Importance of Play & Community: An Invitation on Halloween

I love Halloween. It gives me an excuse to dress up and pretend I'm a kid again. I can so easily get bogged down in the seriousness of life... in the data. I can forget to smell the roses. There's a reason that children and grandchildren keep us young. They can keep us in the moment. They can be pure joy. We forget how important it is to play. Even working dogs, like rescue dogs, can only work 2 hours before they need a break and need to run and fetch a ball for fun.

This is why I love and teach Carpe Diem Dance. It is movement to music that keeps you in the moment. It's playful, fun and joyful. Sometimes I throw in an invitation to explore your emotional and spiritual self along with your physical body.  Otherwise, it's too easy to get stuck in our mental body. When you play, your body emits powerful endorphins of pleasure. This tells your body that it is safe to rest and relax, to rest and repair, and/or to mate and ovulate (depending on your goals).

It's also easy to get stuck in social inertia. If you are self employed or work at a desk on a computer every day, you can easily feel some social isolation. This is a common root cause of dis-ease that is becoming increasingly more common.

You cannot underestimate the power of both play and community. Sometimes our community can keep us stuck too. If you are wanting to create change in your life, your family and friends may be resistant. Especially when it comes to food and alcohol. Food is emotional and it takes courage to be different. This is why it is especially important to create your own community for support as we are doing with the IF Kickstart starting this week.

In yoga, we call habitual patterns, samskara's. These habitual patterns become so ingrained that they can become addictions. These can become our modern day "Ghosts"

So whaddya gonna do about it? Call Ghostbusters!

Please join me on Wednesday morning at 7:30am to dance and play to fun Halloween music. Can you think of a better way to start your day? You can bring a costume or just bring yourself in whatever attire is best for the day.  I'll be teaching my Carpe Diem Dance class at Rise Wellbeing Center. If you've been meaning to check out this beautiful new center then come this week. If it's your first time, the class will be free. Consider joining this community of like minded souls to nourish your mind, body and spirit.

When you surround yourself with healthy people, your health improves. Do you have a community that supports your samskara's or that allows you freedom to choose healthy, food, thoughts and actions?

What ghosts do you need help busting? What do you do for fun? Is there a super power you want to emulate this week?  Happy Halloween!

Carpe Diem,

Lisa