Distressing times

New trend, fresh opportunities

While more enterprises strive to provide mental health support for their employees, the younger generation is also actively exploring tools to improve their mental wellness at the same time. Whether it's listening to mental health-related podcast channels, sharing sleep-inducing audios or watching vlogs about mindfulness meditation training on social platforms, the trend is emerging both on the mainland and in Hong Kong.

Mental wellness startup FLOW is among the companies that saw the huge market demand for mental-wellness care. It launched a meditation and wellness mobile app a year ago and also provides offline services. As of mid-September, the company had amassed 175,000 followers on Xiaohongshu - one of China's hottest lifestyle-sharing social platforms.

FLOW's founder and CEO Wu Zan says he has noticed an almost 10-fold increase in the number of meditation-related hashtags that users have flagged on social platforms in the past year. He believes the mindfulness meditation trend is driven by a host of factors, such as heavy workloads, pressure from peers, and the uncertainties created by the pandemic. All these circumstances have forced people in a fast-paced society to rethink the essence of life and pursue their well-being rather than just being wealthy.

"The core of meditation is 'inward looking' and the ability to look inwards to find peace has become a necessity in our increasingly restless society," says Wu. It's not just urbanites who are trying to secure inner peace. Many companies are now aware of the importance of promoting sustainable mental healthcare services and enriching various forms of support, he adds. Apart from basic psychological counseling services, major enterprises are interested in acquiring meditation practice courses for their employees.

FLOW plans to expand its offline meditation studios in top-tier mainland cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Wu expects the company's offline studios to spark a wave of interest among younger generations.

"Mental wellness is as important as physical fitness. Mindfulness meditation could become a lifestyle, just like running, yoga and other forms of sports."