The Art of Play

We've been talking about how to show up at work with courage and confidence. Some of us struggle overcoming the monkeys telling us we're not enough. Cultivating the resonance we need between the head and the heart sometimes requires a very unique training. Today's excerpt tells us how to play.

There is a psychochemical relationship between movement, learning, and happiness. Dr. Wendy Suzuki, author of Healthy Brain, Happy Life[i], requires her students at NYU to do a short exercise called intenSati before she starts a class lecture. The premise of the experience was to combine intention with mindfulness using a combination of kickboxing, dance, yoga and the martial arts with a name and associated affirmative statement. For example, with a series of punches, they would call out loud, “I am strong!” She writes (p.90), “The message is one of empowerment: The power of mind, the power of positive action, the power of your body and the power of positive thoughts over negative ones. It was a workout with a message” based on the premise that “what we declare with our voices is powerful.”

“Play supports our mental health, improves our ability to relate to others, and increases our drive and hope for the future.”

I started using the same principle to design the synchrony of music, voice, and movement in the yoga classes I teach. No workout is more complete for the soul than time on a yoga mat integrating heart, soul, mind, and strength. Brené Brown has a chapter in The Gifts of Imperfection titled, “Cultivating Play and Rest: Letting Go of Exhaustion as a Status Symbol and Productivity as Self Worth.” Those words have been chocolate to my soul myself when I feel the hustle building up in my solar plexus. I know that feeling because I feel like I’ll be judged if I’m not being productive. Brown writes, “In today’s culture—where our self-worth is tied to our net worth, and we base our worthiness on our level of productivity—spending time doing purposeless activities is rare.” Another Dr. Brown with the National Institute for Play tells why.

In his book Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination and Invigorates the Soul, Dr. Stuart Brown explains that play shapes our brains, helps us foster empathy, helps us navigate complex social groups, and is at the core of creativity and innovation. He asserts the opposite of play is not work, “the opposite of play is depression.”[ii] Applying the if/then principle, is it possible that if we play, we can change our mood? He writes, “Play helps us deal with difficulties, provides a sense of expansiveness, promotes mastery of our craft, and is an essential part of the creative process.”

You're up. How do you generate creativity through play?

[i] Suzuki, Dr. Wendy and Fitzpatrick, Billie (2015). Healthy Brain, Happy Life: A Personal Program to Activate Your Brain and Do Everything Better. Dey Street Books.

[ii] Brown, Dr. Stuart (2009). Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination and Invigorates the Soul, Avery.