Sacred Play

22:51

22:51

Sacred Play

by Natalia Sonina

Type

talks

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Everyone

State of Play is the state of peaceful activation—that our system enters when it is not afraid. We often have it blocked or otherwise inaccessible. In this talk, we explore the states of our system in a logical "matrix" form, draw a map of our inner landscape from this perspective, and then we find the sanctuary of Play in it. Gratitude to Juli Kosolapova for making the image used in the illustration available.

Meet your Teacher

Beroun, Czechia

Meet your Teacher

Beroun, Czechia

Transcript

Hello and welcome. Today I'm recording this shortly before we transition into spring. It is the spring equinox, Symbolic beginning of hero stage in the yearly cycle. And this is where the journey of child, The journey of winter culminates and the journey of spring begins. Culmination, The highest expression of child, Of dreamy winter state of our inner nature, Is ability to dream, Play and to be inspired. So today we discover sacred play. Play as in state of our being, As a place within us, Within our internal landscape and maybe metaphorically as a form of art, How play can be an artistic expression. So how do we find play on the map of our inner nature and why is play sacred? If we take our inner nature and think of it in terms of now popular nervous system, Brain, Science, We can map our states of alertness and calm, Of stress and relaxation. And we can draw somewhat of a matrix or table or chart, Yeah, Think of it logically. Think that you have two dimensions just as we used to draw graphs in school and there is one dimension that is going from bottom to top and there is another dimension that's going from left to right. So there is such an intersection, Yeah, And imagine that one of those dimensions is our alertness. Let's say that it goes from low to high. We can be very passive or very active. And then let's say there is this negative and positive dimension. So there is the same level of energy but this energy is either troublesome for us or very enjoyable. So from negative, Let's put it on the left, To very positive blissful states. Let's put it for the sake of this imaginary graph on the right. And we can have four segments here. One will be the very worst, Let's say, Shut down state. Yeah, It is in the bottom left corner when you are both very passive and very negative. It is complete fall of the system, Complete collapse. And then we can be still negative but already activated. And this is our usual stress response that we can work with actually to create value, Teach our system to be in healthy stress. And we call it fight or flight. This is the general stress response and normally it is negative. But sometimes it can be life-saving for us when we actually move out of the way of danger. So we cannot just condemn negativity. Even the shut down state is not inherently wrong but it is negative, A negative experience for us. And then we move into the positive. And normally there is a narrative of this stress relief or release. Yeah, There is stress, Fight or flight. And when you get rid of it, You are in rest and digest state, In relaxation. And here on our imaginary chart we can put it in the bottom right corner. It is a positive state but low energy when you are lying on the couch and relaxing. And narratives of working with stress on the superficial level often revolve around that, How to switch from fight or flight into rest and digest. And this is exactly the direction from the top left to the bottom right, Like downhill direction of how we release stress and it is our first pathway to regulate. But we often overlook that there is another very important, Sacred place in this internal landscape and on this map we position it in the top right corner. This is a state of positive activation, The state of play. So for many of us activation is a reaction to trigger. You get activated and you brace for danger and damage. And we learn it as we face the wide and the dangerous world, As we grow up. But as children, When we activate, We often just play. It is not stressful, It is actually very positive for us. And the state of play is a state of huge resourcefulness, State of creative expression. And for many people it remains blocked because we as adults either don't have time to play or we are stuck in a loop when we fight or flee from dangers and stresses of the world. And then we just recover in our safe heaven at home, On the couch or in some other way. But we basically somehow maneuver between this stress response, Fight or flight, And this calm rest and digest state. Very fearful not to drop into complete shutdown and burnout, Which is the ultimate passive and negative state. So we don't often entertain the abundant state of play that is kind of on the top of this mountain. It is rising energy. And the main point of this talk that I'm giving now is for you to become aware of this, To find this place on the map of your inner nature. Where is the state of play? Does it have a place in your life? Do you have it unblocked? Do you have a pathway that leads there? Or are there some obstacles, Borders that don't allow you to cross into the state of play? And I invite you to build a sanctuary there in the plain or in the forest, In this beautiful valley, In this beautiful inner landscape of play. It is a sacred place for your inner child to be. It is peaceful activation. When we train or rather return to this natural state of being active but not in conflict, We become able to create positive change in the world. Not to fight negative change, But to create something out of this place of resourcefulness, Of joy. This is why play is sacred, Because it is the key, The key how we can decondition our world from reliance on conflict and competition. Because there is kind of a narrative that suggests that either you are non-impactful, Lazy even, That you just enjoy life, Or that you hustle, Yeah? You are in stress. But in fact that's not the case. It doesn't have to be so. You can be impactful and positive. You can be peaceful and activated. And there is no unique recipe for everyone, Because everyone has their own story, Yeah? In your story, Play may be a very present state or it may be blocked. In your story, It may be connected with some trauma response, Yeah? For me, When I get activated, My system mobilizes it has tendency to go into this fight or flight. I tend to see activity, Physical activity, Mental activity as a challenge, As something to overcome, Almost combat. And then it draws my energy, Because no wonder, Because those stressful responses, They take a lot of our internal resource. And now my work with myself is to rewire my system, Reprogram, Teach myself to access this peaceful activation, To associate first and foremost activation with play. How can we do it playfully, Yeah? This person that is approaching me with some sort of a challenge is in fact bringing a puzzle to me that I can enjoy resolving. And in this way, I can be productive without damaging my resource. And also, Why there is this sacredness to play, It is respectful of boundaries. When we play, We can always say, Stop, I don't like this game anymore. And at work or in stressful situations, If we say stop, The situation is not stopping. And that's why it is stressful. It is a survival issue. You're fighting for survival. You cannot just turn it off, Yeah? But that's the trick. When you know that you can enter and exit the state of activation freely, It becomes a temple of showing up in the world, An active temple, Not contemplative, But a temple of service, That you know that you enter it voluntarily, And you exit it voluntarily, And you have joy and fun. Play for an adult doesn't have to be all about the giggles and toys, Although they also can have a place in our playfulness. And there is a lot to explore, Yeah? Our creativity as we grow up, It doesn't have to diminish. It can be shaped much more precisely in harmony with our soul's expression. What I mean by that abstract phrase is that when we are children, We grab little things or big things. We grab onto the world, Different things in the world, And we try them. We try different rolls on. We grab a stick or a stone. We play with them. We grab toys. We are curious. We are very expansive. We want to try everything. And when we grow up, We develop our tastes. And we don't have to stop playing, Even with sticks and stones, If that's the passion within us. But we start to differentiate between things that we like and don't like, To maybe develop discernment. And that's also what creates this effect of many things suddenly not being exciting for us anymore. And if we didn't have the luck of discovering a few passions that can stick with us since childhood, Which is not very common, For some people, I don't know, Someone can play football and enjoy it as much when they're 30 or 50 as they did when they were 13 or 8 years old. And someone may not have any passion that sticks for such a long time with them. And that may be a cause of block to our creative expression, To playfulness, When we grow up. Because we discover that those activities that we tried weren't exciting enough for us anymore. But that's not because we outgrow play or games. We may outgrow some that are not adult enough, Yeah, That are too childish, That are for young children. They may not be challenging enough for us. They may be boring because of that. But almost any game that you may take can be developed into something much more challenging. So, For example, When you imagine playing hide-and-seek in your apartment, You probably will not think that it is an exciting activity. If you have apartment or even a house and you know it very well, Most probably you will think that it would be a childish game. But not because it is beneath your dignity to do it. That's the very important discernment here as that when we grow up, We transition from child to hero stage of our lives. We put on this pride. Oh, I'm too old for that. I'm too adult. You know, Like teenagers, They look down at some childish games. But in fact, A game of hide-and-seek can be an exciting adventure outdoors. It can be challenging. It can be very adult activity. So, It just depends. And everything is like that. So, That's why I propose here a thought that we don't actually outgrow our games. We just sharpen our focus to things that we truly enjoy from the depth of our soul. This is this harmony or alignment with our soul. And we need to keep exploring where those games are that fit us like that, That spark this state of non-conflict, Non-violent, But alert state, This state of play, The state of being ready to overcome challenges. And this is the exploration to do within, The shift of mindset. We can play, We must play as adults. It is a sacred activity, Just like prayer. But it is just another form of sacredness in our life. Because here in the world, We do some work. Work actually changes matter, Changes lives. But if we keep doing the work from states of fight and flight, Stress responses, We only project that kind of energy into the work. And when we make the switch from stressful activation to peaceful activation, To positive, Joyful activation, And with that energy we approach our work, That's when we actually create positive change. Not survival patterns, But positive change in the world. And what to do when we are challenged, When we are too challenged, That we drop out of that state, That our system, Our mind and body are pushed from play into fight. The negativity is rising or the positivity is dropping, And all of our system just shifts to the left in this map, To this corner where fight and flight resides. Well, In that case, We need to decompress. We follow the main road, The path to relaxation. We follow the opposite. We don't try to fake it, You know, Fake smiles at work. Oh, I'll take this business as a game and you will be fine. But inside you are trembling with fear of failure. No, That's not what you do. Not fake it till you make it. But you go from triggered fight or flight state down and right, Down into calmness. You release stress, You release activation. And slowly, Because this feels like release, It feels pleasant, You avoid your slight past possible shutdown and burnout, And you land safely in that shelter of rest and digest state. So as soon as your work is not about play anymore, But about fight, It is the signal to stop, Pause, Let yourself decompress and rise along that positive line, Rise into activation again when you're ready. Enter the temple of playful work again, Show up, And gradually you discover your limits. You learn and relearn to say, This game isn't for me anymore, Or I've had enough of this playtime. Yeah, And you learn to regulate yourself like that. And also with it, Exercising this triangle and those lines, You learn to be more mobile within your internal nature. You approach your life more like a journey, An adventure. And gradually, When you connect with your child archetype, With your playful state, You also learn again how to dream, Just like when you were little, How to truly believe your inspiration, How to dream big and change the world. Thank you, And until next time.