Play is Now My Medicine

Yesterday I rode a wave runner across the lake at 45 miles an hour, jumping the wake, cutting donuts in the open water, riding alongside a pontoon boat full of people who've folded me into their lives over the past seven weeks. Suddenly I was seventeen again, remembering how to play. My body opened up out there. My heart did too.

For years I lived in the "land of should." I should do this as an employee, as a mom, as a homeowner. I was so far out of balance that play had quietly disappeared. When I tried to rest, what I really did was still my body while my mind yelled about the things I should be doing at that moment. More stress elicited a response in me to just bear down and push harder. I believed I hadn't earned the right to play and have fun. And I stayed stressed.

The research backs this up. In a 2022 study* of nearly 700 adults, the people who played felt more in control of their stress, and the people who didn't felt more helpless under it. Same stress. Different relationship to it. Play was what moved them from drowning in it to handling it.

So I'm doing it on purpose now. Play is now my medicine. When that gremlin on my shoulder tries to stir up guilt about how much "time I'm wasting," I tell it why it's wrong. Play fills my cup and makes me happier and calms my nervous system, and it makes me a better coach, hypnotherapist, friend, and (fill-in-the-blank). When you've filled your cup, you have more to give to the world.

So as we head into a long summer weekend here in the United States, I encourage each of you to think back to the days when you were carefree. Do one thing you haven't done in years that used to bring you joy. Play. Just for the joy of it. Tell the gremlin making you feel guilty to be quiet.

And if the gremlin wins the argument, that wiring is the thing I work on with women. As I build my practice I'm offering a handful of sessions for free. We have a 30-minute coaching session to identify what needs to change. Then we do a hypnotherapy session. Hypnosis is just a deeply relaxed, focused state. You're awake and in control the whole time. I guide you to the root of the belief, so we can change it at the source, instead of fighting it with willpower at the surface. What I ask in return is your honest feedback, and if it's a great experience, a testimonial.

If you want one, send me a direct message with the word "wave runner."

*Study: Clifford, C., Paulk, E., Lin, Q., Cadwallader, J., Lubbers, K., & Frazier, L. D. (2022). Relationships among adult playfulness, stress, and coping during the COVID-19 pandemic. Current Psychology, 43(9), 8403–8412.