11/17/2025
Play isn’t just for kids — it’s a wellness practice too!
In yoga, play helps us soften the pressure to “perform” and reconnect with curiosity, joy, and possibility.
In this weeks classes, we allow ourselves to explore, so our bodies and minds unlock a different kind of healing.
it’s often called “somatic healing“ in this day and age. The truth is, Yoga has always been somatic.
in today’s class… See the third slide… We wiggled, jiggled, skipped, bounced, bunny hopped, and even did a yoga flow to the Beach Boys!
✨ Why Play Matters for Your Health:
• Reduces stress: Play quiets the mind and shifts you out of fight-or-flight.
• Boosts creativity: New movement patterns spark fresh neural connections.
• Improves mobility: Gentle exploration helps joints move in ways they don’t during routine poses. After all, “variety is the spice of life“.
• Builds confidence: When you try without fear of “getting it right,” your practice becomes expansive.
• Uplifts your mood: Movement paired with curiosity releases feel-good chemicals.
🧘♀️ How to Add Play to Your Yoga Practice:
• Try your poses from different angles — change directions, change transitions. “Rock, sway, dance“ into your poses and out of them.
• Add “wiggles,” circles, and spirals in your spine, wrists, hips, and ankles. We covered “hinges and circles“ in class today.
• Explore balance like a game, not a test. We did a tight rope walk!
• Turn a pose into a mini-flow and see where your body wants to go. Let yourself be intuitive or creative.
• Laugh when you wobble. Actually, just laugh at yourself more often.
• Let your inner child guide part of your practice.
* Use your favourite music! Music is nostalgic, motivating and signals your brain in a different way.
Remember: Play is medicine. Yoga can be a playground.
another thing I like my students to do: “dance like nobody’s watching“.
enjoy a little playtime in your day and let me know how it goes!
