UnPlugged

it is so easy to get swept up in life. we have a tendency to believe that life is happening TO US- yet i ponder this playfully. lately i have chosen to play with life, no against. instead of resisting CHANGE, i am open up my heart to it- not worrying so much about "what it means or how can i survive this?"

change is life. life is our play. we are always evolving, whether we want to or not. life continues to SHOW us who we are, and what we are choosing. when there is constant strife, hardship and worry- life is showing us that we are not choosing to PLAY in alignment with our truest of selves. this may not be easy to read, nor easy to comprehend, but in the past 30 years of my life...i have begun to understand that the play i am writing ....does NOT have to consist of constant DOING and constant TRYING.

sometimes it is in the letting go of the "oars" so to speak where we discover a flow like no other. the flow of ease and the flow of life. life goes on...caterpillars become butterflies, not because they TRIED..but because this is JUST WHAT IS

too often we feel we need to work more, try more, fix more..that we lose touch with the innate WONDER that is us...that is life.

i was interviewed on a radio show and was asked about "simple ways to be more present and playful"

and the one thing that came out first was to unplug.

i was surprised that this was my initial response, but i believe that the more we cling, the more we DISTRACT the harder life becomes. we cling to always being "available" we cling to always being "on" - we cling to always thinking that in order to be "better" we must DO more. unplugging means turning off your computer and sitting. maybe even turning off your phone and giving yourself 10 minutes to go for a walk outside your office/home. unplugging means when negative people are around you that you GIVE yourself permission to unplug from THEIR experience and simply allow it without affecting YOUR PLAY.

we live in a world of polarities. there is dark and there is light ever present- play is not about ignoring the dark, for it is there. play is about REACTING to it differently.

some people in our lives- personally and professionally may make choices that are hurtful or destructive. the more we can unplug from making it OURS the more we begin to discover what FREE will truly is.

it is like a quilt. i use this analogy alot with clients. when we hear someone share gossip or hurtful things, and we decide to plug into it, we take a piece of patchwork and place it on us. more and more this patchwork grows and eventually we are CARRYING someone else's quilt/stories.

this may seem challenging, especially when it involves those we dearly love. however one thing i have realized is that love is not about TAKING on someone else's patchwork of stories- love is loving them and giving their quilt BACK to them.

love is not plugging into someone in order to feel "good, bad, needed, etc"

love is unplugging and allowing space for them to BE who t hey are...and love themselves from the INSIDE out.

through many interesting and somewhat challenging times in my life, i have grown to understand that the only way to truly LOVE is to BE plugged into the greatest source there is...

LIFE. and allow others to play....in any way they need to ..to remember who they truly are.

love. happy independence day

so, how do YOU feel?

i have been practicing yoga for many years, and began teaching it 9 years ago. i was inspired to teach it simply because of how it affected me, not only physically but also playfully. i loved the adventure of each pose and how to explore it- to me, yoga was not about getting it "right" or having an agenda....

i suppose this is a metaphor for life. on or off the "yoga mat" we are always given opportunities to explore and see how it FEELS without looking perfect or achieving a goal, so to speak.

the past year has been a metamorphis-izing experience. i look around and i also witness others, whether personal or professional taking inventory of who they are,what they have "done" and what they want to "be"

this is an exciting time, but often because we fear the unknown, we cling to what we do know so tightly that we get /feel stuck.

this reminds me of a woman in one of my corporate plaYoga classes. she kept asking me "how does this feel? what is this doing for me? am i doing it right?" 

after repeating her inquiries i stopped the class for a playful moment and asked her

"how do YOU feel doing it? where do YOU feel it? Does it feel right to your body?"

she hesitated, and then hesitated more.

what happened is what inspired me to begin to dig deeper into play and permission.

so often we do not GIVE ourselves permission to COME up with our own "conclusions" 

we ask others. we seek others advice. we want others approval,we need to hear someone ELSE say it is okay before doing it...that we LOSE touch with our innate play. our innate wisdom. 

the coolest part about life is that it is ours. if something does not feel right so to speak, then it is up to US to recreate - rewrite the play ....

more importantly it is up to US to not take ENERGY away from ourselves by the following:

"why did i do that? what was i thinking? i should be this. i should be that. i cannot believe i did this. why do you think i did this? should i go back and find out why? should i over analyze my past, look at my parents...teachers anyone who may have CAUSED me to do this? "

self inquiry is important. i am always asking the questions. but too often we can get LOST in finding the answers...

sometimes it is in asking the questions where play lies. it is in taking time to FEEL it out- listen to our body that we discover what a "pose" is for US. 

what "situations" are for US without the need to continue to ask others.....

of course, teachers serve their purpose. we learn from teachers- however i feel a VALUABLE teacher reminds the "student " to TRUST their own inner knowing.

before making a decision. before reacting. before saying yes or no ask yourself

how do I FEEL ? and listen.

permission to play.

permission to be.

life is our teacher....and we are also co teaching with it.

play on

Peace begins with a smile.

Mother Teresa

Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh.

~ W. H. Auden

our greatest teacher

she sat so peacefully, sharing with the participants the challenges she went through as a child. most of her childhood was full of trauma of some kind, yet she was the most peaceful woman i have ever met. tears welled up in her eyes, not when she was sharing her abusive past, but when she was sharing her GRATITUDE for life itself.

sometimes, our greatest teachers are ones that come in packages we had not planned or expected. these people/circumstances may not have loved us, or have treated us disrespectfully or unkindly. what struck me about this woman that was in my workshop was her graciousness. she had surpassed FORGIVENESS- and had gotten to a place so full of grace that even i could not stop crying. i FELT her gratitude for the hardest lessons/teachers. I FELT her gratitude for what it provided her with and how that has ENHANCED her life.

this is what inspired me to write. this is what inspires me to continue to show up to LIFE- even the darkest and hardest of times, i know that there is a LIGHT at the other side. I also know now, that they are lessons-gifts and opportunities in everything to see more of who i am, and who i am not. to forgive myself and others. to love more. to understand more. to truly feel gratitude.

i write with tears in my  eyes for the gift this woman offered me, and for the GIFTS of all experiences in my life so far that have reminded me to dig deeper. learn more. laugh more. cry more. hug more. Be present more. let go more. accept more. and of course PLAY more.

this is mine and that is yours

a little girl was playing at the park. she noticed that a boy fell and began to cry. she watched as the boys mom ran and held him. she watched as the boy cried and cried.

this little girl proceeded to walk over and watch with sincere empathy as the boy began to calm down and enjoy the gentle rockin of his mom....

she then proceeded to go to her mom and say "that little boy fell, momma and that was his experience"

the mom asked her daughter, and what was your experience 

in which she replied "my experience is to love him and hope he feels better"

i share this story with complete awe of our human experience. we so often feel that others are EXPERIENCING our own life. when we feel sad about a TV show, we assume that the other viewer is going to FEEL sad as well. when we are having a hard time in life, we assume that our children are viewing the same experience as hard. but is this true?

it is easy to assume that we all have the same perceptions, but this also can get in our way of truly connecting and HEARING others.

to allow others THEIR experience is truly loving them. to hold the space for them to feel sad or hurt, or angry or whatever and not assume that they should "express it or feel it like we do" is granting not only them, but ourselves permission to be seen and heard.

i have learned through life experiences that sometimes someone will not see my point of view or feel the way i do about a situation. and this is OKAY. it is not only OKAY but what this thing called LIFE is all about. what happens is we get stuck in trying to GET them to feel something the way we do, or GET them to not feel the way they do ...that we miss the golden nugget of opportunity.

we CAN play together, and have different experiences. we CAN love one another and not expect the other person to see/feel like we do. We CAN trust our own experiences without making others wrong/right.  more importantly, we can begin to FEEL how magical it is to be seen, heard and allowed to BE ourselves. to have our own experiences, and allow others to have theirs. this is where love resides. this is where connection resides. 

play on....

Playward's Newest Adventure- RADIO

We are playing on the radio. 

LIVE IN PLAY with Playward Every Saturday 

First show Saturday May 2

2:30-3:30 PT USA

Have something to share, explore or ask CEO Jenny Ward

call in:

646-200-0865

For more playful information and to see who we will have as our rockin guests check out:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Playward/2009/05/02/Live-in-Play-with-Playward