Playing EnjoyingThriving [blog]

THREAD WILL BE REVISED IN 2016

thread created June 23, 2014

feel free to browse, add related thoughts as thread is being completed

***~post1of11~***

Live and work but do not forget to play, to have fun in life and really enjoy it. _{Eileen Caddy}

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• • _{1
    quote}The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both. ***~L. P. Jacks (Lawrence Pearsall Jacks, 1860-1955)~*** LP Jacks
  • _{2
    quote}Play is one of the highest spiritual forms of being. When we’re in that state, we get lost in ourselves, which allows the mind to receive the message of the spirit. ***~Ellie Katz~***
    Playologist Ellie Katz’s Funny Business

 

• _{3
  quote}We live in an ironic society where even play is turned into work. But the highest existence is not work; the highest level of existence is play. ***~Conrad Hyers~*** Conrad Hyers
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  quote}It is essential to our well-being, and to our lives, that we play and enjoy life. ***~Marcia Wieder~*** Dream University
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  quote}We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing. ***~Charles Schaefer~*** Charles Schaefer
• _{6
  quote}Can you imagine experiencing the world as a great sandbox given for us to play in like we did as children? As we play, we can also open ourselves to the exploration of our edges, always creating new adventures of self-exploration as we let go of old out-dated beliefs about ourselves. ***~Judith-Annette Milburn~*** Judith-Annette Milburn
• _{7
  quote}It is a happy talent to know how to play.

***~Ralph Waldo Emerson~*** Ralph Waldo Emerson

• _{8
  quote}Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play. ***~Heraclitus~*** Heraclitus
• _{9
  quote}Play is the highest form of research. ***~Albert Einstein~*** Einstein
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  quote}Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold. ***~Joseph Chilton Pierce~*** Joseph Chilton Pierce
• _{11
  quote}Almost all creativity involves purposeful play. ***~Abraham Maslow~*** “Abraham Maslow”:“http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bhmasl.html
• _{12
  quote}The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with objects it loves. ***~Carl Jung~*** “ ***~Carl Jung Biography www.carl-jung.net~***”:textileRef:3740108935dbfe8661e0b2:linkStartMarker:“http://www.carl-jung.net/biography.html
• _{13
  quote}Creative work is play. It is free speculation using materials of ones chosen form. ***~Stephen Nachmanovitch~*** “ ***freeplay.com-bio***”:http://www.freeplay.com/Main/bio.htm
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  quote}Life is playfulness…We need to play so that we can rediscover the magic all around us. ***~Flora Colao~***
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  quote}As adults we have quite a bit of work to do, and play seems to function as a protective mechanism against the costs of this work; a buffer against stress, a support during life transitions, a means of forming bonds and alliances, a jump start for creativity and problem-solving. ***~Christine Caldwell~*** The Moving Cycle
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  quote}You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. ***~Plato~*** Plato
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  quote}Play produces feelings of pleasure which help you escape from two major creativity killers – stress and self-consciousness. ***~Jordan Ayan~*** Jordan Ayan
• _{18
  quote}The human urge to create comes from the play impulse. ***~Carla Hannaford~*** ***~from Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All In Your Head~*** 1-Carla Hannaford 2-Carla Hannaford

• _{19
  quote}Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning. ***~Dianne Ackerman~*** “Dianne Ackerman”:“http://www.dianeackerman.com/
• _{20
  quote}When you feel that you have reached the end and that you cannot go one step further, when life seems to be drained of all purpose: What a wonderful opportunity to start all over again, to turn over a new page. ***~Eileen Caddy~*** “ ***Eileen Caddy***”:http://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/jan/08/guardianobituaries.religion
• _{21
  quote}When we play, dopamine is released which induces elation, excitement, and orchestrates nerve net development and alignment all over the brain. When we are able to take in our fill of sensory stimuli, process and integrate it with richly developed base patterns, and express new insights in a creative way, both physically and verbally, we are then truly at play. ***~Carla Hannaford~ ~from Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All In Your Head~***
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  quote}Play brings joy. And it’s vital for problem solving, creativity and relationships. ***~Margarita Tartakovsky~***
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  quote}Play and depression may be opposite sides of a coin. ***~Jack Pansepp~*** Jack Pansepp-link
• _{24
  quote}In the true man there is a child concealed – who wants to play.

***~Friedrich Nietzsche~*** Friedrich Nietzsche

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  quote}Play provides the emotional spark which activates our attention, problem solving and behavior response systems so we gain the skills necessary for cooperation, co-creativity, altruism and understanding. ***~Carla Hannaford~ ~from Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All In Your Head~***
• _{25
  quote}Playology is about waking up our senses, infusing our organs of seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, tasting – and the higher cognitive senses as well, with the spirit of play. Play ignites creativity and spontaneity. Playing together leads to trust and cooperation. ***~Ellie Katz~***
• _{27
  quote}If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play.

***~John Cleese~*** “John Cleese”:“http://www.biography.com/people/john-cleese-9250570#awesm=~oI9dPGXYevYgoQ

• ₂₈
  will return /z
• _{29
  quote}Play has been man’s most useful preoccupation. ***~Frank Caplan~***
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  quote}Play is the exultation of the possible. ***~Martin Buber~***
• _{31
  quote}Serious play is not an oxymoron; it is the essence of innovation. ***~Michael Schrage~***
• _{32
  quote}Play keeps us vital and alive. It gives us an enthusiasm for life that is irreplaceable. Without it, life just doesn’t taste good. ***~Lucia Capacchione~***
• _{33
  quote}Play will never kill you, work will. I have never worked a day in my life.

***~Dr. Leila Denmark, was America’s oldest practicing physician at 103~*** “ ***Dr. Leila Denmark-her story***”:http://drleiladenmark.com/her-story/

• _{34
  quote}We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. _{George Bernard Shaw}

***FUN IS HEALTHY***

• • ** * A Playful Path
  • ** * Articles You May Enjoy

 

• ** * ***~short slide show -though wonderfully effective for the idea behind this blog thread~*** 12 Quotes on Play Yea, let’s play. “ ***The Gallery on Play***
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• ** * Let’s Play
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  Purpose of this thread will soon be positioned here:
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  Play, play, play! You’ll simplify your life and feel inspired if you learn to play rather than work your way through life. I love to be around kids because they inspire me with their laughter and frivolity. In fact, if I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times: “Wayne, you’ve never grown up—you’re always playing.” I take great pride in this! I play onstage when I speak, and I’m playing now as I write. _{Wayne Dyer}

textileRef:16343100165dbfe8215bbde:linkStartMarker:”* ~~ ✰~~

• • “ ***www.spiritualityandpractice.com***”:http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/
  • ~~ ✰~~
  • ***~related thread~*** “12’s Spirituality Wisdom Of All the 12 World’s Religions”:“http://bmindful.com/forum/thread/3792/-12s-spiritual-wisdom-of-all-the-worlds-religions#post37522
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  • ** * ⇒ _{very short youtube video 1 min 47 sec} “ ***Take The Stairs-fun***”:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw#t=57

 

 

the stairs video got me thinking about this:

• ** * ***~a video clip~*** Tom Hanks & Sandra Bullock Play Chopstick On A Big Piano @youtube is great!!!
• ** * ☼• ► video Creativity Starts With a Belief
  
  

Cooperating with Our Creativity

_“When we are willing to be open-minded, art and beauty come flooding into us in a thousand small ways. When we let ourselves see the possibilities instead of the improbabilities, we become as flexible and resilient as we really are. It is human nature to create. When we cooperate with our creativity, using it to live within the lives we actually have, we surprise ourselves with our level of invention._ “ ***Julia Cameron*** — The Sound of Paper: Starting from Scratch

 

related & other lighthearted threads you may like to visit: [list in process]

_{related thread}Joyful Living Tip
_{related thread}Why We Have Regret & Living Without It

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_post2of11

I never finished this thread…therefore never completed the table of contents(: Feel free to view as is…and add what you like related to the theme. Thank you(: AsAlwaysAppreciating˚

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  saved for a table of contents of sorts
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  intro-post 1 of 1 So far in this post you will find: [] _{The Gallery on Play} from www.spiritualityandpractice.com [] _{very short youtube video [1 min 47 sec] Take The Stairs-fun} [] _{a video clip Tom Hanks & Sandra Bullock Playing Chopsticks On A Big Piano} [] _{short video [3 min 34 sec] Creativity Starts With a Belief- cute with a strong message} [] _{quote about Cooperating with Our Creativity} [] _{Purpose of this thread-coming soon} [] _{related & other lighthearted threads you may like to visit}
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  post 2 of 11 So far in this post you will find: you are here. [] _{table of contents which is in process…while finishing thread}
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  post 3 of 11 So far in this post you will find: _{quotes/articles/websites/videos by or related to:} [a] _{L. P. Jacks (Lawrence Pearsall Jacks, 1860-1955)} [b]

_{Ellie Katz;Playologist} [c ] _{Conrad Hyers} [d] _{Marcia Wieder;Dream University} [e] _{Charles Schaefer} [f] _{Judith-Annette Milburn} [g] _{Ralph Waldo Emerson} [h] _Heraclitus
[i] _{Albert Einstein} [j] _{Joseph Chilton Pierce} [k] _{Abraham Maslow} [l] _{Carl Jung} [m] _{Stephen Nachmanovitch} [n] _{Flora Colao} ° _{Christine Caldwell} [p] _Plato [q] _{Jordan Ayan} ® _{Carla Hannaford from Smart Moves:Why Learning Is Not All In Your Head} [s] _{Dianne Ackerman} [t] _{Eileen Caddy} [u] _{Margarita Tartakovsky} [v] _{Friedrich Nietzsche} [w] _{Jaak Pansepp} [x] _{Ellie Katz} [y] _{John Cleese} [z] [z+1] _{Frank Caplan} [z+2] _{Martin Buber} [z+3] _{Michael Schrage} [z+4] _{Lucia Capacchione} [z+5] _{Dr. Leila Denmark, was America’s oldest practicing physician at 103} [z+6] _{George Bernard Shaw}

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  post 4 of 11 So far in this post you will find: AFFIRMATIONS
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  post 9 of 11 So far in this post you will find: [] _{Why do we care at all about these elements of enjoyment?}
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  post 10 of 11 So far in this post you will find:
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  post 11 of 11 So far in this post you will find:
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  post 12 of 12 So far in this post you will find:
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_post4of11
[♥♫♥✿♥Affirmations[♥♫♥✿♥

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  _{related thread} 10 Morning Affirmations-Create An Awesome Day _{affirmations on 10 morning affirmation thread by Janice Taylor}
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  Happiness Affirmations from Affirm Your Life
• ** Every day, I welcome more fun into my life.
• ** Every day I discover new things that bring me joy.
• ** Every day I am having more and more fun.
• ** I take full responsibility for my happiness.
• ** Bliss comes when I am optimistic.
• ** I feel happy and relaxed as I go about my day.
• ** I feel immense joy in being alive
• ** I take time each day to laugh and have fun.
• ** I always look for ways to bring more laughter and joy into my life.
• ** The more happy thoughts I generate, the more fantastic I feel.
• ** I am fantastically happy about…
• ** All my happy thoughts are in a book which serves to lift my spirits whenever needed.
• ** I have a ‘happy thoughts’ journal and read it often..
• ** It is my right to have a happy and prosperous life.
• ** It’s great to let go and have fun once in awhile.
• ** Everything feels so right in my life that I can’t stop smiling.
• ** As I think positive, happy thoughts, my life lightens and brightens.

• ** Being happy is one of the top priorities in my life, and I practice this feeling each day.
• ** By allowing myself to be happy, I make others in my life happy too.
• ** Being joyful makes it easier for me to realize my dream.

• ** Cheerfulness is a habit that I nurture throughout my day.

• ** Cheerfulness is my natural state.

• ** Each moment of every day I am becoming happier and happier..

• ** Every atom of my being is resonating with joy and happiness.

• ** Every day brings me great joy.
• ** All aspects of my life are abundant and joyful.
• ** Although I am working hard on my goals, I am always having fun
• ** I love humming happy tunes while I work.
• ** Every day my happiness expands.
• ** I activate my brains feel-good chemicals by smiling often.
• ** I adorn each day with laughter and cheer.
• ** I always follow my bliss.
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from www.weboflove.org/brighterfuture
Building a Brighter Future
Move beyond polarization and the focus on “good vs. evil” and “us vs. them.” Consider the possibility that all of us are doing what we believe to be right based upon our beliefs, circumstances, and upbringing. Each of us has a place in our heart that wants only to love and be loved. As we focus less on blaming and judging “them” and more on supporting the highest motive in all people—including members of the power elite—we increasingly come to see that we are all one human family, and that we can choose to transform our world by working together for the good of all.

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  Suggested Intentions for Core Beliefs – transforming fears

Abandonment – I am worthy of love. I can find ways to safely share myself with others.
Arrogance – I can learn from all around me. I can see goodness in everyone I meet.
Damaged – I am whole and complete just as I am. I can choose to love all of me.
Inferiority – I am a good, valuable person. I can make meaningful contributions to the world.
Rejection – I am an attractive, interesting person. People can enjoy getting to know me.
Shame – I can be gentle with myself. I can hold the best intentions for all deep in my heart.
The above intentions are merely suggestions which you may or may not choose to use. By developing your own statements that resonate more strongly with your personal experience, you can transform your fears on a deeper level. Set aside time to explore these challenges. Change the wording any time you find something more appropriate. You might also invite close friends or family members to give suggestions. Writing down your intentions is highly recommended. Consider writing a set of life intentions, and review them frequently to help keep you on track.

Once you have developed your intentions, cultivate an awareness of how and when your core challenge is triggered. Notice when you are telling yourself that same old story. Each time this happens, remind yourself of your deeper intention and open to shifting from your old, disempowering self-image into a new, fuller way of being. You can continually choose transformation by remembering to recognize fear as an invitation to growth.

Choose not to avoid or suppress your fears and core challenges. Working to accept and understand all parts of yourself, including your core challenges, opens the door to transformation and allows you more easily and naturally to access your beautiful deeper essence. This, in turn, can help you to live a much fuller and richer life. For over-compensators, who often have a strong tendency to avoid their fears, this is particularly important. You can find some empowering ideas on developing acceptance and understanding at this link

Don’t be surprised if after having a significant breakthrough in transforming a core belief, you eventually find the same issue rearing its ugly head again in a different form. Most people find that transforming fear through working with their core beliefs is like peeling away layers of an onion. You make a significant breakthrough, only to eventually find the same old core belief manifesting in another, more subtle form. Yet as each layer is peeled away, you will very likely find your life to be richer, more meaningful, and more enjoyable than it was before.

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http://www.weboflove.org

Simple Keys to a Fuller Life
inspiringcommunity.org/

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  The 3 Principles
  May we do our best to choose what’s best for all

May we open to guidance from the divine

We commit to love, healing, and empowerment for all

• ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  What’s Best

I will do my best to choose what’s best for me and for all of us.

Divine Guidance

I will open to guidance from the divine.
Acceptance and Compassion

I will accept and find compassion for myself and all around me.
Love and Empowerment

I will love and empower all to be the best that we can be.

• ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Three Principles “But how do I know what is really best?” you might ask. The answer is simple. It doesn’t matter. What matters is not the choice you make, but rather the intention behind your choice. Many times you won’t know what’s best. You will not be clear which choice is best for all concerned. What matters is that whatever decision you make, you are clear in your intention of choosing based on what’s best for all.

If it later turns out that you made what appears to have been a bad choice, there’s no need for guilt. By simply knowing that you did your best to choose with a sincere desire for what’s best for all, your conscience stays clear and open. This then allows you to more easily learn from your mistakes, and to live with a clear heart and mind.

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  _{related thread} Why We Have Regret & Living Without It
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_post5of11
Fight Memory Loss With a Smile
Date:
April 27, 2014
Source:
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB)
Summary:
The stress hormone cortisol can negatively affect memory and learning ability in the elderly. Researchers found that showing a 20-minute funny video to healthy seniors and seniors with diabetes helped them score better on memory tests and significantly reduced their cortisol levels when compared to non-video watchers.
read more

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_post6of11
Virtue Category:
Humor falls under the virtue category of Transcendence. Transcendence describes strengths that provide a broad sense of connection to something higher in meaning and purpose than ourselves.

Key Concepts:
Humor involves the the ability to make other people smile or laugh. It also means having a composed and cheerful view on adversity that allows an individual to see it’s light side and thereby sustain a good mood.
Exercises For Boosting Humor:
Think about a past even in which you used humor for your benefit and the benefit of others.

_{© 2014 VIA Institute. All Rights Reserved}

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_{related article} Laughter and Joy — the BestMedicine A happy, peaceful mind is the most helpful factor for main­taining good health. When people are happy, their central nervous system works to strengthen their bodily functions, re­sulting in proper digestion and a strong metabolism. They have a good appetite and sleep well, thereby enjoying high spirits and a quick mind. Research also suggests that optimists may live longer than others. According to one survey of 372 centenarians, 98 percent had a cheerful and optimistic temperament. Doctors report that the wounds of a victor tend to heal more quickly than those of the defeated, and patients free from emotional burdens tend to recover from an illness sooner. If the patient is confident and optimistic about fighting the disease, he may recover sooner, and perhaps require less treatment. For patients in low spirits, an illness often lingers on or even worsens. So emotional factors may well have a direct effect on patients’ recovery. to read more

_{related thread} Humor Health & Other Great Reasons To Laugh

_post7

Therapeutic Laughter _{© 2011 – 2014 SkillsYouNeed.com}

Laughing is an excellent way to reduce stress in our lives, and can help you to cope with and survive a stressful lifestyle.

Laughter provides a full-scale workout for your muscles and unleashes a rush of stress-busting endorphins. Since our bodies cannot distinguish between real and fake laughter, anything that makes you giggle will have a positive impact. You do not need to be happy or have a sense of humour to benefit from a good laugh.

Laughter therapy aims to get people laughing in both group and individual sessions and can help reduce stress, make people and employees happier and more committed, as well as improve their interpersonal skills.

Laughter therapist Keith Adams explains the background of therapeutic laughter.
Find more at
Many individuals have contributed to the history of modern therapeutic laughter. Here are just a few:

Norman Cousins, celebrated political writer

In 1979, Cousins published a book Anatomy of an Illness in which he described a potentially fatal disease he contracted in 1964 and his discovery of the benefits of humour and other positive emotions in battling the disease. He found, for example, that ten minutes of mirthful laughter gave him two hours of pain-free sleep. His story baffled the scientific community and inspired a number of research projects.

Dr William F. Fry, psychiatrist, Stanford University, California

Dr Fry began to examine the physiological effects of laughter in the late 1960s and is considered the father of ‘gelotology’ (the science of laughter). Dr Fry proved that mirthful laughter provides good physical exercise and can decrease your chances of respiratory infections. He showed that laughter causes our body to produce endorphins (natural painkillers).

Dr Lee Berk, Loma Linda University Medical Centre

Inspired by Norman Cousins, Dr Berk and his team of researchers from the field of psycho-neuro-immunology (PNI)studied the physical impact of mirthful laughter. In one study heart attack patients were divided into two groups: one half was placed under standard medical care while the other half watched humorous videos for thirty minutes each day. After one year the ‘humour’ group had fewer arrhythmias, lower blood pressure, lower levels of stress hormones, and required lower doses of medication. The non-humour group had two and a half times more recurrent heart attacks than the humour group (50% vs. 20%).

Patch Adams
Dr Hunter (Patch) Adams

Immortalized in film by Robin Williams, Patch inspired millions of people by bringing fun and laughter back into the hospital world and putting into practice the idea that “healing should be a loving human interchange, not a business transaction”. He is the founder and director of the Gesundheit Institute, a holistic medical community that has been providing free medical care to thousands of patients since 1971. He is the catalyst for the creation of thousands of therapeutic care clowns worldwide.

Dr Annette Goodheart

Goodheart is a psychotherapist and inventor of laughter therapy and laughter coaching. For 36 years she has been using laughter to treat cancer, AIDS, depression, and other illnesses and been teaching at universities, schools, companies, organizations and public events, bringing laughter to every part of the world.

Dr Madan Kataria, creator of Laughter Yoga

In March 1995 this medical doctor from Mumbai, India was writing an article Laughter – The Best Medicine for a health journal. In particular, he was impressed by Norman Cousins’ book Anatomy of an Illness and the research work by Dr Berk. Dr Kataria discovered that the body cannot differentiate between acted and genuine laughter. He then created a range of laughter exercises including elements of role-play and other techniques from his days as an amateur dramatic actor. Realizing the importance of child-like playfulness, he developed further techniques to stimulate this within a group. Laughter Yoga was born and is now accepted all over the world.

Oxford University/Royal Society

In September 2011, academics from Oxford University published research demonstrating that continuous laughter significantly increases people’s pain threshold, by as much as 10%.

Laughter Yoga
Laughter Yoga – Skills you Need
Laughter Yoga includes four things: clapping in rhythm to ‘ho-ho-ha-ha-ha’, breathing and stretching, child-like play and laughter exercises. Laughter comes from the body not the mind. The picture below is of one of my participants at the Liverpool Mutual Homes workshop – it shows just how infectious laughter yoga can be.

When you take part in a laughter workshop you get a release of endorphins, giving you a “feel good” factor; the whole body relaxes and stress and tension is reduced. You also get an aerobic exercise. Laughter tones your muscles and improves your respiration – and your immune system is boosted which helps you to resist disease.

You can easily acquire the skills to lead a laughter yoga workshop. You will need an outgoing personally, be a good communicator and quite happy to lead a group of people into laughter.

For more information on my therapeutic laughter workshops for business, public and third sector organisations, as well as for special social events, visit Keith’s website www.laughteraspirations.co.uk.
Find more at
_{© 2011 – 2014 SkillsYouNeed.com}

_post8
Laughter as Therapy

Laughter raises one’s frequency to help with the healing process. In the duality of life – it’s laughter and positive programming (genetics) vs. tears and personality disorders – usually anxiety and depression.

Laughing is a reaction to certain stimuli, fundamentally stress, which serves as an emotional balancing mechanism. Traditionally, it is considered a visual expression of happiness, or an inward feeling of joy. It may ensue from hearing a joke, being tickled, or other stimuli. It is in most cases a very pleasant sensation.

Laughter is found among various animals, as well as in humans, although it is more rare in most mammals and animals overall. Among the human species, it is a part of human behavior regulated by the brain, helping humans clarify their intentions in social interaction and providing an emotional context to conversations.

Laughter is used as a signal for being part of a group – it signals acceptance and positive interactions with others. It is sometimes seen as contagious, and the laughter of one person can itself provoke laughter from others as a positive feedback. This may account in part for the popularity of laugh tracks in situation comedy television shows.

Laughter is anatomically caused by the epiglottis constricting the larynx. The study of humor and laughter, and its psychological and physiological effects on the human body, is called gelotology.

Research by Dr. Robert Provine suggest that laughter is a form of communication, probably the first one in the human race, which later evolved, with the liberation of voice from walking and breathing, into human language.

Provine has spent decades studying laughter. In his interview for WedMD, he indicated that laughter is a mechanism everyone has – part of universal human vocabulary. There are thousands of languages, hundreds of thousands of dialects, but everyone speaks laughter in pretty much the same way.

Laughter as Therapy

Effects of Laughter

Laughter therapy boosts the interferon levels of the immune system which helps the system’s ability to fight illness and escalates healing. Laughter decreases stress hormones that constrict blood vessels and suppress immune activity.

Muscle Relaxation – Belly laugh results in muscle relaxation. While you laugh, the muscles that do not participate in the belly laugh, relaxes. After you finish laughing those muscles involved in the laughter start to relax. So, the action takes place in two stages.

Reduction of Stress Hormones – Laughter reduces at least four of neuroendocrine hormones associated with stress response. These are epinephrine, cortisol, dopac, and growth hormone.

Immune System Enhancement – Clinical studies have shown that humor strengthens the immune system.

Pain Reduction – Humor allows a person to “forget” about pains such as aches, arthritis, etc.

Cardiac Exercise – A belly laugh is equivalent to “an internal jogging.” Laughter can provide good cardiac conditioning especially for those who are unable to perform physical exercises.

Blood Pressure – Women seem to benefit more than men in preventing hypertension.

Respiration – Frequent belly laughter empties your lungs of more air than it takes in resulting in a cleansing effect – similar to deep breathing. Especially beneficial for patient’s who are suffering from emphysema and other respiratory ailments.

The Heart
It has been shown that laughing helps protect the heart. Although studies are not sure why laughing protects the heart, the studies do explain that mental stress impairs the endothelium, which is the protective barrier lining a person’s blood vessels. Once the endothelium is impaired, it can cause a series of inflammatory reactions that lead to cholesterol build up in a person’s coronary arteries, which can ultimately cause a heart attack.

From Psychologist Steve Sultanoff, Ph.D., the president of the American Association for Therapeutic Humor — With deep, heartfelt laughter, it appears that serum cortisol, which is a hormone that is secreted when we’re under stress, is decreased. So when you’re having a stress reaction, if you laugh, apparently the cortisol that has been released during the stress reaction is reduced.

Laughter has been show to increase tolerance of pain and boost the body’s production of infection-fighting antibodies, which can help prevent hardening of the arteries and subsequent conditions caused thereby such as angina, heart attacks, or strokes. Research shows that distressing emotions lead to heart disease. It is shown that people who are chronically angry and hostile have a greater likelihood for heart attack, people who live in anxious, stressed out lifestyles have greater blockages of their coronary arteries, and people who are chronically depressed have a two times greater change of heart disease.

• ~~~~~~~~~~
  Diabetes
  A study in Japan shows that laughter lowers blood sugar after a meal. Keiko Hayashi, Ph.D., R.N, of the University of Tsukuba in Ibaraki, Japan, and his team performed a study of 19 people with type 2 diabetes. They collected the patients’ blood before and two hours after a meal. The patients attending a boring 40 minute lecture after dinner on the first night of the study. On the second night, the patients attend a 40 minute comedy show. The patients’ blood sugar went up after the comedy show, but much less that it did after the lecture. The study found that even when patients without diabetes did the same testing, a similar result was found. Scientists conclude that laughter is good for people with diabetes. They suggest that Ôchemical messengers made during laughter may help the body compensate for the disease.Ó WebMD 2003
• ~~~~~~~~~~

to read more

Laughter Affects Body Like Exercise Live Science – April 26, 2010
Is laughter the new exercise? Quite possibly. While toning thighs and building muscle mass still require a trip to the gym, other benefits associated with exercise – improved cholesterol and blood pressure, decreased stress hormones, a strengthened immune system and a healthy appetite – can be attained with regular guffaws, studies now suggest. The latest mirth study, which focuses on the appetite effects of a good laugh, is being presented this week at the 2010 Experimental Biology conference in Anaheim, Calif.

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brainchild of psychologist / researcher / professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

9 Elements of Enjoyment from book Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention.

Why do we care at all about these elements of enjoyment? Because they’re kinda cool, sure, but also because maybe if we know those elements, we can tweak our habits and processes to impact our experience of the work we’re doing.

Maybe we can lead ourselves into that magical state of flow.

Maybe we can enjoy ourselves right on into our next Great Work.

read more

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from meaningandhappiness.com In the zone:enjoyment, creativity, and the nine elements of flow by Dr. Steve Wrightlink elements of flow
Csikszentmihalyi identified nine elements of flow that he saw repeatedly in his research:

1. There are clear goals every step of the way. In many everyday situations, there are contradictory demands and it’s sometimes quite unclear what should occupy our attention. But in a flow experience, you have a clear purpose and a good grasp of what to do next.

2. There is immediate feedback to one’s actions. When you’re in flow, you know how well you’re doing.

3. There is a balance between challenges and skills. If a challenge is too demanding compared to your skill level, you get frustrated. If it’s too easy, you get bored. In a flow experience, there is a pretty good match between your abilities and the demands of the situation. You feel engaged by the challenge, but not overwhelmed.

4. Action and awareness are merged. People are often thinking about something that happened – or might happen – in another time or place. But in flow, you’re concentrated on what you’re doing.

5. Distractions are excluded from consciousness. Because you’re absorbed in the activity, you’re only aware of what’s relevant to the task at hand, and you don’t think about unrelated things. By being focused on the activity, unease that can cause anxiety and depression is set aside.

6. There is no worry of failure. In a state of flow, you’re too involved to be concerned about failing. You just don’t think about failure. You know what has to be done and you just do it.

7. Self-consciousness disappears. People often spend a lot of mental energy monitoring how they appear to others. In a flow state, you’re too involved in the activity to care about protecting your ego. You might even feel connected to something larger than yourself. Paradoxically, the experience of letting go of the self can strengthen it.

8. The sense of time becomes distorted. Time flies when you’re really engaged. On the other hand, time may seem to slow down at the moment of executing some action for which you’ve trained and developed a high degree of skill.

9. The activity becomes “autotelic” (an end in itself, done for it’s own sake). Some activities are done for their own sake, for the enjoyment an experience provides, like most art, music, or sports. Other activities, which are done for some future purpose or goal – like things you have to do as part of your job – may only be a means to an end. But some of these goal-oriented activities can also become ends in themselves, and enjoyed for their own sake. Csikszentmihalyi concludes by saying that “in many ways, the secret to a happy life is to learn to get flow from as many of the things we have to do as possible.”

Think about things you’ve done that had some of these characteristics. Then do more of those kinds of things!

Enrich your life by making a commitment and a concrete plan to put more flow – an optimal experience of engagement – in your work, in your leisure (cut down on the passive stuff!), and ultimately in your life.

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Probably the one thing that playing does is first of all gives you a great satisfaction of being alive, and is that not worth it for its own sake? _{Stuart Lester}

What happened over the last 10 years particularly across the disciplines is that people now start to focus on what the immediate benefits of play are. What is happening to anybody (children and adults) while they are playing, not afterwards but while they are playing? Play has benefit for the time of playing, which only happens because it is play. So we start to think about the things which distinguish play from other forms of behaviour. _{Stuart Lester}

Stuart Lester-Interview

Tell me a little bit about what you do?

Stuart Lester – I am not comfortable with the phase ‘play industry’, because that implies is a commercial thing and that is not my background, but it has become quite common to talk about the play industry.

I am currently a senior lecturer at the University of Gloustershire on their play and play work degree and postgraduate programmes and I am also a freelance researcher and consultancy trainer.

I have a background working on adventure playground in Manchester and got in to training and I’ve stayed with it ever since. I spent all my life with play but I haven’t learnt anything.

How does play inform and relate to creativity in Children and Adults?

Play and creativity I think are synonymous because playing is a creative process full stop. Play is rarely used as a word on its own, its always used for something else. So Play and creativity, play and learning, play and development, play and exercise; this has nothing to do with children’s play, it is more about adults and the changing nature of childhood. There is more and more pressure on Children to achieve and part of the way of adults making sure children achieve is to use any instrument as possible to help children learn. Play becomes an instrument as a tool which adult believe helps children learn.

Do you think that play should just simply be play?

Play can’t be anything else but the very nature of what is it is. It is a formal behaviour that evolves from millions and millions years ago. Because of this one would imagine play serves some evolutionary purpose; if it didn’t we wouldn’t play – It would have been wiped out, I mean at some point in our evolution we had tails and we walked on all fours. As we adapted to the environment we changed, but we still play. Then certainly play has some fundamental purpose as play not as anything else? But we are very good at wanting to make it to do something else. The minute you do that, you stop it from being play.

The problem is kids do want to be outside, but their parents wont let them, so virtual play is the next best thing for them.

What is the function of play? Do you believe that play is functional or not?

I think there is a value to play but it is not the one that most adults attribute to playing. If you look at traditional studies and the way the disciplines have looked at children’s play, they take quite a lot in animal studies. Traditionally they will look at animal play and they will then do their observation and then infer from that, that animals play to learn skills, some young animals will rough and tumble play and by doing that they are learning skills to how to avoid becoming pray, and how to pray on other animals.Sociologists traditionally have said play is a way about learning norms, and rules and customs so children learn how to share and how to co-operate and how to follow moral codes. Psychologists will say play is about learning cooperative skills; problem solving.

‘Play for a Change’ How do you feel about this statement?

We have been asked to look at the most recent research on children’s play globally, we probably looked at about 800 pieces of research and we found nothing to support play and learning, play and schools. Traditionally play is not been about something taught for benefit, the benefit of play happens outside of play. You learn to be able to be use skills later in life, or learn how to cross the road or learn how to make friends.

What is it about play? Why is it there? Can it be used to solve problems within society?

What happened over the last 10 years particularly across the disciplines is that people now start to focus on what the immediate benefits of play are. What is happening to anybody (children and adults) while they are playing, not afterwards but while they are playing? Play has benefit for the time of playing, which only happens because it is play. So we start to think about the things which distinguish play from other forms of behaviour.

What do you think the benefits of play are?

When we came to looking at play, we didn’t define play. I think play is beyond definition. I think it is so illusive and because we are adults we need to be conscious anyway. Sutton Smith said that when it comes to defining play in adults we fall into silliness.

They have forgotten. Defining it imposes an adult view on children and their play, which it might be dangerous because you will never know what children are doing and what they are getting from play but let’s just be happy with that.

So the child can be in a playground, take the coat off, put it round their neck, flap their arms and they are flying. Gravity said no, biologically said ‘I am flying’, to all intense and purposes is flying in that particular moment, but knows that they are not flying. So it is this paradox of real and unreal. There is a lucky phase that we pinched which called being in Control and being out of control.

There is a guy called Stuart Brown who talks alot about how play could be functional, what is your response to him?

Sutton-Smith said Play is no guarantee of anything. Probably the one thing that playing does is first of all gives you a great satisfaction of being alive, and is that not worth it for its own sake? And it probably makes you a better player because the people who play want to play more and if you play more you become better at playing. I could spot kids that probably didn’t have a very playful childhood by the way they are with their friends and how they use power to dominate, with no give and take. Understanding the ability to tune emotions and empathy, leads us into this whole being in control or being out of control. Play through its ability to create is the generation of uncertainty, you are creating uncertainty. So when kids spin around, making themselves dizzy, that is a classic example of playing with uncertainty, they are in control so they don’t spin themselves to unconsciousness, they stop to regain balance and they carry on. This ability to put yourself in situations Of moderate stress is hugely beneficial. The two features of that stress is firstly, that your are in control of it. Now that might be collective control it’s not personal control and it’s desirable, you actually want to be in this situation. Play provides the conditions to control the stress. Which will results in their tolerance of stress being far greater than those who didn’t play alot.

Stress is just another word for uncertainty. The thing that scares you is that uncertainty is happening externally rather than internally. When children read horror stories, some children will be scared because they see it as external. Scientifically that would suggest that a neuron chemical reaction is happening in taking yourself to that position and the main neuron chemical in that equation is Cortisone. What cortisone does is it focuses you, makes your body adjust to stress and not get overwhelmed by it. Short burst of cortisone are highly beneficial. Long burst however are damaging, so when kids are under profound stress which is prolonged it will have a big impact. When that happens when kids play it prepares the ground for real stress, so when they are in stressful situations they already have something in place biologically to be able to cope with it. Kids who are always being told “don’t do that” almost have an aversion to uncertainty. _{© Play-o-logy Ltd 2014. All right Reserved.}

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Play-o-logy is different from play we normally think of…but it is all good. The following is what we normally view as play and a list of its benefits.
What is adult play?
In our hectic, modern lives, many of us focus so heavily on work and family commitments that we never seem to have time for pure fun. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, we’ve stopped playing. When we do carve out some leisure time, we’re more likely to zone out in front of the TV or computer than engage in fun, rejuvenating play like we did as children. But just because we’re adults, that doesn’t mean we have to take ourselves so seriously and make life all about work. We all need to play.

Adult play is a time to forget about work and commitments, and to be social in an unstructured, creative way. The focus of play is on the actual experience, not on accomplishing any goal. There doesn’t need to be any point to the activity beyond having fun and enjoying yourself. Play could be simply goofing off with friends, sharing jokes with a coworker, throwing a Frisbee on the beach, dressing up at Halloween with your kids, building a snowman in the yard, playing fetch with a dog, a game of charades at a party, or going for a bike ride with your spouse with no destination in mind. By giving yourself permission to play with the joyful abandon of childhood, you can reap the myriad of health benefits throughout life. read more

• ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Life is playfulness…”
  “…We need to play so that we can rediscover the magic all around us.”

_{Flora Colao}
Posted on August 3, 2012 by Barry
As a child, I remember being told “you cannot go out and play until the work is done.” It turned out that there was always work to do – in the form of chores and schoolwork.

Years ago, I took a one-year course called The Wisdom Course that was all about bringing greater playfulness into my life. It was around this time that I left my 12-year corporate job to begin my coaching career.

As the saying goes, when you love what you do, you’ll never work another day in your life. Most days, my work feels like play.

Exercise:

How can you bring greater magic into your life by bringing more playfulness into your work and your personal life?

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  The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both. _{L. P. Jacks (Lawrence Pearsall Jacks, 1860-1955)} LP Jacks

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thread created June 23, 2014
& last edited/updated February 9,2015

feel free to browse, add related thoughts as thread is being completed

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  table of contents of sorts in process & soon to be located in post 2
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