Did we forget that play is healing?

One of life’s greatest gifts and most effective medicines is play.

When we play we feel alive and in joy. To play is to be present while using the body and imagination. We can not play without being fully present. For this reason, a stream of our own creativity runs through us in real time as we create worlds, games, and characters that come from our inner landscape.

When is the last time you played? How do you feel after you play? To play makes us want to be here, to love being alive. When we play we are reminded of how fun life can be! This is medicine for the pain we all feel as humans. Is the pain we feel out of balance with the genuine fun we have? Laughter, play and fun are all deeply important to balance the pain, grief and fear we can feel. These medicines are under utilized as we grow and instead, we can turn to numbing out.

Playing can change our mood, outlook and state in just minutes. Fear, grief and doubt melt away because they can not exist in the state of play. On a vibrational level, play transforms stagnation and heaviness so much it’s astounding we do not emphasize its importance more. The first thing I would suggest to adults is to play everyday. When we stop playing, the life in our cells begin to fade away.

Since play is so healing, why do we stop prioritizing this as we grow? It’s as if society wants kids to turn into hardened adults. We see this in the way that school is structured with little to no time for playing (especially outside). Placing value on play is placing value on life. Creating structures for kids that are too rigid and restrictive creates rigidity and restriction in the body and mind. More time for play opens the way one thinks to greater possibility, allows for creative solutions and problem solving and teaches kids that there is a natural way to find balance us when we are in times of pain or grief.

I think what so many of us want to numb out from is not having fun. Not feeling alive. When do we stop playing everyday? If we teach kids the importance of play by playing ourselves, maybe this potent medicine will not disappear from the next generation as they grow. Maybe they won’t need to rely on medications to boost their moods because they will have the tools to do it themselves.

Kids need a place to be kids. Not a place where we try and turn kids into adults. Play is a core value in our curriculum at The Rainbow Weavers Camp, and we find it inspires what the kids create in a beautiful way.

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Meeting kids where they are- the realm of magic.

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6 Benefits of kids reading energy