Grounded Play

When you're ungrounded, it’s harder to make strategic decisions. It’s harder to be clear about your next steps. It’s harder to move into action. So it’s important for change makers to get back to the ground.

Play is one of the earliest ways people learn to get grounded. Remember running around until you’re out of breath? Or laughing until your sides hurt? That’s the feeling of returning to your body.

So during serious meetings, I add in an element of play. It may be a game of tag, but often it’s more subtle. I will encourage jokes or build in a competition for people to come up with new ideas. 

Play works on a principle of tension and release. In tag the tension comes from trying to catch someone or not get caught, and the release comes when someone gets tagged and the roles change. 

Tension and release is the same rhythm that helps people access new ideas. The tension is trying to generate a new idea, and the release comes when you express it. If you want to feel the freedom of doing something new, then you need to get through the tension. 

Like most rhythms, the rhythm of tension and release is easier to access once you get it started. So if you want to access new ideas in your groups or daily life, build in some play. Not just games on your phone, but grounded play that leaves your body feeling different at the end. This will increase your access to creative thinking.