Definition of play

My children taught me this, everyday from the first moment they looked into my eyes and connected as newborns, until the last silly moment they could squeeze out of there day, any day, everyday.

I believe play is the natural state of mind, which is open. Open to learn, to love, open to imagine, open to surrender and receive, open to give and connect, connect things, connect people, connect information, curiously open and in this openness, time and the self, disappear they both vanish. We are one with our universe and each other. But most of all it creates trust and just feels great, it makes us optimistic and resilient, able to adapt to new situations as everything always changes play is the built in tool we have always needed.

There are also many forms of play and according to The National Institute for Play they are:

1. Attunement Play…connection between mother and baby both mother and child right side of the brain mirror each other or are attuned to each other.

2. Body Play and Movement…innovation, flexibility, adaptability and resilience have their roots in movement learning to speak and sing also comes out of movement.

3. Object Play…curiosity about and manipulation of objects connecting hand to brain creates trust, understanding and problem solving abilities.

4. Social Play…we are social creatures and play helps us to engage with others in the beginning parallel, play copying the next kid in the sand box to an adult ritual celebration like a wedding, play fuels the engine of social competence.

5. Imaginative and pretend Play…allow us to create simulated realities and pretend realities which encourage empathy trust, and emotional resilience and creativity.

6. Storytelling-Narrative Play… learning about oneself , others and the environment understanding the world.

7. Transformative-Integrative and Creative Play…because play is about trying new ways of being it is our link into changing our patterns and changing our lives.

The mission is to incorporate into life all forms of play it is,

‘What enables us to innovate, problem- solve, and be happy, smart, resilient human beings? Our ability to Play” Stuart Brown

I love to find new words and this one I have never heard before today. NEOTENY it is an amazing thing, which gives us humans an incredible advantage over most of the animal world. Neoteny means the retention of immature qualities into adulthood. This is the ability to continue to play throughout of lives, a true blessing. Some animals also have this quality I am sure its why dogs, are said to be mans best friend.