So, you want to be well—don’t we all? You might start with a diet, add a workout routine and regular sleep schedule, buy a vitals-tracking smart ring, find a therapist, and become startlingly obsessed with your daily water intake. But even after all this, why do so many of us still feel restless, unhappy, still chasing that healthy glow?
Beyond the Exercise Bench
Self-care is more than what meets the eye. And it’s the “self” that can be misleading—what’s often missing from our wellness journey is other people: a social circle, support network, community. Science backs it up—when relationships suffer, so does health. A 2023 report from The Social Creatures found that socially connected people are 50 percent less likely to die early, while loneliness raises early death risk by 30 percent and increases chances of heart disease, stroke, and inflammation.
Luckily, in Virginia, some gyms and wellness clubs are working out the social muscles, too.
“We’re not a gym—we’re a club,” says Evan Euripidou, general manager at VIDA Reston Station. Here, wellness spans three stories: workout spaces, lounges, coworking areas, restaurants, a salon, and a penthouse pool. “We’re not just here to provide fitness equipment; we’re here to help people build healthy habits—physically, mentally, socially. All aspects of health and well-being.”
Hangout spaces weren’t an afterthought—they were part of the foundation when VIDA opened last May. With features like video games, ample seating, and a nearby snack bar, it’s the kind of place to gossip before Pilates or relax after a swim (let’s be honest, sometimes the best part of a workout is everything that happens around it).
“People who have never been regular gym-goers are now coming in every day,” Euripidou says. “Even on days when they don’t work out, they still come because they want to see their friends and be part of the space.”
The newly opened Upflift Training Club in Charlottesville also puts community at the heart of its mission, incorporating a recovery room and coworking space into its downtown location. The social wellness trend has spread to Richmond, too, where Padel Plant, a canal-side padel and pickleball facility, champions the motto: “Activate your social life.” For lots of us, making friends is half the reason people pick up a paddle. Padel Plant satisfies that craving for connection with an arcade, coworking space, pizza joint, café, and bar—no need to coordinate post-sweat sesh plans when everything’s under one roof.
Calm for the Communal
Wellness spaces beyond the gym are also embracing the social side of wellbeing. In Alexandria, Balian Springs focuses on holistic health, offering everything from Korean-style baths, hydrotherapy pools, and infrared lounges to rooftop pools, restaurants, and meditation spaces—all surrounded by abundant lounge seating in a massive, airy setting.
“The concept of Balian Springs came from a personal need,” says president Stephanie Chon. “I found it really difficult to locate a one-stop destination that offered access to a variety of wellness modalities.”
Guests can soak in the hydrotherapy pool, complete with massage jets and framed by indoor palm trees, ornate tile, and a perfectly placed skylight—like a tropical retreat in the heart of NoVa. Each of the seven saunas offers a different benefit—gold for digestion and neural stimulation, Himalayan salt for destressing, charcoal for detoxing skin, and more. Add a mud wrap from Likoli Day Spa, a non-alcoholic white wine spritzer, and a float in the rooftop infinity pool, and the result is pure bliss. But beyond the amenities, one key ingredient defines the experience: community.
“We call ourselves a self-care social club,” says Chon. “After Covid, when the world was really trying to find what self-care meant, I realized that health extends beyond the physical. So I thought—if people are craving a place to explore different wellness practices, why not create that? Our vision was to build a space that’s not only facility-forward—with things like hydrotherapy pools, sauna rooms, and lounges—but also rooted in programming. A place where the community could grow, and where people could learn from each other.”
While the plentiful lounge seating is part of that connection-centered spin, Balian Springs goes a step further with programming like barbecues, DJ nights, movie nights, cornhole competitions, group workshops (from pool pilates to sound baths), mocktail-making classes, and tasting events. Come with friends and leave with memories, or come solo and leave with new friends.
“Everything is built around the mental, spiritual, and social aspects of wellness,” Chon says. “The social component is key.”
Balian Springs’ Himalayan salt sauna promotes natural ionization, helping to ease stress, clear sinuses, and support healthy skin. Photo courtesy of Elan Irving | Balian Springs
Off The Screen, Out of The Box
Euripidou sees all the social wellness clubs springing up as a reaction to our increasingly digital lives.
“I think it’s a response to how disconnected our society has become—especially with technology and social media,” he says. “People are hungry for real, in-person connection. Giving them a physical space to build community will only become more important. That need isn’t going anywhere.”
These spaces offer screen-free zones to connect—and also built-in coworking nooks for when you need to plug back in. Digital and personal lives can ebb and flow together in one place.
But balance isn’t just between screen time and real life—it’s across every facet of wellness, whether that’s recovery and rest, high-intensity workouts, clean eating, or the occasional indulgence. As Chon puts it: “Self-care means different things on different days.”
“Sometimes self-care is pizza,” she says. “Other times, it’s a detox or completely unplugging from your phone. Covid helped expand that definition—wellness isn’t just nutrition or physical health. It’s your state of mind, and that changes from season to season, even day to day.”
Balian Springs’ indoor hydrotherapy pool features massage jets activated by dials placed throughout its shallow, tranquil waters.
Atop Balian Springs, the hydrotherapy rooftop pool offers the benefits of sunlight, open air, and gentle currents—just steps from a social bar area and a Japanese-inspired Hinoki Bath.
This article originally appeared in the October 2025 issue.
