Read this post 10 Best Pieces Of Home Exercise Equipment on keep it simpElle.
Although home workouts gained a lot of popularity when we had little choice, I think plenty more people came to realise how convenient home workouts actually are. It doesn’t matter whether you’re new to the whole fitness scene, or a…
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Read this post A Little Life Update | 2023 So Far on keep it simpElle.
Heck, it’s been a while! My last update came at the very start of this year, covering Autumn of 2022. I think we all say this, but I don’t know where the time has even gone. I did mention in…
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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.
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!
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!
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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:
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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!
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.
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July is here and that means it is time to have some fun. Every July we break out of our routines, let go, and focus on play. This year we have a special guest to join us and guide us as we play.
Kara Latta is the Chief Fun Officer at The Playful Warrior and today we chat about the positive impact that play has on our mental and physical health. We’ll learn about the neuroscience behind incorporating play into our daily routine and you’ll discover how you can incorporate fun into your life each day.
Make sure to stick around until the end of the episode to hear how you can join all of us at Lindywell for a play-filled workshop.
In 2019 Kara experienced a dark night of the soul. She suffered from health issues, lost her job, and ended a long-term relationship. Therapy helped her work through codependency issues and abandonment wounds. However, it was only when she began to incorporate the power of play into her life that she began to fully heal.
Today Kara helps people connect with their inner child through the power of play. In her healing journey, she realized that she could overcome perfectionism and self-doubt and to become the playful creative self that she didn’t even realize she could be.
This healing journey led her to become a play and mindset coach. At The Playful Warrior Kara offers a safe space for others to express themselves without judgment through play. Kara connects adults to their innate creativity and offers fun and joy in the true spirit of play.
When Kara’s therapist first brought up the subject of play therapy she wondered what that would mean for an adult. How does an adult play?
She felt so disconnected from her childhood self that she had to research what it could mean to play. The more she researched, the more she learned about the science of play. Kara discovered that play is actually important for brain health and mental well-being.
While play still isn’t valued in society, it helps people reconnect with their curiosity, bring spontaneity, and navigate challenging situations. Neuroscience has shown that play can even improve physical health and brain function.
As a natural perfectionist, she thought about the outcomes of play, but the more she got into the true nature of play she realized that playing is not about the outcomes or proving her worth, it is about enjoying the present moment. This freedom of expression changed her relationships and her life.
Join us for a live workshop with Kara Latta, The Playful Warrior, via Zoom on Sunday, July 16. Kara will lead us through interactive playful exercises offered in a safe space. Come have fun simply for the sake of having fun.
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