Last weekend two of my granddaughters and I walked over to the local playground. We held hands and slid down the three side-by-side slides -- screaming and giggling. Total abandonment. Just plain fun!

Today the strange title above caught my attention: The Serious Matter of Play. Who knew that play is a “serious matter”?  Ruth Silverstein’s article got me thinking.  

It would seem that in this 21st Century we have studies on just about everything imaginable, including playtime. And as soon as there is a study on it, well it becomes a “serious matter”.

Silverstein provides a variety of learned reasons why children should play, including my favourite, “a time to practice socialization skills”.  Furthermore, she makes the observation that many kids are so programmed that they barely have time to “handle unstructured play time”.  How sad. 

The article led me to consider liberation - a goal for me as I take my yoga practice off the mat and into the world.  How liberating for anyone of any age to just have fun.

Have you played this week?  Not only is it a “serious matter”, but it is liberating!

Have you ever looked a challenge in the face and signed up for it anyway?  Maybe a 5k run, or a 50 k run. A project at work. Maybe a diet.  Maybe....well you get the point.

I signed up for the  “Living Your Moksha Challenge” last week. By doing so I’ve joined Moksha yoga students globally for 50 days. (Moksha is a form of yoga practiced in a hot room (102*F).)

The point of the challenge: try something new -- take the experience of yoga beyond the mat.  The hope is that we may find freedom, liberation, peace, connection and joy in places we have never found it before. Or maybe not even sought before. 

I don’t know where this will lead, but I thought it might be fun to share some of the changes or findings with you.

So often we fragment our lives as though we are little compartments: work compartment, home compartment, friend compartment, volunteer compartment. Etcetera.

So to be challenged to take my yoga experience off the mat and into my other compartments is .... hmm.... interesting.  What will that mean?

Is there something you may find challenging that you would like to take a second look at and try it?

When my kids were in elementary school they loved April Fools Day. One year they called Grandma and told her all about the new puppy we had just bought the night before.  They muffled their giggles as they answered Grandma’s questions about the breed, the colour, and of course, the name. Finally they could not contain their laughter any longer and yelled “April Fools Grandma!”.  There was no puppy.

The reason they found it so hilarious was that they knew Grandma did not like dogs! They also knew her well enough that she was trying to be excited for them, but when they told her there was no dog, she truly was excited!!!

Why do I tell this story?  I love watching personalities communicating with one another. The interaction between Grandma and the kids was priceless. Grandma was a “people pleaser” and the kids knew that at the tender age of 6 and 8. They used this knowledge about her particular trait to their advantage to create a hilarious  event that we still talk about many years later!