Play to stay together!

The ability to be playful translates into staying power. Having fun together enables relationships to thrive in the face of stressful and challenging situations.

Try some ‘openness’, seeing things through their eyes.

All emotional sharing builds strong and lasting relationship bonds, but sharing humor and sheer delight adds a unique restorative and healing element, reducing stress and mending fences. Nothing works faster or more dependably to alter stress and bring your body and mind back into balance. With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems in relationships. Finding ways to create a playful environment in even the most dire situation can dramatically transform the outcome.

In relationship, play is a source of pleasure made more joyous by the mutuality of the experience. We play together in relationship to:

• Practice spontaneity

• Let go of defences – forgetting briefly our judgements, criticisms and doubt.

• Release inhibitions

• Calm and energise

• Become emotionally authentic

The laughter of course needs to be mutually shared and not one sided. Also, when we use humour as a cover for other feelings of fear, hurt, anger, and disappointment, we create confusion and mistrust in our relationship.

One of the best ways to learn how to play is to practice with the ‘experts’. Play with animals, babies, young children. Every one of us is born joyful.  It is our natural birthright.  We’re all born happy, playful, free, uninhibited and loving but, bit by bit, children learn to rein in laughter, seek approval, hide impulses and become conditioned to do only that which makes life easier for others.

Remember what made you happy and start shedding the old limitations and expectations.  It takes courage to choose joy.

Play gives us the opportunity to turn frustrations and negative experiences into opportunities for shared fun and intimacy. Laughter and the ability to see things from a humorous perspective make us resilient and gives us a means to strengthen the relationship.