When’s the last time you thought about recess? Those carefree minutes filled with laughter, play, and movement might just hold the secret to better health and a happier life. In this episode of 1,000 Waking Minutes, Dr. Wendy Bazilian shares why bringing back the joy of play is essential—not just for kids, but for adults, too.

With personal stories and research-backed insights, this episode explores how to take the “work” out of workouts and rediscover movement as an act of fun. Whether you’re swinging at the park, dancing in your kitchen, or simply embracing the lighter side of life, it’s time to bring back recess and reap the benefits.

FROM THE EPISODE

“Somewhere along the way many of us lost the sense of play in that free-spirited way, that release of unstructured playtime. As adults we have replaced recess with routine and we've swapped playtime for productivity.”

WE DISCUSS:

(1:22) Introduction: Reflecting on the magic of recess 

(4:17) Personal stories: Volunteering at PE and lessons from Brazil

(14:51) ROI of play: Health benefits and the science of movement

(18:56) A Mindful Minute: Reconnecting with recess 

(22:27) Practical tips to make play a part of your day

(31:33) Reflective questions

(32:56) Recap and final thoughts: Let’s rediscover recess together

CONNECT WITH WENDY:

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Thank you for tuning in to 1,000 Waking Minutes and being part of this journey–together. A huge thank you to our amazing collaborators including our production and marketing teams and Gabriela Escalante in particular. To the ultra-talented Beza for my theme music, my lifelong friend and artist Pearl Preis Photography and Design, to Danielle Ballantyne, Jen Nguyen, Joanna Powell, and of course, my family and everyone working tirelessly behind the scenes.

HEALTH DISCLAIMER:

The information shared in this podcast is for educational purposes only and should not be considered individual medical or health advice. Always consult with your trusted healthcare provider before making any changes to your diet, exercise, or medical treatment.

REFERENCES:

Hötting, K., & Röder, B. (2013). Beneficial effects of physical exercise on neuroplasticity and cognition. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 37(9 Pt B), 2243–2257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.04.005

Koch, S., et al. (2019). Effects of dance movement therapy and dance on health-related psychological outcomes: A meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1806. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01806

Loprinzi, P. D. (2015, August). Accumulated short bouts of physical activity are associated with reduced premature all-cause mortality: implications for physician promotion of physical activity and revision of current US government physical activity guidelines. In Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Vol. 90, No. 8, pp. 1168-1169). Elsevier.

Proyer, R. T. (2013). The well-being of playful adults: Adult playfulness, subjective well-being, physical well-being, and the pursuit of enjoyable activities. European Journal of Humour Research, 1(1), 84-98. https://doi.org/10.7592/EJHR2013.1.1.proyer

Saint-Maurice, P. F., et al. (2020). Association of daily step count and step intensity with mortality among US adults. JAMA, 323(12), 1151-1160. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.1382

Stork, M. J., Gibala, M. J., & Martin, K. G. (2018). Psychological and Behavioral Responses to Interval and Continuous Exercise. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 50(10), 2110-2121.

Tarp, J., Child, A., White, T., Westgate, K., Bugge, A., Grøntved, A., ... & Janz, K. F. (2018). Physical activity intensity, bout-duration, and cardiometabolic risk markers in children and adolescents. International Journal of Obesity, 42(9), 1639-1650.

But what if we could

take the work out of

workouts and put the play

back into our days?

I'm sharing why it matters

for your health and the

science to back it up.

Let's re-invent recess.

We experience 1,000 waking minutes

on average every day.

How are you spending yours?

I'm Dr. Wendy Bazilian and

you're listening to 1,000 Waking

Minutes.

I can't wait to connect

with you here with practical

ways to eat well, move

daily, and be healthy.

To optimize every waking minute

you live for a happier,

healthier life.

Thank you for sharing some

of your waking minutes with

me today.

Let's get started.

I'm saying yes to better

days, yes.

I'm on my way, yes.

It's gonna be okay, yeah.

Good day to you and

welcome back to 1,000 Waking

Minutes, the podcast where we

explore how to make the

most of our days into

weeks, into months, into time

for a healthy, well-lived

life by evaluating our waking

minutes each day.

I'm Dr. Wendy Bazilian and

today we're talking about something

I think you're going to

love, especially if you've ever

found yourself sort of longing

for the simple, more playful

days of youth.

So let me ask you

a question.

When was the last time

you thought about recess?

You know, the magical, whimsical

minutes in the middle of

our school days back on

the playground.

I bet you can picture

it.

I can still hear the

sounds of my own playground,

the squeal of my classmates,

the squeak of chains on

our playground equipment.

And I am fortunate because

where I live, actually, when

the wind turns a certain

direction, we have an elementary

school down the hill from

us a little bit in

the distance, and I can

hear the playground there.

So I get the real

live exposure as well as

with my daughter in her

school.

So do you remember the

sounds?

Think about it.

Maybe you can hear the

slap of jump ropes on

the pavement or the thunk

of that kickball.

We always had those red,

super bouncy kickballs, and when

someone would connect with it,

you could hear sort of

that boing type of sound,

all the cool things on

the monkey bars and sort

of people just enthusiastically exclaiming

and jumping and having fun.

Really, it was like hearing

the feeling of freedom that

came with recess.

But somewhere along the way,

many of us lost the

sense of play in that

free-spirited way, that release

of unstructured playtime, maybe.

And as adults, we have

replaced recess with routine, and

we've swapped playtime for productivity.

And when it comes to

movement or exercise, we even

call it a workout.

Have you ever thought about

that?

Think about that for a

moment.

We put the word work

into our movement and exercise.

So today, I want to

rethink all of that.

We're going to explore how

to take the work out

of workouts and bring the

play back into our every

day and into some of

those waking minutes, because let's

be honest, playing hard sounds

a lot more fun than

working hard.

I hope you agree.

So grab a seat or

actually go skip outside with

your earbuds on and get

ready to move, both in

our mind, back to a

time of recess as we

start reinventing recess together for

our lives today.

So let me share a

little bit about what got

me thinking about this idea

for an episode, but also

the idea of recess for

grownups.

Almost every week, unless I'm

traveling on business on that

particular day, and I do

try to schedule my travel

so it doesn't intersect with

this.

But I volunteer at my

daughter's P.E. class.

It's not called gym there

anymore.

I don't know if you've

gotten the memo, but at

our school, it's P.E.

And in fact, my daughter

didn't know what P.E.

stood for until recently when

we talked about physical exercise

was the acronym.

And my time there is

one of the absolute highlights

of my week.

Watching the kids just dive

into movement, whether it's running

around, their sort of gregarious

play.

They're playing various versions of

tag that we did when

we were growing up called

sharks and minnows or Halloween

themed ones where it's witches

and goblins chasing around a

pool noodle -

only shoulders or lower - as

the tagging instrument.

Learning about tossing a ball

properly, you step, you swing,

you toss or beanbags, of

course, and doing partner skills.

I think last week we

did hula hoops and soccer

balls.

It's so much fun.

It's a lot of joy.

It's certainly some chaos.

And I really adore Coach

Weiss, our P.E. coach

who has been at the

school for eight years already.

Apparently, I have earned the

distinction of his first volunteer

ever.

And I earned my way

in by celebrating the fact

that I could jump rope.

I could wipe noses.

I could help wrangle and

demonstrate.

Into probably one month into

volunteering, I also shared that

I'm certified in CPR and

also an exercise physiologist, but

didn't lead with that.

I just wanted to be

a mom volunteering for P.E.

But Coach Weiss, he

is a tremendous teacher.

He has to be, as

you can imagine, a very

good wrangler.

And he's an all around

good sport, literally.

The one thing, though, that

I've noticed is that the

children are not thinking about

the calories they're burning or

the muscle groups that they're

targeting.

And should this cause concern?

No, indeed, it should not,

of course. (You were probably

going with like, "what is

she thinking about?")

They are doing the same

things we're doing when we're

out there exercising or getting

a workout.

But they're not translating it

in the least to these

things that we think about

on a regular basis when

it comes to exercise meets

health.

They're practicing coordination.

They're practicing balance.

They're doing aerobic activity.

They're engaging different muscle groups

and they're moving. And they're

moving just because it's fun.

In fact, they separate the

idea of being tired from

I want to run a

lap.

That's something that always fascinates

me.

They say, oh, I'm so

tired, Coach Weiss.

And then they want to

take a break and say,

can I run a lap?

It just gives me the

giggles and it's so much

fun.

So this is something I

think we as adults need

to relearn and reconcile.

I mean, when did movement

become so serious?

So playing has always been

a part of my life,

I'm happy to say, though

I get crushed with deadlines

and I work funny hours

and sometimes I need to

be reminded.

But I have built in

a system of reminders, some

of them visual in our

household.

It's sort of woven into

our daily routines.

And in part, yes, it's

because I have a young

child.

But even before my daughter

was born, we have had

a Nerf basketball hoop, mounted

much too high for any

child, to receive whatever we

feel like we want to

toss in it on a

given moment.

It might be the Nerf

basketball.

It might be a wad

of paper harking back to

the days of high school

and before when we've always

liked to do that, to

sink the basket with that

wad of paper.

Sometimes it's our clothing, our

laundry about to go into

the hoop.

But whatever it is, we

keep that front and center.

We have a jump rope

hanging by the door.

I think we actually have

two hanging on a hook

where we hang our backpacks

and jackets.

And we even have a

bingo cage that comes in

periodically and sort of comes

in and out of the

flow of the regular time.

This is because we actually

have been serious bingo callers.

This dates back a while

and may be a topic

for another episode to bring

in this story.

But we used to lead

Bingo with the Bazilians and

we became pretty serious.

It was a pretty serious

gig for us.

And during the pandemic, we

had to be creative like

we all had to be.

We didn't know what to

expect at the beginning.

And certainly we could go

outside and we live in

Southern California.

So we were able to

access some of that.

But playgrounds were off limits

for a time.

So we were limited to

our own outdoors.

So that's where we brought

a bucket swing indoors so

that we could use it

at other hours as well.

In fact, we hung it

on one of the strong

beams in our house in

our living room.

So we still have the

hooks up.

And periodically, we still bring

back in the things you

can hang in our living

room.

So we wanted to create

fun and play outdoors and

in.

But it's not just our

home.

Years ago, when I lived

in Brazil for a short

time, several months, I was

doing my master's thesis research

down in Northeast Brazil.

I discovered that playfulness is

actually built in to the

way of life in that

area.

And I would argue probably

all over that region.

We would visit friends and

there were always games.

And sort of like we

do have maybe family game

night.

And some families or individuals

are building in play,

so I encourage you to

write in or to share

your stories if you're doing

that.

But really, the version of

movie night or getting together

for dinner or something almost

always included some kind of

play.

And I know that this

happens here in the US

sometimes.

But it's certainly not the

norm unless we make it

so.

So anyway, I have a

lot of memories.

But one really popped up

in particular when I was

thinking about today and sitting

down here for talking about

recess.

And it was one that

occurred during a time when

Jason, who was my boyfriend

at the time of many

years already, but now 25

plus years, my spouse, he

came down for a visit

while I was doing my

research.

And we spent a weekend

at a little beach bungalow,

a little beach cottage of

our friends.

And all of us stayed

there.

We were sleeping in various

places.

It was probably around 10

of us.

And down in that area,

everything was really simple.

You really spread out wherever

you could find a space.

One of the coolest things

that I loved about, and

I think I've seen it

in other places in Brazil

as well, but almost every

room had some built in

hooks that you could then

hook up a hammock to

sleep in if you wanted

to or rest or have

leisure time, whatever it was.

And so we would all

sort of distribute ourselves across

a number of different bedrooms

and hook up our hammock.

And maybe there was a

better two in the room

as well.

And this was very typical.

And whether it was a

simple or fancy home, they

had these hooks.

Well, I recall one night

after we had like this

wonderful night and we had

it was games and we

were drinking caipirinhas, maybe one

too many.

And we finally retired into

the wee morning hours.

I remember waking up in

my hammock to a like

plunk, plunk, plunk, giggle, giggle,

laugh, laugh, pause. Plunk, plunk,

giggle, giggle, laugh, laugh, pause.

And I looked over to

Jason, who was like also

waking up in his hammock

hanging in the room and

we started laughing.

Of course, my friends were

out there.

Barely sunrise had come and

they were playing paddleball out

on the patio and they

were just having the best

time.

Bedhead didn't matter.

Sun up, however they're feeling.

They were doing it just

for the sheer joy of

it.

And that attitude really stuck.

This is a number of

years ago, making play an

everyday part of life.

And I only need to

sort of dip into my

memory to sort of re

-engage that and bring it

in.

It was just the natural

impulse to roll out of

bed in - for the whole

culture - basically what I saw.

And I hate to generalize,

but if I'm going to

make a generalization, this is

a really positive one.

I want to generalize about

what I experienced with the

Brazilian culture.

There was always a soccer

ball being kicked around.

There were always people, you

know, if the spirit moved

them getting up and dancing,

they didn't have to go

to a dance space.

They would just stand in

their chair and get up

or even practicing Capoeira, which

is a form of martial

arts that I took up,

which is actually a martial

arts, a sport.

It was always festive and

play-like and had music

and dance associated with it.

So it's something that I

brought forward and I wanted

to pass along to my

daughter.

And I hope I'm doing

a good job of that.

And I want to pass

a little along of that

to you as well, because

here's the thing:

Movement doesn't have to be

about achieving a goal or

ticking off a box like

you got the workout 'in'

today.

It can be uniquely and

unto itself about finding joy

in the moment.

And that's what recess really

is all about.

It's like sort of stepping

out of the grind for

the moment.

Think about how recess was

that break in school.

And it's not a grind,

but it's stepping out of

the more serious learning, the

mental engagement into our bodies.

It's letting go of the

shoulds and it's just playing.

So today I'm going to

borrow a little bit of

this Brazilian spirit, a little

bit of the childhood wonder

and talk about why bringing

recess back isn't just fun,

it's necessary for our health

and such a great way

to spend some of our

waking minutes, most, if not

every day.

All right, let's talk about

the rewards of bringing a

little recess back into our

adult lives, because while the

main goal is play for

the sheer joy of it,

the benefits of these small,

playful movements are backed by

science and may really resonate

with you moving forward.

So here's what you stand

to gain by embracing your

inner eight-year-old.

First of all, quick bursts

of exercise add up.

So even short bursts of

activity can have a big

impact.

Research has shown that just

10 minutes of moderate movement

each day can help prevent

obesity and reduce the risk

of chronic diseases.

And this is for kids

and adults alike.

In the short time you

can burn, say, an extra

50 calories a day, which

could add up to about

five pounds of weight loss

each year.

That's just a few minutes

added to the day doing

something that's fun.

Benefit number two, to feel

good and to reduce stress.

So connecting with childhood activities

can decrease stress and movement

can help release the feel

-good chemicals like endorphins, the

ones that are actually pain

-relieving and actually can help

comfort and bathe us in

a feeling of joy.

And those feel-good hormones

are called that for a

reason.

You add in a little

bit of laughter and some

smiles and you get even

a bigger boost.

In fact, you get a

boost of serotonin as well,

which is a natural stress

reliever that can promote a

sense of calm and promote

positivity.

So this means a more

calm, a more fun maybe,

and a more positive you.

Number three, better concentration.

And couldn't we all use

a little more of that?

Recess has shown to improve

concentration in school children.

And for adults, revisiting our

childhood activities can both help

with our brain memory and

our muscle memory, helping our

minds stay sharp and focused.

So when we remember things

like riding a bike...you know 'as

easy as getting back on

and riding a bike.'

If you learned it once,

you probably still know how.

Or reaching for the sky

on a swing set, you

know the motions.

Our bodies will respond with

familiarity, right?

And the skills that we

learned earlier in life.

And it translates to our

ability to focus and have

better concentration.

Benefit four, it all counts.

Every bit of movement is

exercise, ultimately.

Every bit of movement adds

up.

So we tend to think

in like an all-or

-nothing approach.

Instead of giving credit for

everything we do, we say,

oh, I didn't get my

30 minutes in today, or

I didn't get to the

gym.

Or, oh, I did do

my, quote "workout", and it's

something structured.

Will you win a marathon

by doing recess exercises?

No, maybe not.

But life really isn't all

about extreme efforts, is it?

It's about steady, meaningful inputs

that are sort of marathon

-like.

And it enhances our quality

of life.

And it is, in a

way, like an endurance race.

It's the little daily inputs

that have the longest positive

impact.

And it's not just about

living long here.

It's about living long well.

And next benefit, finally, is,

oh yeah, fun.

It turns out that fun

is good for you,

I'm glad to report.

So playing doesn't just feel

good, it's good for you.

Engaging in activities that spark

joy and bring smiles allows

us to tap areas of

our brain and body that

help us ultimately feel more

creative, more energetic, more productive,

and more confident.

These are all qualities of

a healthy mind and body.

And it just feels so

good.

And fun equals good.

Now let's take a moment

for our Mindful Minute together.

This is your chance to

pause, breathe, and reconnect.

Not just with the present

today, which I want you

to do, but with a

memory that makes you smile.

I'll set you up,

we'll take the minute together.

And then we'll reflect.

This is a perfect time

to reset, recharge, and today

we'll even bring a little

play into our mind.

Start by closing your eyes,

if you're not walking or

driving, of course.

Or just sort of tilt

them down at about a

natural gaze at about 45

degrees downward.

And relax.

And start some natural breathing.

Picture your favorite playground from

when you were a kid.

Take yourself back to some

playground.

It could have been at

school.

It could have been a

park.

It could have been your

backyard.

What did it look like?

Maybe there was a towering

slide.

I remember a few that

were metal and got very

hot in the summertime myself.

Maybe a swing set that

had a rhythmic creak that

you recall, or wobbled as

you tried to launch up

to the moon.

Or maybe it was the

monkey bars, you know, that

you would swing across.

Or as we sometimes managed

to do, I don't think

I could do it now,

climb on top of the

monkey bars and feel like

you're literally on top of

the world looking out.

So let's do one preparatory

breath together.

Take a slow, deep breath

in through the nose and

let it out through the

mouth.

I'll begin the timer.

Let's begin.

Imagine yourself standing there on

the playground.

Feel the ground under your

feet.

Is it gravel?

Those rubberized wood chips or

actual wood chips?

Grass?

Concrete?

Listen for the sounds.

Maybe some familiar laughter or

the rhythmic creaks of a

swing set.

The thunk of a familiar

ball hitting the pavement.

And picture yourself doing something

that you loved.

Was it the swings when

you soared higher and higher?

Or balancing on a curb

or a beam?

Let yourself experience a little

bit of that joy and

the freedom of play.

Take one last deep breath

in.

And let it out.

Okay, that's our Mindful Minute

plus a few seconds.

Bring back some of these

images you created and feelings

you had again during your

day or over the course

of the days.

And perhaps you can capture

some of that natural feeling,

that cellular and muscle memory

and the physiological feeling that

play gave you.

And picture it now and

again.

Thank you for taking this

time to reconnect with the

sense of playfulness and joy

with this.

And now we're going to

bring the lightness and energy

into the rest of our

day.

And we're going to talk

about some practical ways to

reinvent recess in your life.

Thank you for sharing that

Mindful Minute with me.

All right, now that we've

reconnected with the joy of

recess, let's talk about some

practical ways you can bring

that energy into your day

-to-day life.

These tips are all about

simplicity and making movement feel

more like play and a

little less like work.

Let's think about rebooting or

reinventing recess.

And it could even happen

like it did with us

in your living room.

So that's where I'm going

to start.

Bring recess indoors.

You don't need a playground

to play.

Plenty of recess-style moves

can be done in your

own home with just your

body.

And you can even imagine

some of the equipment and

still have fun.

You can even do it

while you're watching a TV

show or waiting for someone

to get ready for something

or somewhere to go.

So here are just a

few, for example.

And I have a big

long list of these if

you want more.

Sitting swings.

Sitting swing set or swings.

So you can sit in

your chair and you can

mimic the swinging movement by

pumping your arms back and

forth as you used to

on a swing and leaning

and rocking gently forward and

back and engage your abs

as you do that.

The more that you can

sort of feel and internalize

what it used to feel

like on a swing or

better yet, next time you're

at a playground, get on

one and remind your cells

and your muscles what it

feels like.

But you can actually engage

your core, rocking back and

forth and feeling a bit

of that freedom and movement.

It's great for your core,

your abs, your posture.

And we know that core

strength is associated with reducing

back pain and lower risk

of injuries.

So some of these can

be really simple, as I

mentioned.

Another one is monkey bars.

Now, I'm not expecting you

to install monkey bars into

your home, although I do

have a couple friends, one

who's in Chicago who did

just that in her basement.

But you can stand or

sit and make circular arm

movements as if you're reaching

forward the bars overhead.

And it can help with

some shoulder flexibility, some circular

motion, sort of lubricating your

joints.

And when you're seated, it

can actually bring some blood

flow up to your arms,

your hands, and your brain.

It can warm you up.

So the movement is really

just mimicking the jungle gym

with making circular movements as

you crawl across the monkey

bars.

It's probably a little easier

than having to suspend your

full weight as well.

Another one, seesaws, I'm going

to say, aka squats.

No one really likes to

say the word or do

squats, except for the very,

very intense, intensely engaged athletes

and people who really, really

love the results that they

give.

But seesaw movement can be

like doing squats.

And if squats and lunges

make you cringe or just

settle back into your chair,

think about the way the

seesaw engaged your legs.

The truth is pushing up

and down from a seated

position is a key maneuver

that can help prolong a

healthy life.

There are even studies that

support how important it is

to be able to do

lunges and squats.

Think about getting up from

a chair or getting up

from the floor.

So you envision the teeter

-totter, the seesaw, while you

push up and down with

your quads in and out

of a chair, squatting and

strengthening your legs.

Keep it simple.

Be mindful and respectful of

your own limitations.

But leg strength has been

tagged as a risk factor

for decreased longevity if you

don't have it - weak leg

strength - quality of life, and

increased risk of falls.

That's a good one too.

And then I thought I

would mention Hokey Pokey because

it's a classic song.

And if you put your

left foot in and your

left foot out, you put

your left foot in and

you shake it all about,

I mean, it's silly, but

it's so good for balance.

Think about balance.

It gets the blood flowing.

It brings a smile to

your face.

And it can be done

very simply in any location

during a commercial break, while

dinner is cooking, when you're

on hold for maybe the

somewhat annoying customer service calls

that we all have to

deal with.

And of course, it makes

us smile.

There's other ones that go

along with this.

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

comes to mind.

Another favorite.

And you can certainly expand

the list.

I have a whole long

list, as I mentioned, and

happy to share more.

Number two, take it outside.

So nothing is as freeing

and recess-like as recreating

the games of childhood.

In the open air, get

out there, go to the

park if you can.

When was the last time

you got on a swing?

Go do it.

Can you hang from a

monkey bar any more?

And are you up for

the challenge?

What about jumping between rocks?

Again, carefully.

Watch your limitations and start

slow.

Or imaginary rocks on the

grass.

Or playing hopscotch.

All you need is some

sidewalk chalk.

Or just invent it with

your mind across your path.

When the weather allows, step

into the great outdoors.

It's really such a great

environment to make the world

your playground -

literally.

You've probably heard that.

Make the world your playground.

We really should do it.

So these are some ways

to do it.

Also, you can find things

like a curb, a low

wall, or even just a

line along a pathway to

walk the line and practice

balance and coordination and the

sort of heel-toe-heel

-toe progression that we're actually

doing in PE in my

daughter's class.

Third, play with your people.

You know, the people around

you.

They can be your family.

They can be your friends.

They can even be co

-workers if you're brave and

you have that kind of

relationship with them.

Your kids, your grandkids, and

your furry family as well.

Pets.

Movement is certainly more fun

when it's shared.

We certainly tend to do

more if we're doing it

together and we commit to

each other.

So play some games like

cornhole or kickball.

Or remember croquet?

Maybe set out some croquet.

Or make up your own

version.

How about bocce?

We played the most fun

I remember - of bocce -

I mean, I couldn't remember

playing it in many years,

but last Christmas with some

dear friends that I had

known since childhood down in

Florida on Christmas Eve.

It was so much fun.

You can crab walk.

You can do field day

type races.

You can create mini obstacle

courses in your own yard.

If you're feeling uninspired for

how to do that again,

get a child to help

set it up if you

need.

Or tap your memories.

You'll remember how easy it

is and how it didn't

take big orchestration to do

this.

If you have a jump

rope, and you can even

do this with an imaginary

jump rope, but jump rope

with a friend.

Challenge each other how many

jumps you can do.

Or even can you do

one anymore and get yourself

back up to speed with

the jump rope.

A friend of mine actually

volunteers teaching.

She was a jump rope

artist, let me call it,

and still is.

and she teaches youth how

to jump rope.

So she can probably show

off a few tricks and

you can do that with

a friend.

I can't wait to see

her so that she can

teach me a few and

we can share that together.

Next, and this is important

when we're talking about our

precious waking minutes, schedule recess.

Just like in school, schedule

a recess break in your

day.

This one gets to our

time and making time, taking

time, and prioritizing this for

your fun, for your life,

and for your health.

So even 15 minutes, like

I mentioned when we were

talking about the benefits, can

make a big difference in

multiple ways, physical health as

well as your mental health.

So set a timer if

you need to.

And this is really your

time to disconnect from work

and reconnect to movement and

joy.

This is not work, this

is play.

And finally, I'd like to

add, be spontaneous to the

list of tips.

Sometimes the best play happens

when we sort of just

let down our guard and

you're not planning it.

If you hear a great

song, dance.

Just dance in your kitchen.

Be waiting for dinner to

cook.

Do a few squats or

pretend to jump rope.

Are you on hold for

that call?

Obviously, I've had a few

of those lately.

Stretch or move in a

way that feels good so

that you're making use of

your time and you'll remember

it a little bit differently

as well.

Play doesn't have to be

perfect.

It just has to be

fun.

And these are just a

couple ideas for small moments

of movements that can make

a big difference to your

fun factor, your overall well

-being, and not just your

body, though that one's an

important one too.

So those are the tips

for today.

And as we get near

the end of this episode,

I encourage you, encourage me,

to take a to reflect

together about this idea.

What did recess mean to

you and us as a

child?

Was it freedom from the

classroom?

Was it a chance to

laugh with your friends?

Or just time to get

out of the classroom and

move your body and have

a little fun and let

loose?

And now think about your

life today.

Where can you create a

little bit of space for

this kind of joy?

Is it free-spirited, unstructured,

just having fun?

Maybe it's a quick dance

break between meetings.

Maybe it's a walk with

a friend.

Or even five minutes of

silly movement in your living

room.

And trying some of these

sort of indoor recess activities

I mentioned.

Let's bring it further by

asking what's one small way

you can bring a little

recess back into your life

this week?

One small way.

A little recess.

I hope that you'll write

me about that because I

would love, love, love to

hear.

Take a moment to think

about it now or at

the end of this episode.

And if you're feeling inspired,

I'd love for you to

share it and your thoughts

with me.

And I'll share mine in

the time ahead.

Maybe it's a story from

your own childhood and how

you can reclaim recess as

an adult.

I hope you find that

joy.

So to recap what we've

we started by

reminiscing about recess,

the joyful, carefree moments that

brought movement and fun into

our childhood lives as kids.

We talked about how as

adults, we often lose the

sense of play and we

put in the idea of

exercise as work.

The work out.

But what if we could

turn things around and bring

a little play back into

our lives and reframe and

reword what we're doing?

I shared some personal stories,

of course, about volunteering at

my daughter's school, a little

bit of our pandemic-related

swing fun in the living

room, and also what my

experience was with the Brazilian

culture during my research living

there and what inspired me

really to connect with this

and bring it home.

I think it was there,

if I had to say,

that really showed me that

play could be part of

every day, whether you're a

child, adult, no matter where

in your life stage, that

they're woven into our day.

I hope the ROIs or

the evidence that I provided

gave you the credibility, the

validity, and why it's good

for your health.

It's another good reason to

justify its existence as if

we need that in boosting

focus and memory, in helping

reduce stress.

And it's backed up by

research that small moments and

small movements can help.

And then we talked practical

tips.

So I hope that some

of those will come into

your local park again, into

your kitchen, in your living

room, and maybe I'll catch

you doing a little hopscotch

outside with some chalk or

just your imagination.

So here's your homework for

the week.

Take 5, 10, maybe 15

minutes for recess.

Make it playful, make it

fun, and make it yours.

And if you do, I'd

love to hear about it.

Thank you for sharing a

few of your waking minutes

with me today as we

explore the joy of recess

coming back into our lives.

It means so much to

me to have you here

sincerely, part of this journey,

on this podcast, and on

this planet.

I'm Wendy Bazilian.

This is 1,000 Waking Minutes.

And until next time, have

fun and be well.

Thank you for tuning in

to 1,000 Waking Minutes.

A huge thank you to

our amazing collaborators, including our

production and marketing teams and

Gabriella Escalante in particular.

To the ultra talented Beza

for my theme music, my

lifelong friend and artist, Pearl

Preis Photography and Design.

To Danielle Ballantyne, Jen Nguyen,

Joanna Powell, and of course,

my family, and everyone working

tirelessly behind the scenes.

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I'm sayin' Yes to better days, Yes, it's on my way, Yes, It's gonna be ok, yeah!