Rain rain go away, come again another day
It’s raining on the Gold Coast and I had all sorts of play and adventure planned however the weather decided otherwise. Each new activity I came up with got stymied either by my choice about my safety in the wet or my choice not wanting to get soaked.
So what to do when my choices are being limited by the weather and I'm itching to play?
Firstly, Pilates and yoga and yup, I did those two back to back. For me these two classes aren’t necessarily exercise, they are play and I get different things from each of them. How on earth could exercise that makes my abs burn, arms and legs shake and brain sometimes explode with working out what on earth I’m meant to be doing be play? It’s all in the mindset. I’m playing with how my body feels and how to get it into the positions the instructor is guiding us to, playing with how my mind responds and where my mind goes to or where I can guide it to focus. I get to play on equipment and with props ie with toys like kids do, and most importantly I get to take time out for me.
So that’s done, what next. Food!
As far as I’m concerned food is the best! Spending time preparing and eating food doesn’t have to be a chore if you allow it to be fun and playful even if it’s simple. We don’t all have children, but have you ever spent a moment looking at how a child sees food preparation and the fun and magic in it.
How long has it been since you really thought about each ingredient, maybe experimented, didn’t care about the mess and had a great time simply focused on making the tasty dish in front of you, because let’s be realistic we can clean it up at the end and no matter how big the mess is there's always a vacuum, hose, mop around somewhere.
If you’re flying solo when was the last time you spent some time really getting into making something delicious for yourself. If you have a family perhaps make it an activity and make it fun rather than rushing together some nutrition or stomach filler.
Then the eating part, my favourite. Put the phone down, turn off the TV, put the newspaper away and really focus on what you’re eating, enjoy the fruits of your labour (even if you made simple toast). If you’re with someone else connect with them while you both enjoy the deliciousness in front of you. Making a cup of coffee, sitting and drinking it mindfully could be as simple as you choose. I’d include a photo of my food play, but I can’t because I was too busy enjoying it to take a photo.
My morning of play is done and I can either get on with adulting, read a book, have a cup of tea with a friend or go with the flow of however my day unfolds perhaps with some more play. Regardless I’ve managed some good me time to play today so I’m happy.
How will you play today?
Pilates photo care of @organicpilates, my Pilates home on the Gold Coast
Rainy day photo - all mine
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