Sign me up for the Soft Club
I recently read an article about “soft clubbing” and it got me thinking about extremes we can get pushed into.
Confession: I love a rave! I love the inclusive energy, the music and losing myself on a dance floor. I also love to get up every morning and go to the gym. There is a popular phrase circulating at the moment for people like me who believe in a healthy middle ground when it comes to fitness: “wellness anarchist.”
When I was first certified as a yoga teacher back in 2012, the messaging was that in order to be a “proper yogi” you needed to abstain from booze and drugs, your body is a temple, and you need to prioritize following the moral teachings to really live a “good life”.
Sound familiar?
Maybe this sounds similar to other religious teachings or even the tenets of tech-bro self-optimization. We think we need to spend hours in the gym every day, only eat salads for lunch, meditate for 20 minutes a day … oh and don’t forget to get in your 10,000 steps 🥱. This is the optimized image we have of ourselves that we think is the pinnacle of health. Less than that is failing ourselves.
With all of this optimizing and rule following are we actually enjoying our life and the time we have on the planet? Maybe sometimes?
Enter the concept of “soft clubbing.” Soft clubbing has become a popular term for the gentler, wellness-leaning take on nightlife where people come together for music and connection in a way that feels more intentional, inclusive, and energising (not exhausting). To take the idea and put it in a “work” context, think about team bonding days - instead of hosting a company happy hour, you hold a stretch and recovery session with a live DJ.
I believe in living a life of balance. I want to continue to lift heavier weights in the gym and I also want to eat a burger and drink a dirty martini. I want to go see my favorite music artist perform and I also want to get a good night's sleep.
If you’re a People person or team leader, do you have plans around inclusive team events for 2026? I’d love to hear from you if so! And if not, get in touch anyway - maybe Ascendant Wellbeing can help you to put something fun together.