The new status symbol in wellness isn’t six-pack abs, a cold plunge, or a biological age score that flatters the ego. It’s a faster brain at 4 p.m.
In a decade in which high performers are chasing longevity with peptides, cryotherapy, hyperbaric oxygen, glucose monitors, and hormone panels, the conversation is beginning to shift. Living longer isn’t enough. The new goal is to stay decisive, emotionally regulated, creative, and mentally quick in a world that seems to accelerate exponentially.
That’s fueling a boom in cognitive fitness programs at spas and hotels around the globe, from cognitive “add-ons” at medical wellness resort and industry leader SHA Wellness Clinic in Spain and Mexico to Clinique La Prairie’s week-long Brain Potential Program in Montreux, Switzerland, developed in 2024 in conjunction with the neuroimaging research group at Lausanne University Hospital. With both of these programs, better cognition comes in a spectacular setting—it helps make any lifestyle interventions go down smoother.
Other resorts are dipping a toe into the space, such as Larry Ellison’s Sensei Porcupine Creek properties outside Palm Springs and in Lana’i, Hawaii, which just launched a two-session Cognitive Foundations program in April.
