Eudemonia Launches as Star-Studded Health and Wellness Event
Coming to West Palm Beach next month, Eudēmonia will feature doctors, social media stars and celebrity personal trainers
A new wellness event is coming to South Florida, and it’s got the makings of something big.
Sean Hoess, co-founder of the popular yoga-based festival Wanderlust, is launching Eudēmonia, a health and well-being summit featuring some of the biggest names in longevity, medicine and fitness all together under one roof.
To be held in West Palm Beach from November 1-3, Eudēmonia will feature over 200 sessions across three days, with science-based talks on health and longevity from speakers including Andrew Huberman, PhD, Mark Hyman, MD, and Gabrielle Lyon, DO.
Celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels and YouTube star Adriene Mishler will lead in-person workouts, while popular figures like Dan Harris and Bryan Johnson will present sessions on meditation and longevity, respectively. SoulCycle is set to stage several workout classes.
In all, Eudēmonia will offer over 200 sessions across three days, with 100 wellness brands activating on-site including Function Health, AG1, Seed and Parsley Health. Among many experiences, attendees can receive on-site biometric testing from Basecamp and Function Health, and then consult experts for help decoding their results.
“My goal is to build the South by Southwest of well-being in the heart of West Palm Beach,” Hoess tells Athletech News of his vision for Eudēmonia.
A Different Type of Wellness Event
Eudēmonia, a Greek word that can be roughly translated as “life well lived,” gives a good overview of Hoess’ idea for the summit, which is designed around five elements: movement, nourishment, mental optimization, restoration and connection.
According to Hoess, who co-founded Wanderlust in 2009 and helped grow it into one of the world’s biggest experiential wellness brands, there’s big demand for an event that combines all the different aspects of health and wellness, from the science of longevity to meditation to working out, into one weekend.
“What I’ve noticed with events, and actually businesses in general, is that there’s sort of a Zeitgeist moment when it’s right for (them) to happen,” he says, pointing to the rise of wellness podcasters like Huberman and Peter Attia, along with Americans’ increased interest in preventive health following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I started to notice the interconnection between various things – the people talking about their metabolic health were the same people who were working out or who were interested in certain diets. All of this stuff started to interrelate,” Hoess adds. “I think there’s an opportunity to do something a little more high-minded that’s not just on a particular area of health or a certain fitness modality, but that actually brings it all together under the viewpoint of functional medicine or holistic health.”
Tickets for Eudēmonia have only been on sale for a few months, but organizers are expecting over 3,000 people at next month’s event, which will be held at the Palm Beach County Convention Center and adjoining Hilton West Palm Beach hotel.
The majority of attendees will be between 40 and 60 years old, but Eudēmonia is also seeing interest from medical students and pre-med students, groups it’s recruiting through scholarship programs and other initiatives.
Leading With Science
Eudēmonia will feature plenty of fun – Mishler, a Youtuber with over 12 million followers on her “Yoga With Adriene” channel, will perform an in-person version of her popular online workouts while guests can engage in cold plunges, sound baths and a silent disco dance.
But Hoess is quick to point out that Eudēmonia is, above all else, a place for serious, science-based discussions on health and wellness. He envisions the weekend as an open forum where leading scientists, doctors and entrepreneurs can discuss key issues before an educated and receptive audience.
Sessions include “Creating Good Energy: Reverse Chronic Disease by Mastering Metabolic Function,” “AI & The Future Of Personalized Medicine,” and “Immunometabolism: GroundBreaking New Research for Brain Health,” which should give some sense of the content on offer for the weekend.
“We take the lecture part seriously; we do want people to walk away having absolutely learned something,” Hoess says. “At the same time, we want people to be able to unwind, have fun and dance, go to a sauna or check out a new machine.”
South Florida as a Wellness Capital?
Wanderlust became one of the world’s biggest wellness festivals, staging multiple events annually in countries around the globe. For the foreseeable future at least, Hoess will take a more measured approach with his new venture.
Eudēmonia won’t be expanding to new territories anytime soon. Instead, organizers will focus on making it a can’t-miss health and well-being event, held once per year in South Florida.
If all goes well next month, Eudēmonia will return to West Palm Beach in 2025, but on an even bigger scale.
“I want to see an in-person experience where people have their minds blown,” Hoess says. “It’s got to be a transformational experience, where people (leave) and they’re buzzing, and they’re going back to their communities talking about it.”
For more information on Eudēmonia and to register, click here.