I am back from a break week! It was ski skate week in Tahoe and we opted to get out of dodge, packed up the fam and headed to Utah for a week of snowboarding, and play. As I write this I am sitting at Woodward Park City as my husband and son take a few final park laps. We started off the week in Snowbird and were blessed with days of powder. I spent a day at the spa, took yoga classes, and sat in the hot tub, and I am beyond excited to get back to Tahoe with all the percolating ideas brewing in my mind!
I have clients to train, coaches, and entrepreneurs to mentor but these breaks for rest and play are so important in keeping me on my game. Not a day has gone by that each project hasn’t been on my mind. Never the less, this time to process and learn, that I have learned to take, and build into my routines is vital. When I rest, I start to draw conclusions I didn’t otherwise see, or I am inspired to create something, or help someone in a new way. In these breaks I often take time to learn, read, absorb, and write, developing the beginning of ideas that grow and grow into future projects and passions.
As we continue to read “Hidden Potential” with the Empowered Mind Collective book club, I am inspired by the participants, and the conversations around the books’ ideas have been so fun and motivating. This week I am thinking especially about deliberate play. Adam Grant writes, “It’s not a coincidence that in music, the term for practice is play”. This brings me back to my experiences learning to play the piano as a child.
My grandmother was an accomplished pianist, and my Mom hoped my sister and I may be as well. My first piano teacher was a mean man in the organ and piano store in the mall. Once a week I would go into a tiny room with him, and feel so guilty for not practicing the horribly boring sheet music, and chords, he forced me to memorize. My child brain was so sad, every day he pulled out those dusty old books. I didn’t do my part, but he was also not making it fun at all! A few years later I had a lovely and kind teacher who let me pick what I wanted to play and taught me theory with music I chose. I enjoyed the whole process so much more, but I think at that point I was so traumatized I had completely convinced myself I hated playing and I eventually talked my Mom into letting me quit.
I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if I was allowed to come to piano playing as deliberate play rather than a grinding, unrelenting practice. Practice is essential, and helpful, but the way it is framed within play, can make all the difference. You can come to your health and wellness practices in the same way. If you are struggling with a task, like meal prep, ask yourself, how can I make it more fun? How can I break up the daunting task parts in a way that allows for harmonious passion to emerge? Maybe it’s preparing foods you actually enjoy, re-writing your favorite recipes in more healthful ways, including friends or family in prep, listening to your favorite music while prepping, etc…
It’s not lost on me that having time for rest, and deliberate play can feel like a privilege. But, you don’t have to travel to snow covered mountains, be gifted piano lessons, or have the fanciest kitchen for meal prep to partake. You can carve out these habits in the niche of your existing life with intention and care. Start with small deliberate breaks while working, or find the opportunities for creativity within your existing tasks. Only you can choose to infuse joy into the mundane, seek out mentors and coaches you can be guided by, and start living each day absorbing the learning that is available, and then solidifying it with deliberate play followed by rest and reflection.
My challenge for you this week is to choose ONE thing you can do to infuse deliberate play into a seemingly daunting task! Share your deliberate play moment in the Empowered Community, I cannot wait to hear what you come up with!
Playfully,
Christine Bettera
PN L2 Master Coach + ACSM CPT
Owner Tahoe Flow Arts & Fitness
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