Laughter and play are the keys to the fountain of youth
"We don't grow old and stop playing, we stop playing and then we grow old."
To play means to surrender, it means to put the stress, fear and anxiety down. The simple act of laughing has been shown to reduce stress hormones such as cortisol and epinephrine. When laughing the brain also releases endorphins that can relieve some level of physical pain. Laughing heals.
Watch children at play, notice how fully alive they, unconcerned.
It’s a state of pure bliss, it’s something we condition out of them, out of ourselves, out of society. In this way we age ourselves and them prematurely. Recall a time when you were in flow state, immersed in the present moment, no stress, concern or thinking, just total engagement. Yoga can do this for us, it can help us strip away the layers of concern and stress and get us back to our truest nature.
This pure form of yoga only exists when we disengage from the industry. This type of experience is only accessible when we drop the idea of competition and expectation. Yoga accesses WONDER. Yoga is play in its purest state. See yourself in ecstatic movement, connected to your breath, connected to your body, connected to your soul, bypass the brain entirely and just FEEL.
We were graduating our first class of teacher training students at AUM.
This picture so perfectly captures us in our purest state. We were at play, Melissa and I; chasing through the forest of Glen Helen in. We didn’t outrun the storm that day, we ran WITH it, giggling and grinning all the while.
This is the fountain of youth, this is play, this is YOGA.
Do it! Go out there and PLAY, watch a comedy and LAUGH! Put it down, the worry, the concern, the fear, practice is to live.