RECONNECT TO PLAY ! Click below to read about our services
“Play is not a break. It is endless, delightful, deep, engaging, practical learning”
Say the word PLAY then close your eyes and say the word PLAY…………. What did you see or think about? My guess is children, silly behaviour, laughter,
Vince Gowmon - Spiritual teacher, healer, author, poet, fierce child advocate
smiles or a memory of you being lost in wonder in your flow doing something you loved or just really felt the need to do as a child.
Hopefully what you imagined and what you felt in that moment was beautiful, comforting and a sense of freedom.
IMAP believes we are born with the instinct to play. One might say that it is a survival mechanism, much like breathing, crying and eating.
The first communication in terms of learning that we receive and respond to is through play. As we grow the majority of our learning is predominantly developed through play (experiential learning). May we add, playing into the unknown in order to make sense of the world we live in and ultimately become more self aware, gain understanding and increase wisdom.
So why does play stop being used as a key mechanism to growth and development when you become a young person or even an adult?
You see that memory that was conjured up at the start of this page, even though those memories are beautiful and take you back to a happy place (I hope). I often wonder why many of us don’t recall a time in our youth or indeed our adulthood when we played.
The big question is ‘Why and when do we lose that beautiful, wondrous innate ability to play and more importantly learn through play’
The truth is we don’t… it’s just that the systems and the powers that govern us do their very best to ensure we associate play with children or more so early years. It is seen as something that is not serious to our development, growth and well-being and disconnects us from our natural instinct to play.
As we go through the education system less space is given to play, less importance is placed on play, play is seen as a nuisance, a distraction and the older we get the less we think about what we do as play or make time to play.
Play opens space for discovery that leads to Mastery and this is why its important to Reconnect to Play