Cre8inFun explores: Play and Reflective Practice

 

 

 
“…as soon as you are finished with that you can go and play till dinner is ready…” 
Something children often hear.
 

We, as adults, manage play as if it were leftovers, unvalued, disregarded intermezzos. 
Our generation and our social circle managed it that way, anyway.
We feel hopeful that some of you won’t relate to this at all.  If so, there’s hope for us all.

 

Play

 

Curiosity, amazement, interest, intrigue, reverie, focus, intentionality, ingenuity, engagement, fun; so many of these and many more possible and relevant words can be attached to playing.  

 

When we get lost in play it invites questions and wonder, time seems to fly by as we are engrossed in the fun of it all and yet it can be serious stuff, this thing called play.  Adults engage in play more often than they realise as they play with thoughts, ideas, different perspectives, knowledge and experience sharing and becoming self-aware.

 

Playing evokes such a different feeling to that which we ordinarily use to define our world of work and duty, and yet play can be hard work too.

 

Benefits of Play

 

Such a pity we have forgotten that play can be part of everything we do, integrated into our everyday lives, chores and duties. We know that play mobilises, and stimulates us when we engage with it.  It works like a dynamo, powering up our creativity through thoughts, actions and perceptions.

Why would we deny ourselves such joyful work as play?

 

Play is often described as children’s language, what a pity that we designated one of our most precious attributes to the forgotten places of our past.

 

How well do you know your playful self?

 

What is your own understanding of play?

 

We would rather each of us work out our own; getting to know our own play, befriending its qualities and personal manifestations. By means of reflective practice, we will identify and get to know more about our forgotten play times and get them re-integrated into our conversations about work and duty.

 

·      What is it like to think about times of play?

 

·      Do you need to go back far into your childhood to reconnect to the joys of playfulness?

 

·      Do you make time for play now?

 

·      How much do you value and acknowledge the benefits of play and creativity?

 

·      Do you regard play as something just for its ‘break’ qualities?

 

·      How do your children play?

 

·      Do you like to join in?

 

·      Do you feel you ought to join in but …  there’s no time, or…  you are not sure how to?

 

·      Does it feel like a waste of time?

 

·      How many different sorts of playing modalities can you think of?

 

Over the years, we have asked our course participants what words would they use to describe Play, here is a word cloud representing those:

Reflective Practice is not just for the work place.  At some time we all come up against conflict, disagreement, judgements, misunderstandings, dis-connection etc. The chance to listen to how others have dealt with some of this and to edit it so that it fits with our own situations in life, both personally and professionally, before, during or after events has been life enhancing, calming and empowering exercises for many we have worked with.

 

How great would it be to have a virtual toolbox of ideas or strategies for coping with the maladies of love, life and work? 

 

Play and Safety

 

NOW, reality is reality, and our everyday stuff is not all nice and smooth and predictable, is it? Neither is play, far from it! Through playfulness those concerns, worries, accidents and conflicts that can hit us at any time can be managed with more awareness, openness and honesty.

 

Our neuroception system is always there, running in the background, just like a radar, keeping us healthy and safe.  If there is a perceived danger, this constant alertness notifies our brains of what action is required and our nervous systems do as told and spring into action releasing the chemicals that are needed for our bodies to move towards protective action.

 

As soon we perceive a sense of threat, even at a neuroceptic level, the sympathetic nervous system kicks into fight/flight mode, releasing a powerful cocktail of natural chemicals into our bloodstream, firing our heart rate, speeding up our breathing, etc. in readiness to face the threat. 

 

A feeling of safety, on the other hand, engages our ventral parasympathetic system helping our breathing to slow, our heart rate to drop, guiding our bodies back into a state of relaxation and healing, engagement and connection. At these calm times we can engage in play, helping rebuild our ventral vagal system, the one where we are at our best, in connection, engaged and empowered. Life won’t stop being threatening sometimes, but when it does it will find us much stronger and much more ready to engage with life and all its joys and trials.

 

A state of heightened alert has become the norm. And no, we are not just referring to the last months of lockdown with COVID-19, we are talking about from long before that, managing modern life is, for most people, quite an ongoing challenge, and so it has been since … hey, this is just nature, survival of the fittest says it all.

 

In these states of heightened anxiety, where adults inevitably end up, there’s no easy pathway to play time, unless conscious training and reshaping of our brain wiring takes place.  Whereas in days gone by the danger was one of life or death, these days the same bodily response can be triggered by a deadline coming up or being late for a meeting!

 

When we feel safe we flourish and thrive and playfulness becomes possible.

 

Reflective Practice as a Form of Play

 

When we engage in Reflective Practice, instead of toys or art and craft materials we are playing with thoughts, ideas, different perspectives, knowledge, experience and self-awareness.  Playing with different narratives, seeking the feelings that are evoked by our actions or interactions and how we would like to engage if we could respond rather than react.  We can choose to reflect with toys, crafts or art materials, role-playing, writing, talking, discussing, and listening to each other.

 

Mind the Gap

 

Many of you have come across images such as these:

 

 

 

What do you see?  Probably a few things… can you see the black triangle over the white circles? Interesting, because we have made that one up, it isn’t there at all.

 

How about this one…

 

 

A few black stains on a white background… or… wow... a Dalmatian just popped up.. 

Oh, our perceptions can be so deceptive.

 

When does a circle become ‘not a circle’?

 

Our brains are hardwired to fill in the gaps of our perception, whether that is visual, auditory or sensory.  We humans love to make meaning; we cannot but help to make it.  These images make us aware of our need to make sense of things, to complete the picture, unless we stop, take a step back and realise that things aren’t always as we see and understand.  This is the treasure that play holds, it does not stick to form, and it likes to shift and meander, explore every corner with different lenses, as it builds a colourful, dynamic and fuller picture of our reality.

 

Reflective Practice Group

 

The Reflective Practice Groups are designed to support feelings of safety so that all participants are able to engage in the playful art of thought and contemplation. In a safe space, held by confidentiality, respect and appropriate boundaries, we will play with that which troubles us, shedding light on it, sharing together, letting the events and connections that trouble us out into the open instead of leaving them swimming about in our brain in a cycle that spirals and often causes us anxiety, upset, anger, shame or guilt. 

 

Finding our Brave

 

It is brave and difficult sometimes to share those things that we are not proud of or that we struggle to make sense of but then once shared we will play with them as if they were tangible things.  We can look at them, touch them, delve into them from a safe distance, ask questions of each other and give ourselves choices about how we might respond in future. 

 

Playing with different narratives, seeking the feelings that are evoked by our actions or interactions and how we would like to interact if we could respond rather than react. 

 

The great thing about working in a group is that we get the benefit of others’ experiences, thoughts and ideas and in this way we build our own tool kit for coping with difficult relationships or challenging situations. We can ask questions of others in the group to support deeper understanding and empathy for ourselves and others.  Examining what works and what doesn’t work for us and playing towards feeling okay with our own choices.

 

Working together

 

Sometimes even if we are satisfied with the way we are communicating or responding to others there is much to learn from sharing others’ perspectives.  For example, have you ever said yes to something when really you mean no? Or have you said no but then added a condition that could change that no to a yes and then felt bound to do the thing you have been asked to do but you don’t want to?  Through reflecting on the ways we engage with others, both personally and professionally, we can play with ideas of different ways we can get our needs met and really be heard. 

 

Reflecting with a group of people who come from different walks of life also widens our perspectives as we learn from different professions, different cultures, different age groups and different experiences.  We have learned so much from a wide range of different professionals and are passionate about sharing that experientially with others.

Finding time for Play

 

“A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labour and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.”   L.P. Jacks 

Coming up

 

We will be sharing a video where we will discuss more about how a Reflective Practice Group can support us to have better relationships with ourselves, and thus others.

Renetta Neal  

Reg. MBACP

Supervisor

Counsellor of Children & Adolescents

netty.neal@outlook.com

Marta Badia-Marin 

Clinical Psychologist 

Reg. HCPC

Supervisor and Creative Practitioner

mbadiama@msn.com