The pandemic has brought a new awareness of the need for wellness to some in Bloomington-Normal. That's according to several nontraditional health businesses in the area. Many reported a rise in business or steady bookings all through the pandemic. Others have had ups and downs ... just like the pandemic.
Dr. Janine Maere from Ohm Energy Medicine said they took an initial hit, and then it was back to normal.
"But really, that for us only lasted maybe a month or two. After that people wanted an excuse to get out," said Maere.
It's more of a mixed bag for yoga providers and others who do group settings.
Carmen Champion owns Main Street Yoga in Bloomington. Her business is down by two-thirds.
"I am not seeing an increase for overall numbers. We're not seeing the increase in new people. That took a huge hit. My late-night classes, anything after about 5:30, nobody wants to take classes. We're working with a lot of Zoom exhaustion," said Champion.
Champion said her clientele has evolved over time just as the pandemic has. She said there are fewer new clients, but a strong retired population. And her core clientele has increased the frequency of sessions. She's doing not awesome, but OK. Unlike other wellness businesses, Champion said the pandemic also created new challenges.
"There is so much free content online that we're competing with," said Champion.
Champion said YouTube has been there all along, but when her yoga studio moved online there was less of a distinction between the services. She said starting a video on your own is also sometimes more convenient that a set time for a Zoom session.
Most though said their bookings are great. Fox and Hounds Spa co-owner Denise Geske said the numbers for massages have risen just in the last couple months.
"So as we reopened in the other departments we were busy right off the bat. This one has taken a little bit longer for people's level of comfort I think," said Geske.
Stress at all-time high
People are coming to these nontraditional health outlets for a variety of reasons. Kara Tiede Kabir of Revelations Center for Wholeness in Bloomington said even with the pandemic easing, stress is at an all-time high and clients don't come just for health.
“Home and work lives have been completely uprooted. So, what we're finding is yes, the desire for selfcare. But also, people are really looking for more compassion and security in their life," said Kabir.
Pandemic isolation has also prompted people to seek out new things. Dr. Janine Maere of Ohm Energy Medicine said Reiki energy therapy and other treatments are a secondary reason some clients book appointments.
"We hardly shake hands anymore. It seems to be very unacceptable where you are kind of awkward not as to how much you can get close to or touch another person. So, certainly it is amazing how much people miss just touch from other human beings," said Maere.
Maere said some patients tell her they could be there every day if she had appointments available.
Carmen Champion of Main Street Yoga said her regular clients have actually increased the number of classes per week they take because Zoom makes travel time and parking moot and they share that need for community, even remote community.
"I have gotten multiple people who have been coming three to five times a week that have said, 'I don't know how I would have done this without it. Had you not gone online I don't know what I would have done. This has helped me breathe; helped me navigate this.' They reach out to me independently. This is not something I asked," said Champion.
It's not just a social need, though. Some of the increase in business comes from physical ailment. Denise Geske of Fox and Hounds Spa said people who want massages are coming in all racked up.
"Many people have been working at kitchen tables or coffee tables and those kinds of things. So their low back, just back in general, the upper-back-neck-shoulder area, has been showing a lot of symptoms and pain," said Geske.
And treating the aftermath of the coronavirus itself has driven some people to nontraditional vendors. Maere said going into the pandemic she saw things outside the box of western medicine that help clients.
"In doing acupuncture, I had acupuncture protocols that came out of February and March of last year in how to treat the different stages of COVID because it hit the Asian countries first," Maere said.
Maere and others who offer Intravenous Nutrient Therapy said one of the shining pieces during the pandemic was vitamin D, prompted by information from other countries.
"Normally we don't think about vitamins necessarily in this country especially when it comes to fighting illness. But the benefit was that COVID hit Asian countries and European countries first and those countries do put an emphasis on nutrition," said Maere.
With so much time alone, Kara Tiede Kabir of Revelations Center for Wholeness said she feels like the pandemic opened awareness for people to realize they want to invest energy and time for self-care and self-healing.
“I feel people are more driven to support their immune system. So, they are looking at services like IV therapy, nutrient therapy, so they're trying to find ways of enhancing their own body's defense system and immunity," said Kabir.
That new attention to wellness and self-care may persist. Denise Geske of Fox and Hounds said a lot of regular massage clients have not come back yet because of fear of the virus, but the new ones might last.
"The people who have come to see us for the first time or who maybe just did massages previously as a once a year — it's my anniversary so we're going to come in together and do it — now they are realizing and understanding that it's not just a luxury but more health and maintenance throughout the year," said Geske.
All the providers contacted for this story said cultural norms took time to change heading into the pandemic and it be a while before they adjust to new practices as well. The providers say they hope those practices include physical therapies like massages, yoga, and saunas or other non-western traditions like meditation, homeopathy, and Reiki.
