Wellness City Guide: Edinburgh

Sarah Wood González’s Scene Report

Welcome back to Wellness Around the World: City Guides. Once a month, I’ll be tapping a resident wellness aficionado in their home city, asking them to share not only their must-hit spots, as well as a glimpse into the culture of wellness in their community. Today we have

Sarah Wood González

giving us her guide to Edinburgh, Scotland.

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Sarah Wood González

is a style and culture writer living in Scotland by way of Spain, New York, and Michigan. She has written for the likes of The New York Times, Vogue, Financial Times, Elle, Architectural Digest, The Cut, Refinery29, Condé Nast Traveler, and more, covering surprising cultural phenomena and aesthetic trends, delighting in what they say about the world we live in. She also runs a talent and creative agency, About Town.

I’m a big fan of Sarah and her writing, so I’m thrilled to have take us on a tour of Edinburgh. Let’s commence, shall we?

A Little Backstory

What is your relationship with wellness, personally?

The future of wellness is ancient!!! Living in Scotland has transformed how I think about health. Before, I would have thought that living healthily would require high-tech advancements (sleep-tracking, biohacking, etc.). But now I see that the best things for living well are the most simple—and that applies to food, fitness, and beauty. Taking long walks in the hills, swimming in ice-cold rivers, buying local produce from the same farmer every Sunday has shown me that for a healthful life, less is more.

#yurtlife

What are some traditional or typical wellness practices of people living in your community? Any specific outlook or history?

Edinburgh is a place where people love being outside, regardless of the weather. Scots, and those who call Scotland home, are hearty people who have good clothing for bad weather.

• Walking through the city’s rolling, cobblestoned hills is a great form of exercise, especially when supplemented with regular “hill walking” (the name for what I would call ambitious hiking), wild swimming, and beachside saunas.

• Run clubs are super popular in Edinburgh as a way to socialize and get out — and they happen at any time of day and in any climate.

• I’ve also enjoyed joining our neighborhood tennis club and playing at the padel club behind our house.

What is the wellness + beauty scene like today?

The absolute essentials in each category: