Europe is waking up to celebrate Global Wellness Day (GWD), an initiative founded by Belgin Aksoy, creative director of hotel management company Richmond International in Turkey.

To promote the importance of living well and to combat depression, Aksoy set up a global plan to celebrate wellness every second Saturday of June annually. Not-for-profit events are being set up across all time zones today (13 June) by more than 300 brands in 70 countries.

Among the activities on offer in all corners of the world, there will be classes for meditation, nutrition, tea ceremonies, make-up and stress management. Authors of wellbeing and beauty articles will be giving talks at numerous locations around the globe, complemented by creativity workshops, mini massage sessions and consultations with dieticians.

In Europe, for example, yoga and cooking classes are among some of the GWD initiatives in Greek locations such as Mykonos, Thessaloniki and Athens.

More than 50 spas are committed to supporting GWD across France, offering treatments, fitness classes and other activities to the public.

In Spain, GWD will be celebrated at properties operated by Sha Wellness and Mandarin Oriental. The Spa Association of the Canary Islands is also set to play a role.

Portuguese schools of dance and yoga will offer special programmes during the day throughout the company, alongside other business’ wellness celebrations.

Later today we will publish a live report from Liz Terry, editor of Spa Business and Spa Opportunities. Terry is joining Belgin Aksoy at Macka Democracy Park in Istanbul, Turkey, – to experience a full programme of wellness speakers, yoga sessions, zumba classes and cooking experiences.

Follow Liz Terry on Twitter live in Istanbul for Global Wellness Day @elizterry or go to @SpaOpps or @SpaBusinessMag.