Wellmania: Extreme Misadventures in the Search for Wellness

by Brigid Delaney

Cold-press juices, hot yoga, quitting sugar, Paleo, mindfulness … if you embrace these things you will be happy, you will be well – just ask Instagram. From celebrity vegan chefs to sleep gurus, there is no shortage of people trying to sell us the wellness dream. Wellness has become a billion-dollar industry. But what does wellness even mean? Does any of this stuff actually work? Is there any science behind it?

Feeling exhausted and a bit stressed and flabby, journalist Brigid Delaney decides to find out – using herself as the guinea pig. Starting with a brutal 101-day fast, Brigid tests the things that are meant to make us well – yoga classes, colonics, mediation, CBT, Balinese healing, silent retreats and group psychotherapy, and sorts through what works and what is just expensive hype. She asks: what does this obsession say about us? Is total wellness possible, or even desirable? Where’s the fun in it all? And why do you smell so bad when you haven’t eaten in seven days?

Wellmania is an in-depth, entertaining, laugh-out-loud-funny exploration of one of the most fascinating trends in our culture. Her columns on the wellness industry for the Guardian have gone viral, with more than 100,000 page views in the UK, Australia and the US.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Memoir, Self Help, Audiobook, Australia, Psychology

292 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 3, 2017

About the author

Brigid Delaney is the author of Wellmania, This Restless Life, Wild Things and a book explaining Stoic philosophy – Reasons Not to Worry.

She has worked as a columnist and journalist for Guardian Australia, and is currently a speechwriter for a federal Minister.

Reviews

[Doris Dvonch · Rating 1 out of 5]

While I was attracted to this book by the promise of exploring fad diets and providing insight into them, I quickly learned that this book is actually a log of the author's consistent failure to commit to anything, including writing a coherent, insightful book. It is evident that this book was written haphazardly and without real thought and should have been, at most, a 3-page essay in Glamour magazine.

[Reannon Bowen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Halfway through this book I would have given it a 4 star rating but the final part really bugged me so let's say 3.5stars.
For starters, this book ended up being about so much more than I first expected. I thought it was mainly about this infamous fast but, & in part it is, but there's so much more. For me, were a lot of really great truths in this book, lots of moments of clarity & understanding. There is a lot to like about Bridget's story, her understanding of society & what so many are striving for, her honesty about her shortcomings but there were things to dislike too. The storyline feels disjointed at times, jumping from one year to 3 years down the track or sharing a story about one experience only to back track to another from years before. And by the end the constant talk of retreats & spa treatments was kind of doing my head in! I know a lot of it was work related & her job but wow. Bridget has well & truly drunk the wellness coolaid! Even with those few little irks I liked this book, it was interesting & at times illuminating. Well worth a read.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this and I actually read it instead of listening to the audiobooks. I read her account of an extreme detox with horrified fascination and I really enjoyed her section on Serenity. I’m an atheist and I don’t do yoga. For me I find peace by going for long walks in the woods. My mother meditates daily and I think I might make more of an effort to make that a daily practice.

[Rosie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is well written and extremely interesting, but Brigid is so obnoxious (we get it, you did drugs) and the cut and jumps between different phases of her life were super disorientating. I wanted to like it but I couldn't get past how annoying Brigid is.

[Susie Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

To me this says everything about our time. What drives us in our dogged pursuit of mindfulness at all costs. Why can't we end those internal circular narratives about control as we restrict and detox our bodies. How good it does feel to be righteous, and what you can actually do to your body if you breathe through it is phenomenal. But what use is balance if we're always off balance? I spoke to so many people across the week about devouring this book. I couldn't quite explain that it wasn't a full, cynical critique of meditation, yoga, 'wellness'. It's asking more of us. Questioning why we need these things so much in our specific time of life, how we should be bringing these things off the mat into daily routine. Given that 2016 was the year that it was. I cried when Brigid cried. I felt the same smallness as she did, underneath the vast Australian sky at the benedictine retreat (it's how I feel under country sky). Then the places she goes: I always feel an affinity with people who have done Melbourne AND Sydney (properly) - the symbolism of their geographies and what runs at the core of people who live in each town. Crossing the planet and still the questions follow. I have met Brigid twice, and know her writing, sort of wanted to run into Brigid with the bright yellow book clutched to my chest.. but what could I offer? All I'm doing is uselessly staving off my unanswerables, gathering beautiful moments on towards my ending.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read, recounting the author's experiences with various aspects of the 'wellness' industry. These experiences are grouped into three sections - Clean (which covers the author's experience with an extreme fast), Lean (which is mainly about yoga) and Serene (which is more broad-ranging, covering various retreats, meditation, hikes and - oddly - colonic irrigation). This structure means that the author's experiences are presented in a non-linear way, which made it difficult to work out the sequence of events. It also meant that there's no real sense of how one experience informed another, and no insight into the author's overall growth following her various wellness experiences.

However, this was still a worthwhile read, entertainingly written and with some interesting reflections on the impact and influence of the wellness industry on modern life.

[Em · Rating 2 out of 5]

The muddled up journey of a supremely-privileged person seeking stillness and enlightenment through meditation, dance, enemas, and starving herself. And doing seemingly a lot of drugs, but not the sort that tend to lead to spiritual awakenings.

Since I read this in March 2020, alongside a global pandemic, I had to laugh/cry at this line:
"Even though we're only halfway through it, there's a fear that 2016 is turning into the worst year ever."

Gosh, Trump hadn't even been elected yet FFS.

[Natalia Sypuła · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ta książka powinna być dużo krótsza.

[Olivia Newman · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent look at wellness culture and all its hypocrisies. I do feel this was probably more groundbreaking in 2017 when it was released, though.

[ElizaLu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bridget Jones meets Eat, Pray, Love. I did end up skimming towards the end, but this book is quite charming, down-to-earth, and engaging.

[ACgamemaker · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a secular person’s search for “the peace that surpasses all understanding”, and the realization that slowly comes to her that everything is vanity. It was so interesting because while this author repeatedly emphasizes that she has an atheist and that she doesn’t believe in God you can see her lack of fulfillment with secular-ism and secular beliefs. As she searches for meaning and peace she realizes that what she is doing doesn’t work. She goes and does amazing things, but then she has to come back to reality. Her conclusion is that relationships and being in community is what matters, and she is so close and yet far from the truth of Jesus. It is so interesting to see how her search for meaning mirrors Solomon’s search for meaning in Ecclesiastes. Hopefully she continues to look and finds true peace in relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book, for free, in exchange for an honest review.

This book is well written and enjoyable to read. The book seems to largely hinge on the authors personality as immersive journalism seems to often do. I found this book a fun read, but it wasn't nearly dense enough to keep me interested. While she seemed objective and knowledgeable/well researched most of the things she tried were pretty well covered by other wellness books. While it was interesting to see how she was effected by cleansing and meditation I'd have been more interested if she had a fecal transplant or something that hasn't been so well covered.

[alexandria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gdybym miała powiedzieć o czym jest ta książka to chyba nie umiałabym sklecić jednego, pełnego zdania. Bo tam jest wszystkiego po trochu, audiobook wynudził mnie za wszystkie czasy i nie zliczę, ile razy przy nim przysnęłam i musiałam przewijać.
Te dwie gwiazdki bardziej za pomysł niż samą książkę.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. Funny. A bit all over the place.

[Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring self indulgent - skip read the whole thing

[Aimee Barnes Pestano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part memoir, part investigative journalism, Wellmania explores the nearly $4 trillion dollar wellness industry through the eyes of a humorous and heavy drinking travel writer who yearns, as she approaches midlife, to clean up her act. This book is an illuminating and emotional roller coaster of the best kind, twisting through the weird worlds of extreme fasting, Balinese healing culture, yoga and meditation, luxury retreats and finally, the cavern that's been chiseled by the swift decline of religious culture, particularly in the West. The wellness industrial complex, for better or worse, exists to address this spiritual malaise and yet with it has come a phenomenal rise in narcissism, solipsism, loneliness and despair. Delaney picks up on this very real problem while the rest of the world continues Instagramming their green juices and downward facing dog poses (poolside, in fancy pants).

I have worked in the wellness industry for five years, running a fitness & coaching business in Southeast Asia, and am acutely aware of the many problems arising from the industry's explosive growth, including a strange new kind of spiritual hodge podge and the continued exploitation of cultures (see Bali, the Philippines, Thailand) to appease rapacious tourists searching for their own "Eat Pray Love" experience. Reading "Wellmania" was a breath of fresh air, and made me feel less insane about my own observations.

A brilliant book by a talented, funny writer, and I'd love to read the sequel if she decides to take a magnifying glass to her own spiritual adventure.

[Sonia Nair · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this book when I was feeling particularly ill, having obliterated my stomach due to a particular fructose- and alcohol-heavy few weeks, and Delaney's descriptions of the way she and everyone around her binges on food and drink both repulsed me and resonated with me beyond measure; I related to the lack of self-control and the ensuing ways in which the body suffers because of it. I found the strongest passage of this book to be the first one - the 'Clean' chapter - where Delaney details her 101-day fast in which she completely abstains from food for the first two weeks, the effects of which were visceral and terrifying. I also really enjoyed the passages on yoga and mindfulness in the subsequent 'Lean' and 'Serene' chapters. Delaney does acknowledge the exoticisation of minority cultures, particularly Hindu culture, in the pursuit of a very white idea of spirituality, but I would have loved more of an interrogation on the whitewashing of other cultures' practices, although I can see how Delaney's book wasn't perhaps the best framework for doing this. Delaney is incredibly honest and forthright in examining her journey to wellness, and she's an engaging viewpoint into the increasingly problematic commodification of everything wellness-related.

[Carmel · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining read about a journalists trek to be “clean, lean and serene”. She tries extreme and brutal fasts, colonics, silent retreats, Yoga, group psychotherapy etc etc . Spending thousands to find wellness, she exposes the reality of the “wellness” industry - money making. You almost need to be a Sydney millionaire to be able to instagram your wellness journey - $110 yoga pants, $12 green juices, $5000 detox courses! It’s the age of anxiety, the age where we have moved from a religious society to a secular, atheist society so we now spend thousands to have spirituality and community and wellness sold to us. Whilst it wasn’t new concepts in the book, the research the author experienced was extensive and really highlighted the enormity of the wellness industry in the western world and the mania that goes with it.....wellmania!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are areas, especially in the 101 day fast (clean) section, that are laugh out loud funny. There serene section strips away everything and the author is very open about her struggles. One thing I learned in this book is that "yoga hip" is real.

The take away, for me, is that we all aim to live our best, happiest, healthiest life but it's hard to maintain all these habits during every day Life. Alsi the wellness field is very much a mass market product which is a major financially unattainable for the majority of folks.

Her thoughts on Deepak Chopra and others of his ilk are bang on, in my opinion.

[Jedi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read; first chapter on extreme fasting was fascinating. Very entitled white middle class woman perspective, and seeing this woman go on retreat after retreat is interesting, but I guess she never really reaches a point where she is able to explore the root of her problem (clearly being that it's not physical and needs to see counselling!!) So repeats alot self sabotaging behaviours. Some people would get frustrated but it's a memoir type of pop journalism so I guess doesn't need to head in that direction. reiterates the commodification of "well being" and irony of how money is thrown at activities which essentially don't emphasise money, eg. Yoga.

[Ellen McMahon · Rating 3 out of 5]

An objective and well reasoned look at several areas within the mega 'wellness' industry. Thought-provoking and informative without reading like a classroom textbook and often hilariously funny. The detail is evocative and all-encompassing; Brigid Delaney puts you in a time and place with her like now other.

[Kelly Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was both fascinated and horrified about the extremes people go to in the search for wellness.

[Christina Van Der Velde · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Brigid really likeable and zoomed through the book. Interesting insights and I really liked where she went with her conclusions toward the very end

[Ola | nawyk czytania · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5🌟

[Hayley · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at the point where she favourably mentioned Bikram Choudhury who, by the time the book was published had been accused multiple times of SA. Pete Owens also rates a mention.

The fast she participates in for months on end was also seriously concerning, particularly the two (TWO?) serious cardiac events she describes, neither of which seem to prompt her to abandon her illfated and unsubstantiated endeavour.

I usually tend to put books that weren’t for me in our neighbours local “little library” - but this is such straight trash, it’s going straight to the bin.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique book about wellness treatments and the irony of it all in a world of chaos: the little time and loads of money spent on what used be intrinsic to our society back in the days of more calmness and less individualism.
It was interesting to learn about detox, yoga and meditation workshops. All a bit splashed here and there with a bit of humour.
Very well documented also.

[Melody · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Would perhaps have made a compelling brief magazine feature, but floundered as a book.

[Knit Spirit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wellmania, c'est la vie de l'autrice, une vie en quête de bien-être, de spiritualité et peut-être aussi de sens qui va la pousser à tester de nombreuses formules (plus ou moins douteuses) pour trouver sa voie...
Ce livre est très sympa car il est à la fois, drôle et touchant, mais aussi informatif puisque l'autrice documente systématiquement ses tests de lectures ou d'échanges qu'elle a pu avoir avec d'autres professionnels sur le sujet. Elle montre les dérives de toutes ces modes liées au bien-être qui font souvent plus de mal que de bien aux personnes qui y cèdent.
Mon seul bémol : les références ne sont pas toujours hyper fiables (trop souvent des articles de journaux généralistes et non des études scientifiques).
J'ai adoré lire ce livre et j'ai hâte de découvrir la série qui en est issue !
En bref : un très bon moment !

[Elissa Gillon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. Brilliant, intelligent, witty honest writing. The only reason it’s a 4/5 rather than the full score is the author’s repeated use of the word “nugget”. A revolting word at the best of times, but particularly so when used in the a book about “wellness”! In all seriousness this is an excellent book. But I really hate that word.

[Elizabeth Tai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah. The things we do to get peace and serenity. In many ways Brigid's account was hilarious, but I ultimately found it sad. Because in the end, all that fasting, yoga, meditating and screaming in the bush at a campfire doesn't bring the results we hope: Peace with yourself.

And it's almost tragic to see those in the affluent West flailing about, flocking from one guru to the next, paying wads of cash to achieve "wellness" through a series of navel-gazing activities while half the world is just struggling to feed themselves and stay alive. What an unbalanced world we live in! But that's the price of modernity. While we've managed to achieve many things to ensure life is smoother, we've somehow lost a vital part of us.

And the sad thing is we're trying to buy it back.

As the author said: "Pay $2000 to go on retreat, and meaning, spirituality and community will be sold to you. You'll feel great for a week ... (but) there's little possibility or means of integrating what you've learnt into your daily life."

"At home there may be no community waiting, no place to visit to get that sense of higher meaning, no one willing to dive below the surface with you, and so you go back to that empty feeling until you go online and book another retreat - and the cycle starts anew."

In the end Brigid said that while the wellness industry had noble intentions, it had caused people to turn "lethally" inward. It's time to ditch indvidualism for collectivism.

"We've had years of looking after ourselves. Now it's time to look after each other."