Nervous System Reset Day 6

Play

Hello and welcome to day 6 of our 7 day Nervous System Reset program. I hope that you’re ready for some playtime on your mat.

No matter what age you are, play is imperative to your physical, mental and emotional health. Play encourages curiosity and helps us access feelings of joy. Play invites us to express ourselves creatively. Play encourages us to be our authentic selves; to let go and just simply be.

I invite you to reflect upon your experiences with play as a child. What type of playful activities did you engage in? Were they more structured, like a sport? Or were they unstructured, like playing dress up? Did you normally play by yourself or with others? How did play feel in your body? How do you play now? What types of activities do you participate in? How does play feel in your body today?

Speaking from personal experience, play feels very unnatural in my body. Someone asked me about a year ago, “Rachel, what do you do for fun?” I couldn’t even give an answer because I truly didn’t know what felt fun to me. As a young child, I took on adult responsibilities. I put play and fun on the backburner as a young girl as I felt that it wasn’t as important as my other responsibilities. In choosing to disregard play, I suppressed my creative, carefree side. I saw mistakes as unacceptable and as failures; not as opportunities for me to try again, or to learn and grow from the experience. I didn’t have as many opportunities to create connections with others and to practice my social skills. In addition to this, I didn’t feel joyful very often.

I now appreciate and recognize the importance of play at every stage of life. Sure, what you do for play can look different as you age; however, play is play. Immerse yourself in the moment. Experience what joy and light-heartedness feels like in your body. Explore your passions and interests. Don’t hold back! Be bold and fearless. Will others judge? Maybe. But who cares! All that truly matters is that you’re having fun.

Miss Frizzle from the TV show The Magic School Bus said it best, “Take chances, make mistakes, get messy.”

Let’s play!