Lately, our feeds have been flooded with a new imperative: wellnessmaxxing.
Born as an evolution of habit stacking, the practice of linking healthy habits together, this trend is turning wellness into something that resembles military-grade discipline.
It’s no longer just about being healthy. It’s about optimizing, modifying, and cramming as many activities as possible into an already packed day, all in the name of self-care.
The roots of this frenzy can be traced back to the post-pandemic rise of remote work, when it became possible to weave personal and household tasks into the workday. What started as a practical solution has since evolved into a philosophy that treats every idle moment as wasted time.
Today, the concept of habit stacking has been almost completely distorted, becoming closer to what project managers call task compression: the attempt to make as many functions as possible happen simultaneously.
As a result, we see people replying to emails while wearing under-eye patches, or attempting to meditate on a walking pad with a red-light therapy helmet strapped to their heads. Wellness has become a never-ending optimization project, where visible results serve as proof of one’s dedication and discipline.
Between Pilates Princesses, run clubs, and weekend Hyrox competitions, we’ve officially entered the era of performative wellness, where self-care is no longer a private practice but a marker of social status.
Wearing face masks or under-eye patches in public, perhaps while grabbing coffee with friends, has become a badge of the “wellness girlie” identity. Yet this constant exposure to flawless routines only fuels our anxiety about becoming the best possible version of ourselves.
When our feeds are filled with perfect routines and carefully curated calm, our brains start using them as benchmarks. The gap between those idealized lifestyles and our everyday reality can slowly erode self-esteem. Moreover, much of this movement remains heavily focused on aesthetics: the body is treated as an endless renovation project in pursuit of a mythical aesthetic endgame.
Some wellness trends are simply extensions of diet culture dressed up in a different font. Trends such as the Pilates Princess associate exercise with a specific body type, slim, toned, and conventionally attractive, reinforcing the idea that thinness is synonymous with health.
This entire system operates within a capitalist framework that prioritizes profit. To be considered “healthy,” it often seems necessary to purchase $130 leggings or expensive wellness gadgets like vibration plates, items that will likely end up gathering dust in a closet within a couple of months.
The risk? That wellness itself becomes a luxury accessible only to those who are already disproportionately healthy, and, above all, wealthy.
So how do we break free from this cycle?
The answer may lie in abandoning the urge to do everything at once and returning to wellness as a tool for feeling better, something that reduces stress rather than adding more pressure to our routines.
To rediscover a more authentic sense of balance, we should:
Choose intentionality over saturation.
Instead of compulsively piling on new habits, focus on building a daily structure that genuinely serves your needs, not the algorithm’s.
Let go of the perfection myth.
As many experts suggest, the goal should be improving by 1% each day rather than chasing unsustainable 20-step routines.
Reclaim the private dimension of wellness.
Self-care should be something we do for ourselves, not a trend to follow or a public display of status.
True freedom lies in taking care of yourself without feeling compelled to measure every improvement or post every ritual online.
Wellness is not a performance to optimize; it’s an experience meant to make us feel good, preferably without the added burden (literal and figurative) of magnetic ankle weights while grocery shopping.
With Amore, Avash Wellness 💌
