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Writer's pictureCJ Gereau

PLAY!



Why do we adults so often lose our capacity for play? Somatic Psychotherapy and Polyvagal theory tell us a lot about this. We have to be regulated, feel safe, and not be threatened(stressed, worried, exhausted, angry, distressed, in pain). If we are experiencing any of those things, we do not have access to our social engagement system (we cannot make eye contact easily, cannot access our whole brain, which means we cannot be creative, cannot connect with others and so on).


Moreover, many of us grew up in homes where various threats, stressors, and dynamics meant that play wasn't very accessible to our young selves. For years, many children have experienced the absence of play for the substitute of a screen. Screens typically put children in a freeze/disassociated state. Children can often be dysregulated (anxious, stressed etc) when they start screen time. Still, even if they were not, the frozen state of the screen combined with the intense images/emotions/etc result in an a big reaction when you interrupt the screen time/freeze (Honey, bedtime!). Children will often be overwhelmed as their nervous system acts out the built-up emotions they experienced (enter tantrum).

For so many reasons, our young playful side is EXILED for many of us.


Have you ever seen a horse play? Have you ever had a horse play with you?? When a thousand-pound animal joyfully and respectfully engages with you in movement and play, there is no chance that your exiled part won't wake up and join the party. This is one of the many ways horses invite us is to meet them in their full expression.


If your younger you could look around your world and ask you to play, what would they want to do? What could you show them? How would you PLAY? How can you bring play back into your life?

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