The Mandarin Oriental Hotel London Is Leading The Charge With A New Wellness Partnership

Having worked in the health and wellness space for nearly two decades, what Movementum founder Stephen Price realised was that visiting the gym and the spa was about more than weightless and numbers on a scale. Clients want more time, more energy. They want to look better, but also to feel better. “Once you nail it down, it’s really all about quality of life,” Price has explained time and time again. And it’s with this in mind that led Price to create Movementum at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel London. More recently, the team behind Movementum have launched a professional spa product range. Movementum products have already been in use in professional studios, gyms, spas and physiotherapy environments and are now available to buy and use at home. Key ingredients within the range include, frankincense, arnica, jojoba oil, Mediterranean Cypress, and lemongrass oil—all of which have been carefully blended to create products that will enhance movement, muscular wellbeing, performance, recovery, regeneration and deliver high intensity skin hydration.

You’ve described the programme as “a new category of wellness.” What does this mean? Movementum combines traditional and non-traditional methods to enhance mental and physical health through the promotion of movement health. We already know the profound benefits of moving freely and often, but we don’t often consider the elements of human behaviour, confidence and motivation, which all play a vital role.

Breathing correcting and breath work is a big part of the Movementum series—why do you think so many people overlook the importance of breathing? And what is one thing you wish people understood about breathing and fitness? I often feel people associate breath work with “down regulation,” whether it be to relax, create stillness and cope. In the same way, breath is an important element in uplifting, motivating, focusing, as well as postural awareness, leading to improvements in function mobility, power and strength.

How has your rehabilitation and clinical care background guided this programme? I’ve worked for 20 years in supportive care, helping patients with serious illness (mental and physical) through to professional sportsmen and women—and everyone in between. I curate programmes that comprise all areas of wellbeing, including nutrition, mental wellbeing, physical prehabilitation and rehabilitation. We use the latest health tech and diagnostics to underpin our programmes. And in all these programmes, there is one common component and that is movement.

“It’s designed for absolutely everyone from 18-80 years old and can be used for many different goals, whether it is rehabilitation or just to find the confidence to start, right through to priming for higher athletic performance.”—this sounds like a tall order—to design something that is effective but also so broad – how have you pulled that off? It’s hugely important it’s designed for everyone. Movement and physical activity has to be promoted across generations and be more inclusive. We have to find ways to do this, to support it and promote how effective and important movement is for our health and longevity. We must as a community remove barriers to participation in sport, physical activity and movement and make this available for everyone.