How do you play?
Why do we shrink into adulthood? When I was a kid, between the ages of six and eight, I lived in Abu Dhabi. Now, you have to remember, that was in the ’70s.
There was TV, but my brother and I would be lucky to catch half a Tom and Jerry episode in between the news segments. There were no video games yet either. And we would have to stay inside in the summer because the temperature could top 110 degrees. So what did we do instead? We used our imagination and we played.
Besides the place we lived in, we also had an apartment across the hall. My Mom had her workspace in there but besides that, we had the whole place to ourselves after school. And it had a toy box with lots of games and costumes.
We could also play on the flat Mediterranean-style roof, setting up our little store with a toy cash machine and inviting my mother up to sell her our stuffed animals, toy cars, and books.
And I was a total ham. I would dress in whatever I could find in that toy box and put on shows for my Mom. I had so much energy, and so much “fun” in me. I was uninhibited, silly, and playful. I wish I could find the picture of me, strutting down the hallway, my favorite square metal lunchbox in hand, corn cob pipe in my mouth, and a scrunchy old straw hat on my head, with a vaudeville grin on my face.
But where did that little girl go? Did she completely disappear? That picture of me is somewhere and I really want to find it so I can bring it with me to the Spirit at Play retreat I’m hosting in a few weeks. I would like to put that picture in a frame and place it on the altar space in the yoga room.
And my co-hosts and I will re-introduce those imagination games… playing in the spaces of our uninhibited minds and finding the kid inside who has been there all along. It will be so much fun! Perhaps you’d like to join us? I’ll probably be a total ham with you too.
Ranya Anabtawi, Empathic Yoga founder has been teaching the principles and practices of Raja Yoga since 2008.
