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I arrived at 1:33 PM for a 1:30 PM session. I’d just come from a meeting that ran late on a Sunday, so I walked in a little breathless, a little frazzled, and carrying the kind of tired that sleep doesn’t really fix. If that doesn’t say enough about how much I needed this event, I don’t know what will.

Glow & Let Go was put together by The Scoop Asia in partnership with Happy Hour Studio, Louis Mireille, and Kandiletita for International Women’s Month. They described it as “a curated reset for women on-the-go who crave calm, connection, and care,” and honestly, I was sold at reset.

Davao’s Event Scene is Evolving

I go to a lot of events. After a while, you start noticing patterns. The usual format tends to be sit down, listen, eat, and go home, which isn’t bad but rarely leaves you feeling any different than when you walked in.

The Scoop Asia events are different, though, and I think I can say that with enough events under my belt to back it up. There’s an intentionality to how they put things together, and Glow & Let Go was no exception. It felt less like an event and more like an experience, which is also where I think Davao’s event scene is slowly heading. More experiential, more participatory, more felt. And I’m very much here for it.

Spending Women’s Month With Active Workouts

This year I’ve been more physically active than I have been in a long time, and yoga has become one of my favorite things to come back to. It reminds me that my body is capable, which sounds simple but actually means a lot after the year I had.

Last year, I went through a foot injury that took more from me than I expected. The ability to walk, something so automatic and ordinary, was suddenly not something I could do without pain or hesitation. We take the smallest things for granted so easily, and when they’re taken away it’s so hard to grasp. Losing that ability was devastating and honestly such an inconvenience in the most profound sense of the word.

So now, every time I step onto a mat, there’s gratitude that comes with it. I’m not just moving my body. I’m celebrating the fact that I can.

When The Scoop Asia reached out and invited me to join Glow & Let Go, I said yes without thinking twice. A 45-minute yoga session after a week that had completely wrung me out sounded like exactly the right thing.

Building Communities That Support Each Other

I opted for the 1:30 PM session with yogawithDarla, and despite my slightly chaotic entrance, everyone in the class was welcoming from the start. That warmth set the tone for everything that followed.

The session itself was the right pace. Not too intense, not too gentle, just something that asked something of you without demanding everything. By the end of it I felt the kind of lightness that only comes from moving with intention and actually breathing through it. The frazzled version of me that had walked in an hour earlier felt far away.

What made Glow & Let Go feel genuinely special, though, was the energy in the room. The event brought together women who were equally interesting and inspiring, and the conversations that followed went everywhere. Makeup favorites, life hacks, career pivots, and somewhere in between all of that, real connections. There’s something about a room full of women who are all there to reset together that creates a sense of community I didn’t know I was craving until I was already in it.

Why These Events Matter

If I’m going to be honest, International Women’s Month can feel performative in a lot of spaces. The posts go up, the banners come out, and by April it’s back to business as usual.

But Glow & Let Go felt like a genuine celebration of actual women. Women who are busy and tired and still showing up. Women who need a reset but rarely give themselves permission to take one. Events like this are a reminder that community isn’t just nice to have. It’s something we actively need, and in Davao, it’s becoming more available in forms that actually feel good to be part of.

Should You Go to the Next One?

If The Scoop Asia announces another Glow & Let Go or anything like it, go. You don’t have to be someone who does yoga regularly. You just have to be someone who needs an afternoon to breathe, which I think is most of us most of the time.

Follow @thescoopasia on Instagram to catch their next events, and if you’re looking for a yoga practice to ease into, @yogawithDarla is a great place to start. I left that Sunday feeling lighter, more connected, and genuinely grateful, for the event, for the people in that room, and for the quiet ongoing ability to just show up.