photo by Jim Freeman
“Play is the gateway to vitality. By its nature it is intrinsically rewarding. It generates optimism, seeks out novelty, makes perseverance fun, leads to mastery, gives the immune system a bounce, fosters empathy and promotes a sense of belonging andcommunity.” Patch Adams
June 13th was not my typical Thursday morning. Instead of sitting in my therapist’s chair, privileged with poignant stories from my clients’ lives, I was playing on the playground at Piedmont Park. Marsha Needham, my partner in REMEMBERING RECESS: the power of play, Jim Freeman, award winning photographer, and I found our way to the playground designed for adult sized kids by Japanese architect, Isamu Noguchi. We did what the play-scape invites one to do: We played.
Accompanied by the whirling background music of Jim’s shutter clicks, Marsha and I hung upside down on monkey bars, swung high on swings and slid down the wide enough slides. We forgot we were “working” as we donned silly glasses and gave sway to our imaginations’ creativity. Our true natures emerged as our co-operative play precluded the necessary aggression required to defend the mountain in the game “King of the Mountain”. Jim laughed at the gender differences inherent in play!
This was not your typical photo shoot.
“You can learn more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” Plato
Having completed our work, Jim, Marsha, and I walked up 14th street to our cars like the three musketeers. They, never having met before, were now fast friends. I, of course, relished the company of each of my buddies. It was still Thursday. But, for us it was a long, leisurely Saturday morning.
That afternoon I returned to my therapist chair. As I sat with my clients, I experienced a delightful epiphany. My heart seemed more open as I felt a keener emotional attunement to each person. I seemed to connect the proverbial dots of life’s complexities with more clarity and perception, thus offering sharper vision. Taking myself a bit more lightly, I was able to be a better container for the heaviness of life’s problems.
In the back of my South Georgia mind, I heard myself saying, “This play stuff really works.” And, I knew that Patch Adams was onto something when he said that play allows us to “pay attention in new ways. To see options and possibilities, to solve the complex problems of the world.” The proof was in the pudding and I liked it!
Going all “left brained” to describe the myriad of benefits that play offers is a bit like analyzing a beautiful sunset. Some things are best experienced and not defined. Yet, because inquiring minds need to know, and because the research is so compelling, I must at least give a passing nod in that direction.
Significant research now documents the physiological, psychological and intellectual benefits of play in children and adults. The greatest warehouse for cutting edge scientific discovery about the nature and importance of play can be found at the National Institute For Play (www.nifplay.org). Their organizing statement says: Play + Science = Transformation.
Dr. Stuart Brown, founding director of NIFPLAY, medical doctor, psychiatrist and clinical researcher says that, “We are designed to find fulfillment and creative growth through play.” In his book, play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination and Invigorates the Soul, Dr. Brown reports the research findings from neuroscience which conclude that there is a strong positive link between brain size in mammals and time spent in play. “Active play selectively stimulates brain-derived neuro-trophic factor (which stimulates nerve growth) in the amygdala (where emotions get processed) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (where executive decisions are processed). P 33.
Research reveals that there is a direct correlation between the amount of play and the development of the brain’s capacity to discriminate relevant from irrelevant information, monitor and organize thoughts and feelings, and plan for the future. The activity of play actually sculpts the brain.
In play we simulate and test out attitudes, strategies and creative solution finding. We imagine situations and then experience them. In so doing we test out scenarios that have never existed before, learning from them the possibilities for our own futures. We create neural maps, if you will, that then guide us in “real life” as we adapt to changing realities and vision our futures.
Play’s healthy effect on mood is also documented. Dr. Brown states that, “The opposite of play is not work, but depression.”
Neuroscientist now agree that play is as essential an ingredient for health as is sleep and nutrition.
We all know that familiar saying, “The family that plays together stays together.” We might also wisely paraphrase, “The person who plays together, stays together.”
Because we believe in the power of play to increase joy, creativity, health and resilience, Marsha and I have designed a day of self care for women. We look forward to offering an experience of play and learning that leads to transformation.
Come and play with us. We are certain you will be glad that you did.
