DESIGNING EVENTS THROUGH A MORE HUMAN LENS Joanna Lean, founder and creative wellness designer with Hivergy, says one of the biggest shifts in event design is moving wellness from something added on at the end to something considered from the beginning. Instead of focusing solely on agendas and content, she encourages planners to think about how attendees are meant to feel throughout the experience. “People don’t just remember what happened,” she says. “They remember how it felt.” That can include simple shifts such as building space between sessions, incorporating moments of movement or reflection, or designing environments that support energy and connection throughout the day. Lean also notes that wellness doesn’t have to mean quiet or passive experiences: “It can be energizing, creative and social. Music, play, movement and sensory experiences all support engagement and connection in powerful ways.” For planners working with limited budgets or buy- in, she recommends starting small and focusing on intentional changes that support how people experience the event. “There is science behind this,” Lean says. “When people experience positive emotions, they think more creatively, connect more easily and are more open to new ideas.” Ultimately, she says, designing through a more human lens can help create experiences that feel more engaging, meaningful and memorable long after the event ends. Productivity through recovery Across both clinical insight and meeting design perspectives, one message comes through clearly: organizations are beginning to recognize that performance and recovery are closely connected. Buchy says stress and burnout don’t just affect how employees feel emotionally—they also affect cognitive performance, including focus, attention and the ability to manage pressure effectively. “We’re teaching people skills to stay more regulated, so that they can manage stress differently and their nervous system gets a break. That’s one of the keys to recovering from burnout.” She adds that chronic stress and burnout place ongoing strain on the body’s regulatory systems, including neurotransmitters and hormones, which can become depleted without adequate recovery. That’s part of the reason more companies are looking for ways to build recovery into the work experience itself rather than expecting employees to simply push through exhaustion. For meetings and events, that can mean rethinking how agendas are structured, how much downtime is included and how environments support energy levels throughout the day. “It’s no longer just about packing in meetings and presentations in the most economical way—it’s about balancing getting work done with how people actually feel during the experience,” Eden says. In many cases, organizations are also seeing practical benefits from taking an approach that prioritizes wellness. “People feel more energized, think more clearly and connect better, leading to more productive and meaningful outcomes.” A changing definition of workplace wellness As conversations around burnout and mental health continue to evolve, wellness is increasingly being viewed as something that influences not just employee satisfaction, but overall workplace performance. What’s emerging is a broader understanding of wellness—one that looks more closely at how people sustain focus, energy and resilience over time, rather than treating it as an occasional perk or standalone initiative. The result is a shift in focus from managing burnout to designing work in a way that better supports how people actually think, recover and perform. “It’s no longer just about packing in meetings and presentations in the most economical way—it’s about balancing getting work done with how people actually feel during the experience” IGNITE WELLNESS REPORT PHOTO: SOCIETY OF TREES Summer 2026 | Ignitemag.ca | 83
