May you Play With Trees

 

Silly is the new Serious

 

 

The Playful Pathway 

Some of you may be wondering what goes on in these Way of Play online thingies. I know I did. I signed up for the Playful Pathway in lieu of a real life gathering in a spirit of curiosity and yes, I admit it, slight scepticism. Not scepticism about The Way of Play mission and ethos. Nor about Benjii who was leading us down this playful pathway, for I know him to be a wonderful human being having played with him in real life. I just had my doubts about whether it would be possible to capture the joy online. 

A dozen strangers appeared in small boxes on my screen. There was someone who looked like an older and scraggier version of myself. She turned out to be me. We began each gathering with a little warm up dance. I jiggled about and wondered about the wisdom of having just lit the log burner. Then some breathing and meditation. Here I was on familiar ground. Or in a familiar chair. Members of the group led short activities of their choice ranging from doodling, to eyebrow raising, to mindfulness practice. Still working on the eyebrow manipulation. 

Silly games ensued as well as a deeper understanding of our attitudes to play. Before the half-time break Benjii suggested a few things to reflect upon, ready to share afterwards. I don’t know what other people did during the break, aside from reflect. I had small cucumber sandwiches and slices of orange with my reflections because, although not experienced in half-time breaks, I believe I understood the cultural references. 

Our thoughts, shared in smaller groups, were honest and heartfelt.  Then sharing short reflections on our reflections as the larger group. Again, honest, heartfelt and brave. Allowing ourselves to be vulnerable. 

We finished each session with group singing which is always good online as everyone is completely out of sync with each other. Yet in ourselves we became in sync with each other. Contrary to my expectations we did get to know each other. The joy and playfulness was there. The whole course was a delight and I signed up for the next one.

Some of us gathered in real life at a Soul Revolution event just as the course finished. I was vastly reassured that my new friends really did have a physical form. 

 

Child-Like Wonder and Awe

When my daughter Sarah was a toddler she would often point from her pushchair and cry ‘Moo! Moo! Moo!’ delightedly. It took me a while to work out just what she was so joyful about. My first thought was that she was seeing cows. Or hallucinating cows as we were living in the unending rhythm of terraced housing. But no. She had seen the moon. No one else had seen the moon, clear in the daytime sky. I saw dust and danger and dog poo. She saw the moon and was amazed and awed.

Viewing the world from a child-like perspective changes our surroundings. Changes our attitudes and changes ourselves. Turns the ordinary into the extraordinary. As we mature what used to be amazing becomes mundane. Yet it is very possible to switch our lens and rediscover child-like wonder and awe. All we have to do is look, smell, feel or listen. Even better - do all of those.

Today, whilst I write, I’m drinking a cup of hot chocolate. Nothing extraordinary or awesome about that. But I can turn it into something special. By wondering why the little bubbles make that pattern. By tasting it slowly and experiencing how my tongue picks up the flavours in different places. By feeling the warmth in my hands. By being so happy that I have hot chocolate in my favorite mug.

So, simply look at, feel, smell, taste, listen to something from a child-like perspective. Feel the awe and the joy. It’s up to you if you want to say ‘Moo!’. I think I will.

Play - What is it Good For? Absolutely everything!

 Play - What is it Good For? Absolutely everything!

Most of us, when we think of play our mind wanders towards children. Those are the people who are really known for play. And generally the experts. It’s what  kids do, the thing we don’t need to teach our offspring. 

Play is essentially curiosity and creativity made manifest. It’s how children learn. It’s directed towards what they are interested and curious about. And that’s what makes it fun and joyful. 

There’s a lot more going on though. It’s learning. My five year old grandson loves physics. He doesn’t call it that, he calls it Marble Run, Hotwheels tracks, throwing things at the ceiling, dropping things down the stairwell, jumping in puddles, climbing trees and shouting. 

As adults we have often lost this way of learning, the joy and fun of learning. We went to school and had to learn stuff in a fairly soulless way. Curiosity, creativity and invention were not big on the curriculum. Did we lose our soul on the way? Sometimes. Did we lose our joy? Often. Was our natural curiosity suppressed? Almost always.

But play is back! Big time! Or at least that’s what our mission is. Way of Play is here to encourage you back to play. The freedom to enjoy physical play without having to score goals, compete in races or balance on four inch beams in front of scowling judges. The freedom to climb trees, shout, sing, dance, laugh and be as silly as a five-year-old. And all this without your parents telling you to be careful and not get your clothes dirty! 

Play report from Inner Revolution Winter Gathering edited by Lugh

 Holding hands in a circle. Doing the hokey cokey. On the grass. In the rain. Silly improv games and much laughter followed. The barn dwellers looked out through the huge floor to ceiling windows at what was very obviously fun. Fun for the sake of fun. Who knew there might be such a thing? For grown ups?

Everyone came outside and for the next hour we laughed, we played, our inner children ran free, we play fought, we connected and we were just plain joyful. Bellies aching with laughter, we trooped back into the barn, and though our clothes were slightly muddy and somewhat soggy, our hearts felt lighter, carefree.

In the barn I was just the old woman with the eccentric trousers, unruly hair and enthusiastic bladder. I sat quietly and behaved myself. On the field of play I was the woman who danced and sang and shouted and played with joy. Who wasn’t afraid or embarrassed. I know this is me. Generally it’s a well-kept secret between me and my grandson. The Way of Play allows us all to play like children, no grandchildren needed! 

When we played we shared ourselves, we learned something about each other. We smiled together, used our imaginations together, shed inhibitions and grew together. We sat in the barn as strangers, yet already knew each other as fast friends.

It was fun and all rather glorious, and I believe we all felt that play is good for the soul. That we must play again soon. Though some may have wondered what the meaning of all this play was compared to these deep and spiritual journeys? I would say that playfulness and curiosity are the essence of a joyful spirit and soul. Place a large grin on your face and just see how it lights you up inside. To feel energised and connected; physically connected through touch and contact; emotionally connected through laughter and joy — that is play medicine!

 

Play report from Inner Revolution Winter Gathering

 Play report from Inner Revolution Winter Gathering

It was after lunch. In the morning quiet things had happened. Spiritual things. Warm in the barn kind of things. The view from the barn’s big windows looked out onto a path, trees, an area of grass. In order to access the toilets we had to walk past these big floor to ceiling windows. Some of the more unsuspecting spiritual folk may have had a clue as to what was to come as I silly walked and spun my way to the toilet a number of times. Benjii’s bladder is a more robust constitution than mine so the full Way of Play silliness was not yet apparent.

It was after lunch and Benjii led the way to the area of grass. To the field of play. The Way of Play cognoscenti, those of us who had just finished the Playful Pathway, the experienced in the Way of Benjii, and the innately curious followed in eager anticipation. Others innocently looked through the windows of the nice warm barn and wondered wtf.

We began by holding hands in a circle. Doing the hokey cokey. On the grass. In the rain. Silly improv games and much laughter followed. The barn dwellers started to emerge to join what was very obviously fun. Fun for the sake of fun. Who knew there might be such a thing? For grown-ups? 

For the next hour we laughed, we played, we play fought, we connected and we were just plain joyful. As we trooped back into the barn, bellies aching with the laughing, slightly muddy and a tad wet, our hearts were lighter though our clothes may have been a bit heavier. 

I left the field of play feeling energised and connected. Physically connected through touch and contact. Emotionally connected by sharing laughter and joy. Some of these people I had never met before, and in the barn we sat separately, although joined through a shared space and experience. When we played we connected and learned something about each other. We smiled together, used our imaginations together, shed inhibitions. 

I wonder if through our playful session people might have learned something about me? In the barn I was just the old woman with the eccentric trousers, unruly hair and enthusiastic bladder. I sat quietly and behaved myself. On the field of play I was the woman who danced and sang and shouted and played with joy. Who wasn’t afraid or embarrassed. I know this is me. Generally it’s a well-kept secret between me and my grandson. The Way of Play allows us all to play like children, no grandchildren needed! Where else can we play like this?

I hope as we settled we all thought that it was fun and rather glorious. That playing is good for the soul. That we must play again soon. But some may have wondered what the meaning of all this play was compared to these deep and spiritual journeys? I would say that playfulness and curiosity are the essence of a joyful spirit and soul. 

Place a large grin on your face and just see how your soul feels.

 

 Inner Child - WTF?

We hear talk about our inner child and here at Way of Play we’re here to try and nurture the joy of our Inner Child. But what is it? Who is it? How do we find it? Why? And surely we have grown out of him/her by now!

So the idea in the Western world  is generally considered to have been thought up by this guy called Jung, and related to some ideas by another guy called Freud. These guys were not related. The inner child is all the stuff that happened to you as a child that came to form you as you are now. If, like my grandson, you are still only 5, your inner child is probably your outer child which could explain why he likes to run around the kitchen shouting ‘Loud, Loud LOUD!’.

Most folks’ childhood had a mixture of joy and difficulties. So that’s pretty much like most folks’ adulthood. The difference is that when you were a child all the stuff went in to make you. As an adult all that stuff is left for you to carry.

Discovering your inner child is a bit like dissecting a sandwich - the bread is your carefully baked layer of adulthood, the conforming, the suppressing, the people pleasing, the big doughy buffer. The insides are the Inner Child, all the stuff that’s real and tasty and sour and gooey.  The big sorrows, the temper tantrums. The big joys, the playfulness, the curiosity. 

As you might have already guessed, The Way of Play is about those big joys, playfulness,  expression, joyfulness and how to cultivate and savour them. How to find that uninhibited joy without the bread. That is not to deny childhood darkness but perhaps to bring it into the light with honest vulnerability amongst people who will listen and not judge. For all our inner children are light and dark, yin and yang, cheese and pickle. 

Just like the art of sandwich perfection, Inner Child work is important. It helps us heal childhood wounds, address suppressed emotions, and break negative cycles and triggers. Most wonderfully Inner Child discovery cultivates Self-Compassion and Resilience. Even more brilliantly it restores Joy and Creativity. 

Through play we can rediscover the joy, express the hurt, and have a lot of fun doing it. 

May you never pass a puddle without jumping in it.