Heather Atles · SoulPlay Festival 2026
Experience The Connection Lab at SoulPlay 2026
Four days. 40+ transformational workshops. Live music, movement, and
more connection than you'll know what to do with.
Enjoy The Connection Lab this month inside SoulPlay 2026
The Connection Lab is one experience inside a four-day festival with the depth of a retreat and the energy of a celebration. Come as you are and experience over 40+ workshops, live music, and authentic connection.
You belong at SoulPlay if…
The dance floor is your sanctuary. You don't need a reason to move — you just need the music to start.
You're done with surface-level. You want the conversation that makes you forget your drink is getting warm. The hug that actually lands. The person you're still texting six months later.
You show up to grow. Workshops aren't an obligation for you — they're the whole point.
You know the world hasn't always made everyone feel equally welcome. And you're here anyway — with honesty, with humility, with heart. Whether that's meant doing the hard work of belonging or the harder work of making room for others.
You believe a better world isn't something that happens to us. It's something we practice — together, in rooms exactly like this one.
You're not here to dim yourself down. And you're finally ready to be around people who won't ask you to.
Over 40+ workshops to experience… including The Connection Lab
The Connection Lab isn’t just another mixer.
It’s not about impressing anyone.
It’s a thoughtfully structured experience designed to help you practice real-time connection in a way that feels grounded, playful, and low-pressure.
Throughout the experience, you’ll rotate through guided exercises that explore:
Presence over performance
Curiosity over strategy
Clear yes and clear no
Attraction, aversion, and everything in between
You’ll engage with multiple partners. Everything is optional. You’re always in choice. Consent is woven into every interaction.
You won’t be left guessing what to do. You’re invited to stretch — never forced.
FAQs about The Connection Lab
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Not exactly. This workshop is one of the beginning workshops of SoulPlay to connect with other attendees. That said, sparks do happen — and many people leave with a new sense of relational confidence or clarity.
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This space is for all SoulPlay members who are:
Open to meeting others
Looking to have authentic connection
Curious about intimacy, vulnerability, and communication
Open to facilitation and new experiences
All genders, orientations, and expressions are welcome.
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Yes — wholeheartedly. This is a queer-affirming, body-positive, and inclusive space. You are welcome exactly as you are.
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Nope! No prior experience with relational work, somatics, or events like this is needed. Just bring your curiosity and willingness to show up authentically.
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No. All partnering is gender-neutral. You're encouraged to be open and curious with everyone — regardless of gender identity, orientation, or attraction — in the spirit of human-to-human connection.
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Absolutely. You’ll be gently guided through the experience with full permission to honor your own pace and boundaries. Everything is opt-in. Many introverts have said The Connection Lab was their favorite way to meet new people.
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Consent is central to everything we do. You are always in choice — you're encouraged to say no, opt out, or adjust any invitation to fit your comfort. And yes, that will be respected and celebrated.
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Comfortable clothes you can sit, move, and relax in. Think cozy layers, soft pants, no shoes inside the space. Come as you are.