Whimsical reflections of play, mindfulness and well-being
If there’s anything I’ve learned from Steve Brophy since meeting him at the Flow Genome Project (FGP) Coaches Certification in Feb 2019 is the essentialality of play
As part of the research component of the FGP training Steve conducted a self-experiment where he measured his heart rate variability (HRV) before and after engaging in play over a 30 day period. His hypothesis was, “does play increase physical and emotional resilience (as inferred by an increase in HRV)?”
Essentially Steve added in an “adult 30 minute recess” which as school aged children was enforced on us by our teachers. However this time Steve reflected on his ‘play history’ and found activities such as drawing, colouring in, sports, making or playing music and video games. He filled the list with play activities he’s been drawn to and delighted in whismy in.
What I loved about Steve’s hypothesis was how he took such a methodical approach in his design for such a playful and curious research topic.
Steve’s findings were clear… 30 mins of adult playtime increased energy straight after and two hours later!!
He was delighting in his whimsy and for that he returned renewed, energised, and in a more ready state to tackle whatever work tasks were next on his list. HRV is being used more and more as a trackable metric as it infers energy, resilience, capacity for emotional regulation, complex cognition as well as reaction time, creativity and probability of burnout.
Using Jackson’s Short Flow State Scale, Steve’ also found which particular playtime activities caused him to tap into a flow more. In other words, which play activities provided more selflessness, timelessness, effortless and richness as Jamie Wheal & Steven Kotler wrote about in Stealing Fire.
Well, he found out!!
Armed with this knowledge, how likely is Steve going to guard his adult play time? Knowing adult recess results in a prolonged energy increase and provides him with and tangible and felt afterglow (or afterflow?).
Does this mean all the corporates are going to “seriously” install adult playgrounds and enforce adult recess in offices around the world? I doubt it. In my opinion that would be a mistake anyways as Steve has shown us the importance of self-selecting one’s own play activities. Personally I love video games and perhaps not so crash hot on the colouring in… but something I’m keen to explore and am open too now.
Autonomy is a key driver in self-motivation so facilitating employees to complete their own play inventories is the first step.
Play, as defined by Van Vleet & Feeney (2015), is: an activity or behaviour that (a) is carried out with the goal of amusement and fun, (b)involves an enthusiastic and in-the-moment attitude or approach, and © is highly interactive among play partners or with the activity itself.
So while maintstream corporates are jumping on the mindfulness bandwagon, and rightfully so, if you look at that definition, mindfulness is included in play and yet it feels 1000% better!! As play is autotelic, rewarding, and done for it’s own sake whereas mindfulness while beneficial and also rewarding can feel like a chore.
If you are looking for a program to boost energy, flow and emotional resilience with high rates of buy in, adherence, and long-term gains, then choosing playfulness over mindfuless may be worth considering.
Thank you Steve for your article “Delighting in Whimsy” and your Capstone research project. You’ve inspired me to play more, seek novelty, have more fun, and find my inner Robbie who’s been dying to come out and play with someone like you.
