Suburban Spiritualism: A Look Inside the Metrospiritual Movement

Englewood, Colo.- resident Erin K. Feinner worked for years in marketing until she realized something was missing from her life.

Looking for a more fulfilling career, Feinner left her job at Starz Entertainment to become a practitioner of reiki - an ancient Japanese technique that restores "life force energy" through touch.

Now she spends her days channeling positive energy to her clients, mostly stressed-out suburbanites looking for natural, holistic remedies for their ills.

"I'm definitely a more spiritual person than I was 10 years ago, and so are a lot of the people I work with," she said. "I think we're all just searching for some kind of spiritual, natural connection."

Feinner and her clients are part of a new movement trend-watchers are dubbing "metrospiritualism."

Metrospirituals are the next-generation of yuppies. They're suburbanites who care about inner-fulfillment, the environment and their health, and they show it by snapping up products - from yoga mats to organic foods - that reflect their values.

The trend has been around for years in Hollywood, with celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio driving hybrids and everyone from Madonna to Britney Spears sporting Kaballah bracelets. Now metrospiritualism is starting to trickle down to the masses, especially the wealthier, trendier suburban population, and businesses are starting to take notice.

Looking for change, status

The driving force behind metrospiritualism is a younger generation seeking change, said Carl Bergemann, a marketing professor at Littleton's Arapahoe Community College who has studied the trend.

The majority of metrospirituals, Bergemann said, are from Generation Y, the roughly 50 million people born between 1965 and 1976. Fed up with the damage baby boomers have done to the environment, their health and their spiritual well-being, the younger group is opting to buy products that are more conscious of all three.

"This Gen Y group is really at the heart of this idea of responsible consumerism," Bergemann said. "They have this stance that we can't keep doing what we're doing and that their behavior needs to change."

Metrospirituals are also seeking to change their image, Bergemann said. People who buy organic foods, practice yoga or use alternative energy are perceived as incredibly hip right now, another reason the trend has become so popular.

"Image definitely has a lot to do with it," he said.

Western states such as Oregon, Washington and California have been among the first to pick up on the trend, Bergemann said. But he said metrospiritualism will probably spread throughout the country within the next few years and likely stick around for a few decades.

"We're probably looking at a 30 year trend, and, if other generations pick up on it, it might even get stronger as time goes on," he said.

Enlightenment, with a price tag

The quest for a spiritual and environmental connection often leads metrospirituals to the same place - the store.

In addition to being young, metrospirituals often have a lot of disposable income and use it to snap up products from Buddha statues to hybrid cars to aromatherapy candles. They're also dropping hundreds on yoga sessions, spiritual retreats and alternative health remedies.

Marketers have dubbed metrospirituals the LOHAS, or Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability, demographic, and estimate that metrospirituals spend $230 billion a year on products that support their lifestyle. All that spending power has meant a boom, both locally and nationally, for niche businesses that previously drew only hippies.

Highlands Ranch, Colo.-based Whole Health Center, which offers alternative health services such as acupuncture and nutrition advice, has nearly tripled its business since opening in 2002, said founder Paul Murray.

"When we first opened, a good day would have been about 30 patients," he said. "Now we're getting about 100 every day. We're busy seven days a week."

Part of the center's success, Murray said, is the fact that Highlands Ranch is a relatively wealthy suburb whose residents have the money to spend on the center's services, which aren't always covered by insurance.

"When I looked at Highlands Ranch, I was, like, 'Oh, I don't want to go to Highlands Ranch. It's just chain restaurants and houses that look alike,'" he said. "But the people here are highly educated and they have the money to spend on this."

Mainstream businesses are also seeing an increased demand for LOHAS products. Increased competition from stores such as Whole Foods has caused grocers such as King Soopers and Safeway to add natural products sections to their stores and beef up their organic produce selection. Some clothing manufacturers have started using green materials, such as hemp, to keep up with demand for sustainable products.

And car dealers have been scrambling to meet consumers' demands for hybrids and other environmentally friendly vehicles. Denver's Burt Toyota has just recently been able to keep up with requests for the Toyota Prius, said Richard Jones, the dealership's new car manager. High gas prices are partially behind the demand, Jones said, but most customers are more interested in the car's environmental benefits.

"From a strict dollars and cents standpoint, there are actually a lot of other cars out there that would save more money when you work it out," he said. "For just about everybody, there's an environmental concern driving their decision."

Too much of a good thing?

The metrospiritual trend may be good for business right now, but some fear it could have unforeseen consequences.

Karin Bustamante and Nancy Folcik own Littleton's The Yoga Connection and are glad that more people have taken up the practice. But they also worry about the mainstreaming and mass-marketing of ancient techniques such as yoga, reiki and acupuncture.

Instructors of the techniques must often go through extensive training before they can teach others, something that could be overlooked as businesses hurry to jump on the metrospiritual bandwagon, they said.Many people looking into yoga are also forgetting that it's an art that requires the involvement of mind, body and spirit, Bustamante said, and not just a 15-minute workout DVD.

"We could walk into any store - Target, Wal-Mart - pick up a mat and go practice," she said. "The challenge there is to make sure that it remains a practice and not a workout. That its values stay with it."

For now, though, they're happy with the metrospiritual trend, not only because it's good for business but because it's good for their clients.

"You can't really take care of people and do all the things you can if your needs aren't filled," Folcik said. "People come in here and take the time they need for themselves so they can go out and be a more effective person in the world."