Have you heard about the "Soft Life" trend?
We've been looking into it because this trend is being touted as the answer to burnout.
As folks who work directly with powerful people around the world to rewire their nervous systems as a preventative to burnout (and overwhelm, procrastination, anxiety, depression, etc.), our curiosity is piqued!
What is "Soft Life"?
Is it really the answer to burnout?
The Soft Life trend comes from influencer culture in Nigeria, and in America is all about embracing a lifestyle that prioritizes ease, comfort, and self-care over the relentless grind of hustling.
The key aspects are:
Self-Care and Mental Health: Resilience practices like meditation, quality sleep, and stress management.
Rejecting Hustle Culture: Promoting balance, leisure, and the importance of downtime by leaning into resilience practices, but also by setting boundaries around work and emotional labor.
Aesthetic and Lifestyle: A visual aesthetic — cozy, minimalistic, and sometimes even luxurious settings that evoke comfort and relaxation.
Here at the Center for Emotional Education...
We love resilience practices (we include strategies for resilience in Emotional Sovereignty School).
We're huge champions of boundaries (Better at Boundaries Mini-Course anyone?).
And cozy may as well be our middle name because we know what cozy does for a nervous system (it's a word we use in the opening of many newsletters, including this one!).
And...
Soft Life simply isn't enough to fend off burnout.
Here's why...
Not all of us can dedicate enough of our time to meditation, baths, and plush fabrics. We prefer to promote strategies that are available to anyone, anytime, and don't cost any money.
Even if we could devote multiple hours to resilience practices each day, we'd basically have to stay "on retreat" and away from all sources of stress in order to maintain that level of calm, which simply isn't possible.
(The biggie.) Resilience practices (the things we do to reduce stress) are only one part of the burnout equation.
If we don't learn how to work with our capacity for emotion (stress, overwhelm, anxiety, guilt, frustration), the burnout prophylactic we've created via our boundaried, luxurious, hygga moments, wears off fairly quickly.
Life, with all it's stresses, is always just inches away from a bubble bath.
Resilience practices require large investments of time. But emotion happens instantly and regularly. We feel things all day long, whether we're in a soft pile or not.
Unfortunately we can't self-care ourselves out of our feelings.
In addition to gentle routines, loving boundaries, and a supportive physical environment, for emotional release we need emotional tools.
The solution to burnout is both resilience practices and emotional capacity practices.
Without emotional processing tools to use alongside our Soft Life efforts, we're at risk of subconsciously using this trend as just another version of Survival Freeze where, sure we're comfortable, but we may also be in active avoidance of things that really matter to us and our longterm goals.
Our conclusion?
Embrace #SoftLife as much as is right for you and available to you!
AND, also remember to embrace:
#CryLife
#EmotionalProcessingLife
#ItsOkToNotBeOkLife
#FeelingsAreHealthyLife
#ICanDoHardThingsWhenIGetTheSupportINeedLife
What about you?
Do you have any thoughts about this trend? Let us know! We'd love to hear about your experience.
Do you want help determining if you're embracing the Soft Life as a way of avoiding things you truly want to do? We've got you.
Our team of coaches is at the ready with a complimentary "Feel Better Already" Strategy Session in which you'll be supported to discover the truth about your habits and your goals.
This offer is available to anyone who has not already enjoyed this session-type, and is ready to crack the code of emotional capacity.
And in any case, we're cheering you on in cultivating the life that is just right for you — all of you!
The "Feel Better Already"
Strategy Session
Do you want more ways to manage emotion?
Ready to go beyond self-care and really get the results you're looking for?
Are you tired of trying to figure this out all on your own?
Better at Boundaries Mini-Course
Designed for busy individuals who want results, this mini-course offers bite-sized, actionable content to help you start making changes right away. Gain the confidence to uphold your values, reduce emotional overwhelm, and create more balanced, fulfilling relationships.
$29