When I was a little girl my friend Patty and I would play at her house. We’d come up with all sorts of imaginative activities like kids do.
For example, paper dolls with full CVs and children. They’d zoom around their neighborhood (her mom’s couches) in high heels as cars. To name one of our extremely fun activities.
Her sister Sharon was ten years older than us. She must have been in high school or college. One afternoon Sharon had her girlfriends over and they sat around in her room talking. Both Patty and I (spying on them probably) at first intrigued by their glamourous grown-up status then thought “ Talking, how boring aren’t they going to play”?
In the newsletter, Further, an article by Trudi Roth talks about play and adults. We don’t do it enough. It’s not valued. Yet as kids, we couldn’t imagine life without play. Trudi’s mom had a quote “ we don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.”
Her article really struck me and made me realize that Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® lessons are a form of play.
What do we do in Awareness Through Movement?
- Lie on the floor (like kids)
- We move around in funny ways that are pleasing
- We “take a rest” (a mindful nap)
- We learn new things every time
- We get up feeling great (closer to our younger self)
- We’re completely involved in what we’re doing
Think about what you did as a kid. Could you maybe bring in a version of that into your adult life?
Whatever you do make room in your life for play and you’ll stay younger.
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