The future of the wellness industry is infinite. Technically, it’s on pace to be worth trillions by 2030…but in my head that’s all but infinite.

It’s not hard to see why: Gen X and Baby Boomers are living longer than any generation that ever came before them. Millennials and Gen Z are spending a significant percentage of their monthly paychecks on body and soul. The majority of adults are earnestly interested in either looking, feeling or moving better — and many are actively working towards all three.

In years past, as I’ve chased stories around the wellness sphere, I’ve devoted lots of ink to biohacking, longevity research and riffs on the latest miracle supplements. But I’m getting a little sick of that game, to be honest. A recent sound bite from Peter Attia really resonated with me:

“There is an epidemic of majoring in the minor and minoring in the major. Of course, it’s easier to think about NAD drips and saunas and cold plunges and red light therapy and green juices and this supplement and that supplement…like, when all you have to do is basically buy them. They’re pleasant to engage in, right?...But it’s actually kind of a pain in the butt to work out, and be mindful of your nutrition, and minimize the amount of alcohol [you drink], and put your stupid phone down and pay attention to the world, and go to bed on time and get up on time. I mean, that’s hard. Those things are hard.”

Attia happens to be a longevity obsessive in his own right (he authored the bestseller Outlive). To hear him speak this way, though, corroborates some thoughts I’ve been feeling for a long time — for at least all of 2024 — that we’ve lost the plot. The wellness industry is going to keep up this meteoric growth, no matter what. But its market value won’t change the fact that sustainable personal wellness is always, always, always attained in routine ways.

If this year taught me anything, though, it’s that routine doesn’t have to mean boring. This was a golden year for us to find wellness in fun, creative and sometimes unexpected places. We looked to the past (calisthenics completed its comeback), learned to count things we actually like doing as fitness (walks, pickleball, skiing, what have you) and put our faith in the supportive power of consistent community (the rise of run clubs, group meditation sessions and “squad training”).

Below, find my favorite wellness stories from the year. Most will fit this intro, I’d think. Some just have gorgeous photos and I couldn’t resist. I’ll close by saying that at the dawn of the A.I. age, I tried as much as possible this year to choose, edit or write stories that felt as human as possible. I truly hope you enjoyed them, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your continued readership and support.

Tanner Garrity
Senior Editor, The Charge