The Tamesis
Since October, hundreds of Londoners have gathered in parks across the city, not for walks or picnics, but to scream.
Inspired by the popular American scream clubs, former corporate lawyer Mon Sharx came up with a simple idea that soon attracted more than 600 people to the first meeting. The concept evolved into Scream Squad, a community-driven club where collective shoutouts replace the aesthetic Pilates and matcha rituals that have come to define contemporary wellness culture.
Sharx first tried primal scream therapy in 2023 at the suggestion of a therapist, a practice she says can release pent-up emotions through uninhibited vocal expression. Rooted in ancient rituals but long viewed as fringe, it offered her a clear alternative to consumer-led health. “I’m interested in buying less health products and more Feel “Healthy,” she says—a sentiment that resonates as traditional self-optimization practices become increasingly tired.
In fact, over the past decade, health has been defined through optimization. Consumers are encouraged to maximize protein intake, track macros, biohack sleep and monitor every bodily function through an ever-expanding ecosystem of wearable technology. Oura Ring promises to improve health through data. Full body scans like Prenuvo provide early detection and control.
In response, more and more consumers are abandoning over-quantification and turning to age-old healing systems that prioritize balance over performance. On TikTok, practices once considered niche are gaining traction on a grand scale: Needle-free auricular massage, a technique rooted in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has exploded in popularity in recent months, while somatic therapies, including breathwork and primal scream therapy, are increasingly being reimagined as tools for regulating the nervous system. Even in the fashion world, the shift is evident. When Amelia Gray and Rachel Sennott appeared on ” Face and perfect magazineThey each have red circular markings on their backs, a sign of the growing popularity of cupping, a traditional Chinese medicine practice used to support blood circulation.
To mark this shift, Future Labs coined the term “rhythm health” — which is expected to be one of this year’s defining health trends, according to the forecasting agency’s 2026 Future Forecast report. This framework positions the body and mind not as things to be optimized but as things to be harmonized, encouraging consumers to follow natural cycles such as circadian rhythms, hormone fluctuations, seasonal changes, breathing patterns and nervous system states, rather than pushing the body through productivity tools.
“We’re finally realizing that the body regulates through nature, not force,” says intuitive healer Sarah Bradden, founder of the Bradden Method. The Braden Method is a nervous system-led therapy rooted in Chinese medicine, acupuncture, somatic conditioning, and energy medicine. “Human biology is rhythmic by design—circadian cycles, hormonal fluctuations, seasonal changes, breathing, digestion, nervous system oscillations. Ancient healing systems were built around this truth. They did not override the body; they listened to the body.”
Burnout as a Catalyst
The rise of rhythmic health is inseparable from the collapse of optimization. “Increased demand [in ancient healing practices] is a direct response to burnout,” Braden said. “Biohacking promises control, but it brings exhaustion. Health technology tells us to track everything, but tracking doesn’t make us feel better, it just gives us more data to cope with. Braden believes that many people are now “dysfunctional on a cellular level” after years of living against their natural rhythms, whether through artificial light, constant stimulation or non-stop productivity. She says the body and traditional practices resonate precisely because they restore what the modern world has stripped away.
