The Importance Of Play And How It Can Lift Spirits
Remember playing outside until the streetlights came on? Remember the joy that came with games, songs, dance, and sharing joyful moments with friends? Adults need playtime too, and here’s how it benefits our spirits and our well-being.
Being an adult isn’t easy, and many of us get interrupted from playing by our responsibilities and the hardness of the world around us.
But playtime is essential, especially for our people, and it shouldn’t end in childhood because there are many compelling lifelong benefits.
Studies have shown that playful behaviors such as spontaneity, expressiveness, creativity, fun, and silliness can boost our well-being. Allowing ourselves to exist in playfulness can unlock higher levels of creativity, energy, and hope.
We carry stress, often generationally, but playful adults tend to have better coping skills for managing stress leading to improved brain function and relationships.
And everyone has a different play personality, too.
Collectors like building collections like stamps or vintage items. Competitors enjoy ruled games like basketball, while explorers like visiting new places or discovering new music.
You may be a director if you enjoy planning and hosting themed dinner parties. Storytelling folks usually appreciate journaling and listening to stories. Kinesthetic people use their bodies to play with movements like dance or yoga.
In an anti-Black world that constantly demands so much of our people’s energy, play is a joyful act of resistance worth cultivating for your pleasure and happiness. By tapping into play, we can make our bodies sites of liberation and joy, no matter where we go or what’s happening around us.
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