The Importance of Play
play.
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play happens when our our built in surveillance systems have enough room on the tape to detect safety.
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the moment that system of surveillance no longer perceives cues of safety, both from our outside and our inside world, play transforms into vigilance, and the joy and neurogenesis and explorative nature takes a back seat.
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kids remind us how to play all the time. thank goodness for that.
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for our infants, that time is so needed to explore the limbs of our new bodies, grabbing and sucking and crossing midline to understand what it means to be in the physical suit of skin and tissue.
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little do they know, this is also assisting them in building firm roots of their nervous systems, so they can go on to build things like postural reflexes and coordination.
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for our older kids, that play is critical in helping them to integrate all that they are learning, to hold right to what is productive and of service, and relinquish that which is not.
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It all matters.
it is all purposeful.
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and if our own nervous systems, as adults, could borrow the surveillance system of our kiddos, we could benefit and enjoy more play in our lives with far greater ease than we do now.
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so today, look to your kids as they play.
know that it is so important for their development.
