Dr. J and PLAY!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
“Dr. J”Dr. J offers his irreverent, slightly irrelevant, but possibly useful opinions on health and fitness. A Florida surgeon and fitness freak with a black belt in karate, he runs 50 miles a week and flies a Cherokee Arrow 200.
Many of you already know of Dr. J. He writes over at Calorielab here. Yes, he is back writing there again.. YAHOO.. BUT he kindly agreed to guest post here again! I am very excited to have Dr. J in the house! He even pokes fun of me! HOW DARE YOU, Dr. J!!!! Just kidding! Without further adeui, Dr. J on PLAY! Check him out playing in the pic!
Dr. J and Play!
Although it seems hard to believe with the way the weather has been this winter, spring is right around the corner! At least somebody’s corner. I just heard this morning that we have had one of the coldest winters in 100 years!
Now we all know what a serious, hard working-out woman Jody is. But I have a feeling that with a little scientific information to do the coaxing, it won’t be hard to convince her that it’s important to add play time to our lives!
The need for play
We live in a serious world! Just watch the evening news and see how serious that is! Some health care providers feel that to be happy, you should not ever watch the news! If you try this for a while, you will
find that you are really not missing much, except, perhaps things to be depressed about.
Recently, an article in the New York Times discussed the importance of play for children. Interestingly, Robin Williams, as a young child, was alone much of the time. Because of this he invented all these imaginary friends and voices to play with. Eventually this led him to develop his incredible
skill at imitation and brought him fame and fortune as a multi-faceted comedian.
In the Times article on play, scientists cast a serious look at play and what role it may have in our development.
Play, in their view, is a central part of neurological growth and development - one important way that children build complex, skilled, responsive, socially adept and cognitively flexible brains… Biologists generally have used phrases like “apparently purposeless activity” in their definitions of play. The definition proposed by Gordon Burghardt, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of Tennessee, refines that phrase a little. In his 2005 book, The Genesis of Animal Play, he wrote that play is an activity of “limited immediate function.”
Animals play, but only if they are “adequately fed, healthy and free from stress,” Burghardt says.“One popular view is the play-as-preparation hypothesis,” the Times article says. “In this perspective, play evolved because it is good preparation for adulthood. It is a chance to learn and rehearse the skills you will need for the rest of your lives, and to do so in a secure environment, where mistakes will have few consequences.”
Looking into it further, newer theories focus on the way that play “might contribute to the growth and development of the brain.” Without the benefits of play, we may be “less able to make subtle adjustments to the social world.” Or as we say, they won’t play well with others! Scientists believe that “play contributes to the growth of more supple, more flexible brains.” Or put more simply, think of play as “training for the unexpected,” as evolutionary biologist Marc Bekoff calls it. “Play, he says, leads to mental suppleness and a broader behavioral vocabulary,” which helps us achieve success in important ways.
In addition, “without play, there’s a sense of dullness, lassitude and pessimism, which doesn’t work well in the world we live in.”
It’s not just for kids.
This ain’t just childs’ play! Play develops your mind, and this process doesn’t just stop when you become an adult. The brain continues to develop throughout life, and play is an important part of this process. Add play to your life, seriously!
When I first began my flying adventures, I read a book of stories about aviation by a favorite author and pilot, Richard Bach, called The Gift of Winds. In one of the short stories, he comes to the conclusion that
“Flying is practicing what it is to be alive!” When Richard Bach suggested that, he might as well have been describing play!
So why do I fly? I just wants to have fun and play in the sky!
Maybe Jody and family will ride along one day!
“Dr. J”Dr. J offers his irreverent, slightly irrelevant, but possibly useful opinions on health and fitness. A Florida surgeon and fitness freak with a black belt in karate, he runs 50 miles a week and flies a Cherokee Arrow 200.
Many of you already know of Dr. J. He writes over at Calorielab here. Yes, he is back writing there again.. YAHOO.. BUT he kindly agreed to guest post here again! I am very excited to have Dr. J in the house! He even pokes fun of me! HOW DARE YOU, Dr. J!!!! Just kidding! Without further adeui, Dr. J on PLAY! Check him out playing in the pic!
Dr. J and Play!
Although it seems hard to believe with the way the weather has been this winter, spring is right around the corner! At least somebody’s corner. I just heard this morning that we have had one of the coldest winters in 100 years!
Now we all know what a serious, hard working-out woman Jody is. But I have a feeling that with a little scientific information to do the coaxing, it won’t be hard to convince her that it’s important to add play time to our lives!
The need for play
We live in a serious world! Just watch the evening news and see how serious that is! Some health care providers feel that to be happy, you should not ever watch the news! If you try this for a while, you will
find that you are really not missing much, except, perhaps things to be depressed about.
Recently, an article in the New York Times discussed the importance of play for children. Interestingly, Robin Williams, as a young child, was alone much of the time. Because of this he invented all these imaginary friends and voices to play with. Eventually this led him to develop his incredible
skill at imitation and brought him fame and fortune as a multi-faceted comedian.
In the Times article on play, scientists cast a serious look at play and what role it may have in our development.
Play, in their view, is a central part of neurological growth and development - one important way that children build complex, skilled, responsive, socially adept and cognitively flexible brains… Biologists generally have used phrases like “apparently purposeless activity” in their definitions of play. The definition proposed by Gordon Burghardt, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of Tennessee, refines that phrase a little. In his 2005 book, The Genesis of Animal Play, he wrote that play is an activity of “limited immediate function.”
Animals play, but only if they are “adequately fed, healthy and free from stress,” Burghardt says.“One popular view is the play-as-preparation hypothesis,” the Times article says. “In this perspective, play evolved because it is good preparation for adulthood. It is a chance to learn and rehearse the skills you will need for the rest of your lives, and to do so in a secure environment, where mistakes will have few consequences.”
Looking into it further, newer theories focus on the way that play “might contribute to the growth and development of the brain.” Without the benefits of play, we may be “less able to make subtle adjustments to the social world.” Or as we say, they won’t play well with others! Scientists believe that “play contributes to the growth of more supple, more flexible brains.” Or put more simply, think of play as “training for the unexpected,” as evolutionary biologist Marc Bekoff calls it. “Play, he says, leads to mental suppleness and a broader behavioral vocabulary,” which helps us achieve success in important ways.
In addition, “without play, there’s a sense of dullness, lassitude and pessimism, which doesn’t work well in the world we live in.”
It’s not just for kids.
This ain’t just childs’ play! Play develops your mind, and this process doesn’t just stop when you become an adult. The brain continues to develop throughout life, and play is an important part of this process. Add play to your life, seriously!
When I first began my flying adventures, I read a book of stories about aviation by a favorite author and pilot, Richard Bach, called The Gift of Winds. In one of the short stories, he comes to the conclusion that
“Flying is practicing what it is to be alive!” When Richard Bach suggested that, he might as well have been describing play!
So why do I fly? I just wants to have fun and play in the sky!
Maybe Jody and family will ride along one day!
Thx Dr. J!!! What do you all think? Do you get enough play or are you too serious or busy? I would stick around to discuss this all with you but Dr. J has convinced me that I need to go out & play. Leave your comments & I will get back to you after play time! Catch ya later! 
Posted by truth2beingfit at 3/11/2010 12:01 AM 
Categories: Wellness, Health, Happiness
Tags: play growth Wellness feel good Fun Stuff health Happiness brain power
Categories: Wellness, Health, Happiness
Tags: play growth Wellness feel good Fun Stuff health Happiness brain power
I absolutely think that play is important and I am happy to say that I often incorporate it into my life!
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**STANDS AND CHEERS**
You KNOW I love me some Dr J and some play.
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Ye, Miz, you are the master of play!
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I love Dr J's posts. That being said, I do NOT get enough play or downtime. And when I don't I get very grumpy and irritable. I need to make it a PRIORITY like I do other stuff (like the gym and eating healthy) because I think they go hand in hand.
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Play is healthy for the soul and spirit, which contributes, in my opinion, to overall health, since when one's spirit is happy and healthy one is more optimistic about doing everything, even the drudgery stuff.
I have to say that my exercise stuff must have elements of play and fun, otherwise I'm not doing it. I hate running, have tried it at different times during my exercise "career" to see if my feeling about it changed (not!), so I just incorporate something else, like fitness walking, roller blading, biking, hiking, etc. to take its place. Now, I have to say that I have to push myself to do the strength training, but I bring the play and joy into it with the music I play while doing it, as well as a mental picture of my healthy muscles developing during each exercise.
Different strokes for different folks!
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i couldn't agree more! yes i'm very busy, but that's what i love about my DJ gig.. gives me a chance to dance my but off every friday and saturday night! that's MY play. in the future, if there are more "lil cher"'s running around, i'm going to make sure that they learn that outdoor play can be so rewarding and FUN!
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I am in love with this post. There is a lot of talk about how much time kids spend playing video games but the same is true with adults...we (Ok, I!) spend too much time behind the computer. Speaking of which, I should RUN...and go play on some monkey bars!!!
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thanks, dr. j, for the reminder that adults need to play too. i personally don't do enough of it with my kids. i'm very task-oriented with my things-to-do list and i could definitely use some play time. thamks for reminding me.
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You'd think that with 3 little kids I would play more, but with all the responsibilities and having a husband who's an airline pilot and gone a lot, I feel too guilty to play. It's always in the back of my mind to do this and that.
Maybe I'd be less depressed and eat less if I boosted my emotions in playtime.
I stopped watching the news a year ago (and tv for the most part). I'm not as informed, but it helps my sanity (what's left).
We have the "gift of winds" here in our family, too, but I doubt it's what you're talking about.
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I mean it.. you are a stand up comedian! Too funny on the "winds". With my healthy eating, we have them her too!
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Since I left my job 3 years ago, I have more time to "play". I notice that when I'm busy with a big volunteer project or home improvement plans and don't get enough play time, I'm not as happy. My conclusion, Dr. J is absolutely right.
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Yes! I love to play but work gets in the way sometimes! LOL That is why I tend to gravitate toward the Wii for my exercise. It is more play than work. I just need to find the play in the other types of exercise!
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