I'm exploring my divinity through play.

As an adult, play for play's sake feels like an act of self-indulgence. But purposeless play helps us remember who we are.

Hi. I’m Katie. This newsletter is a place for the woo curious to explore spirituality, culture, and humanity in an intersectional way. Here’s what I’m thinking about this week…

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“Okay, reach your left hand through your legs and grab the hand of the person behind you!”

Giggles filled the room as we did as we were told: I bent over and interlaced my fingers around those of Elise as my right hand reached forward to grasp Rhonda’s. Her butt was basically in my face, even though we had only met that morning.

Once linked up, our haphazard line began to walk in unison and make elephant sounds, our feet thudding heavily against the hardwood floor of the yoga studio we stood in. We were a bunch of adults in a yoga training. We all looked ridiculous. But we were all laughing.

This past weekend, I spent 25 hours on a yoga mat, learning with a group of brilliant, interesting folks who all love mindfulness and working with kids as much as I do. When I first heard that the Yogi Beans training would be offered at my home studio, I couldn’t sign up fast enough. The past two school years have made it glaringly obvious that kids need mindfulness now more than ever, and I looked forward to learning about how to make yoga asana kid-friendly and accessible. I admit that I thought that the majority of the training would be passive. I figured that I’d sit on my butt and learn how to “rebrand” yoga with language and cueing that works for little ones.

Boy, was I wrong. We didn’t just sit and listen. We played every single yoga game in the book. We dramatically roared our way through simhasana (lion’s breath). We played Yogi Says, a twist on the classic game Simon Says. We sang songs and clapped our hands. I did a handstand just for fun and later a backbend over another instructor as we stretched our bodies simultaneously. It was a lot to take in. But one thing was clear: I couldn’t deny how good it felt to just…play.

Why is it so hard to give our adult selves permission to play?

In between rounds of Om, Om, Yogi and Downward Dog Tunnel, this thought kept rattling around in my head. If I hadn’t paid money to sit in this training and learn something, would all of this play have felt self-indulgent, frivolous and…purposeless? Probably.

It’s not like grownups lack options for playful activities. Our capitalistic society quickly realized that there’s money to be made off of nostalgia and “adult-friendly” play: local businesses pair old school arcade favorites like Pac Man and Crazy Taxi with adult beverages. Sunday Funday Instagram posts feature grown folks playing kickball with the gusto of a 4th grader. Coloring books are decorated with butterflies, flowers and…swear words.

Typically, playing as adults has to have a point. “Having fun” as a grownup is often coded language for blowing off steam and escaping real life for a bit. We’re invited to grab an alcoholic drink, check out of the shitty reality we’re in, and revisit a simpler time where all we had to worry about was which flavor of Hot Pocket we were going to eat while playing with our Giga Pets (I had a monkey, FYI).

At other times, play’s purpose is to meet people and make friends. It’s a lot easier to connect with folks when we’re all trying (and failing) to not fall of the edge of the Rainbow Road track while playing Mario Kart. Such a lighthearted activity evens the playing field (ha) a bit.

This version of play isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Escapism, when done in small doses, can be exactly the reset we need. And as kids on a playground know well, play can defuse anxiety and make room for genuine connection.

But while singing, stomping and playing this weekend at the yoga studio, I unexpectedly learned another truth about playing as an adult: we don’t have to have a purpose to play…and play for play’s sake is a way to come home to ourselves.

To play is to remember our divinity and our humanity. Play acts as the bridge between the physical and the spiritual. It’s that light, sweet spot where we can just…be. Expectations for what our play has to achieve distract us from this simple truth. When we release the need to assign a point to our pleasure, we’re able to connect to our higher selves in a new way.

Here are a few ways that I engage in everyday play to connect with my spiritual self.

🤸 Ask the weird questions: my colleagues will be the first to tell you that I ask the most random questions. If you had to start a cult, how would your followers pledge their allegiance to you? Is the Kool Aid Man the jar or the Kool Aid? These queries can definitely be used to get the conversation flowing, but simply asking them to yourself is a way to be playful. We’re always asked to think about super serious questions as adults (should I have kids? When will I figure out my purpose?), so asking these low-stakes questions of yourself is a way to see life through a more playful lens.

Make it woo: Ask yourself random spiritual questions. What do my guides look like, sound like, dress like? What crystal would I have gravitated to as a child? A teen? An adult? What tarot card would I pair with the random lady I saw on the subway…and why?

🤸 Be an artist: Listen, you don’t have to be the next Morgan Gray and go buy a canvas and a zillion oil paints. Arrange your blueberries on top of your oatmeal in a fun way. Draw a smiley face with ketchup on your burger. Grab a scrap of paper and doodle during a staff meeting that goes on for.ev.er.

Make it woo: Drawing can also be a cool way to communicate with your guides. If you dream a lot, experiment with visual representations of what you remember from the night before. I keep a nightstand notebook for this very reason, and I often revisit my dreams before I pull some tarot cards for myself so that I can look for connections.

🤸 Move for fun: Exercise can be so damn serious as an adult, and we don’t often let ourselves do it just for fun. We assign expectations like burning calories, relieving stress…you name it, we ask exercise to do it for us. I like to move my body playfully in moments when I need to move a little stuck energy. My favorite moves are pretty simple: I swing my arms around my body, I touch my toes, I march in place. It doesn’t have to be exaggerated. It isn’t fancy (trust me, I’m not going to be recruited for So You Think You Can Dance any time soon) but I always feel more at home in my body after I move, even just for a few moments.

Make it woo: Choose a chakra and choose a simple movement to pair with it that you can do throughout the day. Try gentle hip circles while waiting in line at the store for a sacral connection. A forward fold can open up the crown chakra. Simply pressing your heels into the ground while cooking dinner can be awesome for grounding in your root chakra. When you move, release expectations for what it has to do for you, relax and enjoy it.

🤸 Crank up the music: Adding music to your everyday is just *chef’s kiss* in my opinion. Play around with musical genres as a way to amplify, reduce or reflect your mood. For example, I put on a more chill track and see how that impacts my mental state…then follow it with my favorite Paramore song that makes me want to crazy dance, slap on some black eyeliner, and pull on a pair of checkered Vans.

Make it woo: Try doing some automatic writing to different styles of music. Notice what comes out when you blast that nostalgic song from your college days. What do you write about when you hear the lullaby that your mom sang to you as a child? Soundtrack your writing and allow yourself to play around with words to find a deeper inner connection.

What does play mean to you? I’d love to hear ways play influences your day-to-day life or how you’re working to play without purpose a bit more.

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✨Cards for Humanity: The Page of Wands✨

Whether you’re into tarot or not, here’s a few things to consider about this weird thing called life.

You know that little kid who’s, well, a lot? A lot of energy? A lot of ideas? A lot of impulsivity? The kid that smears the finger paint outside of the edges of the paper and eats his celery and peanut butter like he’s a brontosaurus eating a leaf?

That’s the Page of Wands. He’s a lot. But his creativity and will to play are unparalleled.

The element of fire burns brightly in the energy of the Page, and it’s a very clean burn without a ton of obscuring smoke. The Page doesn’t exactly know what he’s going to do with all of this zest and urge to make, but he’s certain that, whatever it is, he’ll figure it out eventually. Right now, life is centered around getting curious about what’s possible.

The Page examines his wand like a little kid pressing his nose against the glass of an exhibit at the zoo: he wants to see it all and feel it all before deciding where to focus his attention. He takes in the sprouting leaves, which show up in different spots on the wand to represent the potential routes he’s considering. He’s not in a space to decide anything other than what he wants to feel in the moment. And that’s okay! Big choices are coming, but for now, a playful approach to life is just the ticket.

When the Page of Wands shows up in a reading, we’re being invited to get a little less serious and whole lot more curious. We’re also reminded to monitor our impulses and check in with their impact: following our gut is a beautiful thing, but we also have to accept the tough lessons we learn when we make rash decisions. But the great thing about the Page is that he shakes off setbacks pretty quickly, picks himself up…and begins chasing the next idea that will fan his curiosity flame into a roaring fire.

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✨Prompts | The Page of Wands✨

Meditate. Journal. Pull some cards.

☀️ Where can I be more spontaneous in my decision making?

☀️ How can I explore without commitment in my life?

☀️ What adventure is my curiosity urging me towards?

☀️ What fires have burned quickly and fizzled out…and what have they taught me?

A painting / a song / a poem to represent the Page of Wands.

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✨Weekly Mantra✨

Write it down. Say it out loud. Share it with a friend.

I give myself permission to play without purpose.

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Same time, same place next week. Promise I’ll have something new for you to think about. Thanks for hanging out with me.

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