Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. Today I want to talk about the importance of play. For toddlers, for kids, for parents, for everyone, play is more important now than ever.
El Duderino isn’t really old enough to understand what’s going on in the world, but he is very smart and incredibly perceptive. Most kids pick up on social cues and read the room far better than adults and well beyond what they are given credit for. So when I’m feeling stressed by everything COVID-19 related, he might not understand the nuts and bolts of it, but he reacts to my emotional state.
At the end of the day all he really wants to do is play. Play takes on many different forms depending on the day or mood. The current play du jour is digging in the dirt with his work trucks. Each truck has a name and a job and then when they get dirty they go through the car wash (hose, sink, bath, etc).
The only limit is his imagination, and maybe the weather or daddy’s bladder bringing us inside. That imagination and creativity is the beauty of play. It’s a release from reality and whatever stresses are there, even if they are just picked up from his mother and me. It is mentally stimulating. It helps him grow and come up with new ideas.
I think it’s safe to say most adults struggle with play, especially in the current lack of social climate. How many adult activities leave room for creativity, improvisation, experimentation, and just room to play? Maintaining a balanced approach to overall wellbeing is one of the core tenets of this blog (and one of my top priorities), and play is a huge part of that.
That is one of the many reasons I miss Jiu Jitsu. Running, lifting, cycling, archery, mobility work, have all played a huge roll in my sanity from home over the past weeks. But each of them lack the dynamic playful environment that Jiu Jitsu offers.
Wrestling and Jiu Jitsu offer an incredible mix of physical stressors, mental stimulation, and a plethora of opportunities to be creative and innovative. In other words perfect, a perfect adult play environment. For my brother’s and sisters on the mats you don’t need any further explanation, but for those of you who haven’t ever tried it, I will try to explain as best as I can.
Grappling tends to present itself like human chess. You are always thinking multiple moves ahead (mental stimulation). Each of those moves or techniques requires complex and coordinated physical movement, often under pressure or resistance from your partner (physical stressors). And, there are an endless number of techniques that pair together in different orders, or varitions of those techniques that allow each practitioner to develop his or her own style or “game” (creativity and innovation).
In addition to physical stressors, mental stimulation, and opportunities for creativity and innovation, grappling requires extremely close physical contact. Often times claustrophobia inducing contact. And while this may be an acquired taste, after several weeks of lockdown I think we could all use some claustrophobia inducing contact, whether we are grapplers or not.
Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.
As excited as I am for my local gym (OBJJ) to be opening tomorrow, I will not be in attendance just yet. Speedy hasn’t reached the two month mark yet, and his developing immune system trumps my need for play.
This week in SerenityThroughSweat, El Duderino plays in the mud, does his best salt bae impression baking bread, some interval running, and a sweaty sandbag session.