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You’ve probably seen or heard the phrase “mindset is everything” a lot lately—and for good reason. Your mindset creates the lens through which you think, feel, interact, and behave. In that way, it really is everything—and science can prove it. 

For example, recognizing how I perceive stress in my life over the past few years has been incredibly eye opening for me. Understanding when my mindset is coming from a place of lack, scarcity, overwhelm and helplessness allows me to shift to recognizing the challenge while also seeing the many ways in which I can tackle it or make changes to support myself. This has been a huge growth area for me and has made a significant impact in my life. 

To help you embrace the idea that mindset is everything, let’s look at just how powerful your mindset actually is for creating a healthier and happier life.

Proof That Mindset is Everything

Your mindset shifts your perspective, which in turn impacts how you navigate circumstances, make sense of experiences, strive toward goals, learn from failures, and confront obstacles.

1. Feel Less Stressed (Yes, it’s possible!)

Feeling less stressed may come down to how you think about stress, according to psychologist Alia Crum, PhD, an assistant professor at Stanford University. In one particular study, a group of employees in a downsizing financial company were told that stress could help rather than hurt them in an effort to reduce their stress. It sounds crazy, right? 

Well, turns out, it works! This group of employees reported fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety, along with an increase in optimism versus the control group. While we don’t believe empty mantras and affirmations can change your life, we do believe shifting your perspective does—and this is one great example of just how powerful that can be.

In fact, I know that when I’m stressed with an overwhelming workload and I remind myself that the stress about my job pales in comparison to the stress that others are facing, I immediately gain perspective. Similarly, when I focus on the fact that I am grateful for work that challenges me and helps me grow, I can embrace the challenge in a different way.

2. Be More Resilient

Growth mindset, the idea that you can change the way you think (as opposed to a fixed mindset, in which what you believe cannot change), is a key element of feeling more resilient and persistent as you manage the ups and downs of life. (Let’s be honest, we all have them!) 

A study of 2,500 students found that those in the growth mindset group scored lower on “mental health issues” and “stress due to life events” than those in the fixed mindset group. As the research points out, this is because this mindset “encourages healthy and adaptive ways of facing and tolerating anxiety, frustration, and disappointment, which promotes resilience.” 

So often, we feel we’re at the whim of life when we don’t have to. In fact, science says that our mindset can help us feel more resilient in the face of anything that comes our way.

3. Jump-Start Your Wellness Journey

How many times have you started working out just to stop days later? I’m very familiar with this back-and-forth dance; it’s one I did for many years before I found Pilates. Part of this back and forth may be about the way you set goals when you’re just starting out.

This research found that groups who were prescribed “low-and-liberal” exercise recommendations (vs. high-and-stringent) felt that their movement was more adequate. This meant that they were more likely to keep going and feel better about their health a week later.

This is the idea that Lindywell built upon—and what ultimately helped me create consistency in my workout routine once and for all. When you can shift your mindset from “I need to work out hard for 60 minutes a day every day” to something more realistic, like, “I’ll just move my body for 10 minutes in any way that feels good” you’re much more likely to stick with it. 

At least that’s what I and thousands of Lindywell members have experienced!

4. Relieve Symptoms of Chronic Illness

Chronic illness is complex. What I’m not saying here is: it’s all in your head—and mindset can help relieve some of the symptoms experienced. A study from the Journal of the American Medical Association reveals that if you expect a healing outcome, the body will listen and even respond. 

This research found positive correlations between a growth mindset and functional improvements in the immune, cardiovascular, and neuroendocrine systems. What’s more, patients with type-1 diabetes, who believe their health can change, have lower blood sugar levels. The power of the mind-body connection cannot be overlooked.

5. Feel More Connected in Romantic Relationships

Your mindset is playing a critical role in your relationships, especially romantic ones. This collection of research explains that mindfulness not only enhances closeness and connections with a partner but when measured on the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), researchers found a positive association with relationship satisfaction.

While not everything can be “fixed” with your mindset, you can shift the lens with which to look at your relationship. Being more mindful might help you overlook the little things that aren’t quite perfect while creating an even deeper connection with your partner. 

How to Work on Your Mindset

At Lindywell, we have two favorite ways to work on mindset: Pilates and breathwork. Why?

At Lindywell, we’re continually reframing fitness and our relationship to our bodies through the words we use in every single workout, email and video. While Pilates is inherently a mind-body style of movement, we regularly remind our members to shift their mindset around not just the way they exercise, but how they think about perfection, self-compassion, strength, and so much more.

Similarly, breathwork encourages you to slow down and tune in. When you close down all the tabs in your mind (I have a dozen open most times of the day!), you can understand what you’re actually thinking and feeling. That’s when you can begin shifting beliefs and perspectives that are impacting the way you live your life.

The reminder I always want to share, however, is that it’s not a one-and-done. Consistently showing up on your mat or taking time to breathe with intention each week is the only way to reap the long-term benefits in your life. 

If you want to start working on your mindset (while moving your body, feeling more confident, and so much more!), start your 14-day free trial of Lindywell today. You’ll get instant access to hundreds of workout videos, dozens of guided breathwork sessions, and all of our Lindywell recipes! 

Bottom Line: Your Mindset Matters

Mindset is everything. It impacts your mental, emotional, and physical wellness by shifting the lens through which you see the world. As such, your mindset influences how you overcome setbacks, embrace new opportunities, interact with others, and evolve as a human. Don’t overlook this important aspect of your personal development if you want to live a happier, calmer, and more connected life. 

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Self-love mantras sound good, in theory, right? Reminding yourself how brilliant or wonderful you are to overcome your self-doubt is a great idea—but it’s not taking the whole picture into account. This particular ideology says that if you believe in a certain outcome or think hard enough, the universe (higher power, source, God) will present it to you.

If that were true, I would be the world’s most patient mother! The thing is, your body can’t be fooled. No matter how many times you repeat a mantra, you can’t overwrite what your body already believes to be true.

If you’re quick to abandon mantras because they just don’t work for you, this could explain why. Before you give up entirely though, I have another idea. Let’s get into the science of self-love mantras (you know we love to dig into the science!) and how to reframe them so you can actually create the change you’re seeking.

Why Your Self-Love Mantras Aren’t Working

The goal of a mantra is to shift what you currently believe into a new, perhaps happier, or more supportive, belief and/or take action on something you want to change. Here’s the problem: in order for a mantra to stick, and actually shift your belief or spur you into action, you need to know it’s possible. You can’t simply “wishful think” yourself into anything despite what many social media influencers might lead you to believe.

I’ll use an example to illustrate. Let’s assume you’re unhappy with how little you’re working out and want to be more fit. You might develop a mantra to combat your body insecurities and motivate you to go to the gym, like: “I am fit. I love to work out. My body is toned.” 

If you’re unhappy with how little you’re working out and how out of shape you feel, chances are this mantra is going to fizzle out in the long term because your body knows it’s a false narrative. You won’t decide to start working out every day or magically start loving your body just because you chant a few things you want to believe. 

Instead, you’ll feel shame when you stay exactly where you are. The good news is, making your self-love mantras work is as simple as a reframe.

The Secret Sauce for Self-Love Mantras That Work

Reframing is what your self-love mantras are missing. Here’s what I mean by that. Let’s use the fitness example from earlier:  

• Current Desire: Work out more often to become more fit.
• Useless Self-Love Mantra: I am fit. I love to work out. My body is toned.
• Reframed Self-Love Mantra: My body can be active. My body can master new challenges. My body has overcome many obstacles and it can do that again. 

This reframed mantra is effective because all the statements are true. Rather than forcing yourself to chant a hollow phrase you don’t actually believe, this mantra is empowering and reminds you of the capabilities you already have and that you’re more likely to feel are genuine.

This reframing formula leverages NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming, a language technique that can change someone’s thoughts and behaviors to help achieve desired outcomes). It also brings in the power of self-love while rejecting old shame deeply embedded in the fitness industry. 

With all of this, you can tap into the body (somatics) and build new neural pathways (the result of neuroplasticity) to create new beliefs. 

The Science Behind Your New Self-Love Mantras

The brain has a reward center in the prefrontal cortex (the front of your brain), which activates if you do something to cause a positive outcome. This matters because, when you turn your mantra into something you actually believe, you’re more likely to take action. 

When you take action, and feel good about yourself for doing so, your reward center releases dopamine (the pleasure chemical). This has a domino effect, causing you to want to do it more and more, which is, of course, how real change occurs.

The best part about this is that even a small taste of success will ultimately breed more success because the brain is wired to continue seeking it out. This means, reframing your self-love mantras leads to long-term habit-building, growth, and happiness— and that’s what we all want, right? (I know I do!)

It’s Time to Reframe Your Mantras

To reap the benefits of self-love mantras, or any mantras for that matter, you have to echo what’s already true. You can’t overwrite your current beliefs or build new habits just by saying something over and over. You have to leverage what your body already believes to be true to take action. This in turn releases that pleasure hormone, so you’re motivated to keep doing it. Before you know it, that thing you started repeating to yourself has shifted your reality and you can’t even remember what life was like before!

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At Lindywell, we focus on Pilates mat exercises because we love how accessible they are. You can do your workout anywhere and sometimes, you don’t even need a mat! (Our standing workouts are a favorite in the community.)

Another thing we love is how fun these exercises can be. Forget workouts that are repetitive, long, and boring. At Lindywell, we always want to make workouts challenging but also enjoyable. I mean, why else would we do it, right? Plus, when we love what we’re doing, we’re more likely to be consistent with it. A win-win!

Let’s talk about the importance of building more fun into your workout routine. Afterward, I’ll share some of my favorite Pilates mat exercises that are as fun as they are effective. 

The Benefits of Making Fitness Fun

It’s no secret that a consistent wellness routine is important for both your physical and mental health. If you don’t look forward to exercise, however, chances are, you won’t stick with the program. That’s because interest and enjoyment are two main predictors of sticking with a workout routine over time.

This fun factor boosts your intrinsic motivation, which helps to build more consistency. Plus, this has a positive effect on your mental wellness too. There’s a direct correlation between exercise and dopamine (your happy hormone). The more you love it, the more you do it, the happier you are. That’s an equation I can get behind!

Finally, prioritizing fun in your workouts can help with social connections as well. When study participants took part in group or community exercise programs they felt more energized, experienced healthier relationships, and felt more satisfaction in life overall. 

You can’t argue with science—fun fitness pays off!     

8 Fun and Playful Pilates Mat Exercises 

While I think most Pilates exercises are fun, I especially love these ones, which come from our Joyful Movement workout. 

If you’re not already a Lindywell member, sign up for your 14-day free trial to get instant access to this, along with more workouts, a weekly workout calendar, and daily featured workout suggestions—say goodbye to decision fatigue! Plus, our breathwork sessions help alleviate stress and regulate your nervous system!

1. Spinal Warm-Up (10 repetitions)

Allow your body to move in an unstructured, free-flowing manner. This is a fun and comfortable way to loosen the spine, increase circulation, and work out any stiffness or tension. Remember to softly bend the knees, maintain a neutral posture, relax the shoulders, then let the arms swing freely as you twist from one side to the other—and have fun!

2. Prancing (10 repetitions)

This movement activates the calf muscles and helps strengthen the feet and ankles, an area that can be easily forgotten. As you perform this back-and-forth motion, maintain a lift in your pelvic floor and length in your spine. 

3. Standing Balance (5 repetitions on each side)

This is one of my favorite Pilates mat exercises for challenging stability. Balancing forces your accessory muscles (all the little muscles) to work harder, so you’ll build even more strength. Remember to continuously use the core to stabilize yourself as you move through this exercise.

4. Rolling Like a Ball

Rolling is so silly and playful—and it’s also a great way to massage the spinal column while building core strength. If you find that you’re falling flat on your back as you roll back, tuck your pelvis more (creating more of a c-shape with your spine) to get that rolling motion. This one is fun, so enjoy it!

5. Open Leg Rocker (10 repetitions)

If you love Rolling Like a Ball, you’ll love this one too—and the added challenge can make it even more silly because it’s not always easy to do gracefully! Remember that you can modify this position with a slight bend in the knees. 

6. Hamstring Pull with Roll-Ups (5 repetitions on each side)

Tension in the hamstrings can lead to injuries or limit flexibility and range of motion in the hips and lower back. This is a great Pilates mat exercise to do regularly to stay mobile if you sit at a desk all day—plus, it’s also great for your core. 

7. Seal Pup (10 repetitions)

Unleash your inner seal with this exercise—”barking” noises are optional, but encouraged! As with all of the other rolling exercises, remember to tuck your pelvis and activate the core so you can flow while building strength. 

8. Plank Hovers with C-Curves (5 repetitions on each side)

This movement creates resistance in your shoulders, arms, spine, abdominals, glutes, quads, and calves. It’s one of those amazing full-body Pilates mat exercises that’s so efficient! Exercises like this make your workouts super effective—and fun.

Make Your Workout More Fun With Pilates 

No matter where you’re at on your fitness journey, Mat Pilates is accessible, beneficial, and enjoyable. You can adapt each move to your own comfort level while building strength, balance, and flexibility. If you want to make fitness fun, give these exercises a try—and don’t forget to sign up for your free 14-day Lindywell trial to enjoy this full workout and many more like it!

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Somatic breathwork, despite how it may sound, is not technical or complicated. In fact, if you’ve ever done a breathwork session with me at Lindywell, you’ve already done it! 

At Lindywell, we consider somatic breathwork a conscious form of breathing that is intended to help you experience being in your body. It teaches you to breathe fully, oxygenate your body, and become aware of your senses. Somatic breathwork helps shift your mental state while allowing you to return to full and healthy breath. 

For example, if I encourage you to sink into the seat below you as you take a deep breath, feeling your body relax into that support, we’re not just breathing, we’re altering our physical state.

This way of breathing is so important because the connection between the breath and the body is powerful. Here’s the thing though: powerful doesn’t have to mean serious. 

In fact, what I want to talk about today is how we can use somatic breathwork to be more playful! Let’s talk about how you can connect play and somatic breathwork, why this connection can be even more beneficial for your body and mind, and, most importantly, a few ways to try it for yourself. 

Breathwork and Play: What’s the Connection?

All breathwork, somatic or otherwise, can be playful. Think back to when you were a child. As children, you were likely playful with your breath in ways you might not even recognize:

• Blowing out birthday candles
• Blowing a pinwheel
• Blowing bubbles
• Blowing the fluffy head of a dandelion
• Sniffing cookies freshly baked

All of these activities brought a deep sense of joy and satisfaction—and were also innately playful. I want you to take a moment right now to think about one of these memories for you. Take a deep breath and imagine you’re back in that moment. 

As you do this, notice how your body feels. You might immediately be transported back to your childhood home with your parents baking in the kitchen, or running around your yard blowing bubbles with your siblings. 

Your senses are heightened like you’re there again. In this moment of nostalgia, you feel more relaxed, you may even have a smile on your face. That right there, is why playful breathwork is important.

The Connection Between Play and Calm

It’s time to let go of what breathwork should look like, and embrace the fun of it! When you do this, you not only experience the nervous system regulation benefits of breathwork (you feel less anxious and stressed, your body is able to function better—hello, deeper sleep and improved digestion—and so much more), but you get to enjoy the benefits of play too, which include:

• Better management of difficult emotions like grief.
• Improved brain functioning. 
• Increased resilience and self-confidence.
• Greater sense of optimism and overall life satisfaction.
• Improved function of most hormones in the body. 
• Reduced heart rate and glucose levels.
• Better balance, posture, and bone health.

So much of your life can improve by simply having a little fun with your breath—so let’s get into how you can do that. 

How to Make Somatic Breathwork Playful

Bringing back the playfulness of childhood through breathwork is actually really simple. You just have to be willing to have a little fun! Here are two exercises to start with. The first is down-regulating, meaning to calm the body down. The second is up-regulating, which means to increase energy. Yes, both may feel silly—and yes, THAT is the point!

First: Lion’s Breath 

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This style of breathwork alleviates feelings of stress and anxiety, increases cognitive function, and boosts lung capacity. 

Find a comfortable place to sit, close your eyes, and take three deep breaths in and out to slow down and come into this space and your body. Now, inhale slowly through your nose, feeling your belly expand as you fill your lungs with air. There’s that soma (body) connection. 

Now it’s time for Lion’s Breath: after inhaling slowly, exhale forcefully through your mouth while looking up at the exhale. As you do, release the breath with a powerful “ha” or “hah” sound from the back of your throat, creating a roaring or lion-like sound. Stick out your tongue as far as you can, making it feel alive and active.

Repeat this for 3 minutes to start and go longer if necessary.

Second: Breath of Fire 

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This style of breathwork gives you an energy boost through rapid exhalations. As you prepare, engage your core by drawing your belly button in towards your spine. This will provide support and stability during the practice.

Take a deep breath in, and on the next exhale, forcefully and quickly contract your abdominal muscles to push the air out through your nose. The inhale will happen passively as your abdomen relaxes. It should be quick and automatic, without conscious effort. The focus should be on the forceful exhale.

When doing this, try to maintain a consistent and continuous rhythm. Remember, though, that the speed of the breath should be moderate and comfortable, without straining or gasping for air. Follow your body and what feels best for you.

Repeat this for 30 seconds to up to 10 minutes depending on how comfortable this is for you and your level of experience.

How to Bring Play to Your Daily Breathwork Session

While both of the previous practices are supportive (and fun!), you can make your everyday breathwork more playful too. Here are a few simple ways to do that. 

Choose a Fun Visualization 

Pretend you have a plate of cookies, your favorite food, or a gorgeous flower in front of you. Spend 30 seconds visualizing this item to the point where you start to smell it. This happens because the experience of visualization turns on your olfactory response (the sensation of smell) and your mouth starts to salivate. Crazy, right?

Get creative with what you visualize, but try to get it so clear that you can truly inhale the scent. Enjoy the feeling of calm and happiness that washes over you as you do it.

Use a Hoberman Sphere

This kid’s toy, first invented in 1995, is actually a great breathwork tool! Not only is it fun and playful, but it can increase mindfulness during breathwork. You can use this as an adult to bring more fun and intention to your breathwork session, but it’s also great to share with little ones to model how belly breathing works. Expand and contract the ball as you breathe in and out, just as your belly expands with airflow in and contracts with airflow out.

Try Shape Breathing

This simple somatic breathwork exercise is done by tracing shapes in the air (a heart, a cloud, the outline of a building, anything!) and letting your breath follow as you do. For example, if I trace the shape of a heart, I may inhale on one side and exhale on the other.

It’s fun and playful, and, as a bonus, it helps you bring even more attention to your breath. This is another good one to do with kiddos and something they can do no matter where they are.  

Breathwork Can Be Playful

You might think of breathwork as being serious—and it can be. It requires us to slow down and focus. That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with it, though! Even more importantly, when you do make it playful, there are more mind-body benefits for you to experience. 

Take your somatic breathwork to a new level and play with these different exercises. You may just find you walk away with a smile on your face and lightness in your step—just like when you were a kid! If you’re still looking for some breathwork guidance, join us for Exhale Hour in July, where we’ll be focused on making breathwork FUN!

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Here at Lindywell, we’ve been focusing on turning play into a daily habit, both on and off the Pilates mat. What I’ve found is that taking time for play is about so much more than just having fun—it’s an essential component of my mental and physical health.

As adults, however, it can be difficult to integrate play into our normal routines. If you’re anything like me, you have a full schedule of commitments and priorities that need your attention. The good news is, you don’t have to carve out hours each day to leverage the many benefits of play. In fact, you may not even need to add anything extra at all.

Here are five reasons to turn this childhood pastime into a daily habit, plus a few tips for how to do it.

1. Play for Mental Health

Mental health struggles can feel unavoidable sometimes. Our world is hectic and our lives are busy! This is why play is so needed—it might even help you restore the balance you’ve been craving in your life.

During COVID-19, 200 respondents in quarantine were asked to track their mood states. According to the research, those who prioritized leisure activities (I.E. things that they participate in voluntarily for fun) were more mentally adaptable and resilient in the face of pandemic stress. Those people were also less vulnerable to depression, anxiety, and loneliness, and they reported higher overall life satisfaction. 

Even in hard circumstances, play can be the natural mood lifter you need to help sustain mental and emotional wellness.  

Your New Daily Habit: Shift your perception of “play.” What I mean is, everyday activities like working out, making dinner, or listening to music in the car can be playful if you choose to make them so. Pick a workout that you love, try a new recipe for dinner, or put on your favorite music from high school to turn these everyday activities into outlets for play.

2. Play for Productivity

Productivity is often the name of the game, whether you’re cleaning the yard or working at an office. Surprisingly, play can be a key element in helping you be more productive. Office workers who played a team video game for 45 minutes were 20 percent more efficient and productive when returning to their tasks. This playtime activity emphasized collaboration and enjoyment, and the results paid off. 

Team members also improved in their cohesion, problem-solving, communication, goal orientation, motivation, and creative thinking. Plus they had to make time to focus and process information quickly, all of which boosts brain function.

Your New Daily Habit: Take play breaks in between productive chunks of your day. Go for a walk, dance around the house, or play with your pet. I love to BLANK on busy days—and I always come back feeling refreshed and ready to jump back in.

3. Play for Your Relationships

It’s not a coincidence that young children who play together often become close friends. This phenomenon isn’t true of just children either. Play is a way to build healthy adult relationships too, no matter your stage of life. 

A group of adults (45 years or older), who played together for 10 consecutive weeks, had a  noticeable improvement in their relationships with one another. They reported feeling more emotionally attuned, cooperative, altruistic, trusting, and empathetic toward one another—so cool! 

They also felt encouraged to be authentic without any fear of judgment. That’s because shared play can reinforce secure community bonds. So powerful, and yet so simple.

Your New Daily Habit: Prioritize opportunities for play and fun in your relationships with romantic partners, family, and friends. Maybe you put away the phones and try playing a card game while waiting at a restaurant or play charades while catching up with your friends. These small changes can make a big difference in how you connect with the people around you. 

4. Play for Self-Confidence

Confidence doesn’t have to come from loving how you look in the mirror or being the smartest one in the room. Play can actually give your confidence a surprising boost. That’s because fun activities can nurture a sense of personal worth and value, increase feelings of competence and self-efficacy, and create more meaning in life. 

Here’s the trick with this one: your chosen form of play must be enjoyable, stimulating, active, and intentional in order to count as a confidence booster, according to the research. In other words, binging your favorite TV show won’t do the trick. Play that boosts your confidence should immerse both the brain and body. 

Your New Daily Habit: A great way to gain this confidence is to make your daily movement more playful. While I think most Pilates workouts (okay, maybe all!) are fun, we have a few Lindywell workouts specifically designed to be fun, like Mood Boosting Pilates. 

Start your free 14-day Lindywell trial or log in to get instant access to this plus 275+ more workouts, hundreds of anti-inflammatory (and fun!) recipes, and guided breathwork sessions. 

5. Play for a Vibrant and Energetic Sense of Self

To quote George Bernard Shaw, “We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.” I love this quote because, even though he spoke those words almost a century ago, his point is still so relevant today.

A playful, imaginative attitude will keep you vibrant, energetic, and full of wonder. If you’ve ever watched a child, you know exactly what I’m talking about here. This not only feels great, but it also supports overall health and can even increase predictors of longevity. 

Adults (over age 59) who prioritize active recreation on a regular basis have more efficient metabolisms and more expendable energy, which lowers their risk of cardiovascular disease or cancer mortality. Illness prevention that’s also fun? Count us in!

Your New Daily Habit: Find ways to play that you truly enjoy—rather than letting it be another item on your to-do list. This will help you stay consistent with play so you can reap the benefits well into your 50s, 60s, and 70s and beyond. This is an important part of aging intentionally and loving the journey of it.

Play Is the Daily Habit Your Schedule Has Been Missing

Making play a daily habit can be as simple as turning things like dinner, a workout, or your drive to work into a playful moment. You don’t necessarily need more time—you just need to be intentional about what you do with your time and how playful you make it!

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If you search “how to calm your nervous system” in Google you’ll find hundreds of options—and I’m very intentional about how I do this too. It’s something we talk about all the time at Lindywell.

A favorite of mine, though, is play. It’s one of the most overlooked ways to stay well. It’s easy to play as a child, but as adults, it often becomes a lot more challenging and many of us don’t know how to play anymore.

What’s more, we don’t make the time for it. This is why I devoted an entire chapter in my book, Well to the Core, to play. What most of us need to do to actually make time for play. In our hyper-productive culture, the simple act of having fun usually takes a backseat to other more pragmatic commitments on the schedule.

This is probably one of the many reasons why our mental and emotional burnout continues to rise. In today’s culture, our nervous systems are totally out of balance, which means we’re anything but happy and calm.

Being in this state of burnout consistently can lead to chronic stress, anxiety, and depression. It can also manifest physically in digestive issues, trouble with sleep, heart conditions and so much more.

This is why we need to play now, more than ever before. Play can help to: 

• Calm the nervous system
• Relieve the impacts of stress
• Restore a feeling of balance
• Lift your overall mood. 

Plus, it might even encourage you to spend more time doing other things that make you happy!

Let’s explore the science behind the health benefits of play, and then talk about how to have more fun as an adult. 

The Many Health Benefits of Play

Knowing how to calm your nervous system will impact every area of your life: mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. That’s why play is such an important tool; it helps you create joy, calm, and balance in all of these areas. 

Playfulness is associated with being in a flow state, which is when your brain is fully immersed in a certain activity. I feel this when I’m doing Pilates or doing Pilates or playing a game that requires all of my attention, like pickle ball or tennis—I’m completely immersed in that moment. 

Being in this flow state can release dopamine, the happy hormone that activates pleasure and stimulates a feeling of reward. As the brain enters what is referred to as a “dopaminergic flow state,” your nervous system begins to calm down, reducing stress levels, increasing a sense of calm, and likely, making you feel happier and more balanced.

Here are a few ways that play can impact specific areas of your health.

Mental and Physical Health

Researchers have found that leisure (which refers to voluntary, enjoyable non-work activities, such as hobbies, arts, volunteering, community group membership, sports, and socializing) impacts almost every area of our mental and physical health. It can:

• Support emotional regulation and changes in mood.
• Improve management of challenging emotions like grief.
• Support overall brain functioning. 
• Increase resilience, self-confidence, and self talk.
• Boosts optimism, personal growth and overall life satisfaction.
• Improves function and levels of most hormones in the body. 
• Reduced heart rate, hypertension and glucose levels.
• Improves balance, posture and bone health.

Stress Relief

During the COVID-19 lockdown, playfulness actually became a vital coping mechanism for many people to increase resilience, seek pleasure, and soothe mental and emotional distress. Since it’s both adaptable and flexible, sharing playful moments on social media networks also helped form cross-cultural and -generational connections. 

Even in the most stressful times, play can boost morale, creativity, motivation, and self-efficacy.

Emotional Health

A study on adults with Type-1 Diabetes found that play made it easier for them to cope with the effects of their chronic illness. Participants also reported healthier emotional regulation and positive mood states. Psychiatrists reported similar results from play. Even with their high-pressure jobs, clinicians who prioritized fun had less perceived stress and more life satisfaction in general. 

How to Make Time for Fun

You might be thinking: this sounds amazing, but I don’t have time to play. I get it, I’m not immune to that feeling either! One thing I’ve learned, however, is that we can make time for play by broadening our lens of what it actually means. 

As kids, play meant running around with friends or pulling out a board game. As adults, these can be fun things to do as well—but we can create that sense of play in activities that give us all those amazing benefits but also fit our adult lifestyle.

The good news is, you may find you are already playing and can simply shift your perception around what you’re doing or the intentionality behind it. For example, a workout can be just a workout, or it can be a chance to feel great in your body, have fun, and tap into that sense of child-like joy. 

Movement as Play

As adults, we often associate movement with boring or repetitive exercise, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, we have many workouts in the Lindywell app, like Joyful Movement, specifically designed to make your time on the mat even more fun and playful. 

Whether you do that workout or another one of our 300+ available, Pilates is a great way to calm your nervous system, enjoy fitness, and build strength all at the same time! If you’re not a Lindywell member yet, sign up for a 14-day free trial and see how playful and fun it can be.

Other forms of movement can be just as playful too, from hiking to riding a bike. You get to make it fun by laughing along the way with a friend or checking out a new trail.

Creativity as Play

You don’t have to be a prolific artist to have fun unleashing your creativity. It can be fun to paint, draw, take photos, create a collage or just make something with your hands—even if the final product isn’t “perfect.” What’s more, this creative time can also: 

• Reinforce positive emotions
• Increase a sense of well-being
• Reduce perceived stress. 

Remember, there are so many artistic or creative outlets to choose from. If you’re not sure where to start, we’ll be hosting a LIVE Sunday Setup workshop where play expert Kara Latta will be leading us through a live, interactive experience to help us all recover our playful, creative selves. Register for the FREE play workshop with me and Kara here at Lindywell.com/play!

Games as Play

Of course, we know games are fun—but do you make time for them as an adult? Make games more fun for this stage of life by hosting a game night for your friend group. You can also take some time to enjoy a puzzle or board game with your partner or relish some alone time with a few rounds of Solitaire. 

Whichever option sounds fun to you, all games lend themselves to play. It’s hard not to smile (and slip into that flow state) when you’re immersed in lively competition, with yourself or others. 

Even better, games promote healthy brain function and stress management, while also reducing levels of anxiety or depression. So swap out your favorite Netflix show for Scrabble or Uno a few times a month.

How to Calm Your Nervous System? Play!

In a hectic world where stress lurks around every corner, the intentional act of reclaiming play is restorative in every way. It not only calms your nervous system, but you’ll also notice improvements in your mental, emotional, physical, and social well-being. My guess is you’ll feel lighter from the inside out as you play that stress away, and that’s exactly what we want!

To learn more about how play can positively impact your health and to discover a sustainable and enjoyable roadmap to better mental and physical health, be sure to pre-order my new book Well to the Core.

The post Play Away the Stress: How to Calm Your Nervous System with Fun appeared first on Lindywell.

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