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| (Photo by Barry Goyette) |
Welcome to the National Institute of Play, a "non-profit public benefit corporation committed to bringing the unrealized knowledge, practices and benefits of play into public life." Its founder, psychiatrist Stuart Brown, "first discovered the
importance of play by discerning its absence in a carefully studied group of homicidal young males…" When
Brown tried to further study the importance of play, he found that human-based research was not conclusive. According to the institute's website, "a science and evidence-based way of understanding" human play has been lacking.
Brown therefore turned his attention to research on "animal play in the wild." He found that play is a "long evolved behavior important for the well being and survival of animals." He has also been cataloging the human benefits of play, as well as the "negative consequences that inevitably accumulate in a play-deprived life."
Interestingly, even "rough and tumble play" (often stifled by schools which view it as something that must be tightly controlled) has been linked to "social awareness, cooperation, fairness and altruism."
So - no matter what your age - get out there and play! If work-ethic guilt begins to overtake your puritanical
psyche, pray for the ability to truly enjoy (be mindfully within the joy) of God's beautiful Creation.
Resources
http://www.nifplay.org/about_us.html
Copyright March 20, 2013 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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