free time to go running. (The word “colostrum” alone is enough to conjure shivers of deep personal failure in my own psyche). A wellness trend I’ve seen forecast in several places for 2025 is “longevity”, which is simply the aspiration to be so healthy that you live longer than everyone else. Maybe it speaks to cynicism on my part, or at least a cynicism about the future, but I’m surprised that younger people........

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