Play for a Long Life

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In this week's wellness Wednesday episode, Evan covers the very unlikely health practice, play! Humans are meant to play, in fact it's crucial to our early childhood development. Play can help us to be more creative, learn social norms, develop and sustain relationships, and de-stress.

If you're like most adults then you probably think that play is only reserved for kids. However, play has a crucial role in adults as well. We are slowly loosing our ability to play as adults for multiple reasons and it's having an impact on our health. If you want to live a life that's enjoyable then get out and play!

Be sure to tune into this episode and share it with anyone that you think would benefit from hearing this episode. As always do everything with good intentions and connect to your elements!

Disclaimer:

This podcast is for educational purposes only, it is not a substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. Evan Roberts is not a medical professional and this podcast is provided on the understanding that it does not constitute medical or other professional advice or services. Statements and views expressed on this show are not medical advice, this podcast, including Evan Roberts and any guests on the show, disclaims responsibility for any possible adverse effects from the use of information contained in this episode. If you think you have a medical problem please consult a medical professional.

what's going on, everybody.

Welcome back to the elemental.

I've been show.

Thank you very much for tuning in on this beautiful wellness Wednesday episode.

Today.

I wanted to start off with a quote and today's quote is by George Bernard says

we don't stop playing because we grow old.

We grow old because we stop playing.

Now I wanted to use this Pope because I feel that it very nicely ties into

today's topic, which is all about play.

Now, many of you might be wondering why is a health and wellness podcast?

Talking about play.

Well, it turns out play is actually very fundamental in our early childhood

development, as well as our continued development throughout adulthood.

And really teaches us a lot of things like social norms and, uh, ways to, you know,

deal with, uh, You know, kinda having to deal with a little bit of adversity and

figuring out a way and being physical, you know, in a good way, obviously

getting out and getting some movement in.

Uh, there's many, many ways in which play actually benefits us.

And unfortunately, it's one of the things that we're actually losing

as a society, especially the older.

Uh, generation right.

Or not older generation necessarily like.

You know, as we get older, we start to lose our play.

And the reason this is important is because if you actually look at the

animal kingdom or more specifically in mammals, Um, you know, Britannica states

that around 80% of mammals and I think they include birds in there as well.

Uh, all play now.

I think there's actually other animals that should be included in this such as

octopus, because if you've ever seen my octopus teacher, which is a really cool

documentary, Uh, you are, I don't know if you'd consider that documentary or not,

but anyways, um, you get to see where the octopus actually plays with fish.

It's super wild.

Um, really, really crazy to see.

But nonetheless, we really need a play and we start to lose our kind of desire

and all's ability to play as we get older.

Uh, this is due to, you know, multiple factors, but it's really

wild to see how, as we get older, it's kind of frowned upon to play.

Right?

It's like you're being a kid, there's even phrases around

it, of like you play too much.

Right.

Um, it's, you know, there's kind of this whole culture around when you get

older, like you're not supposed to play, but the opposite couldn't be more true.

Uh, in fact, if we look at a lot of mammals, a lot of them

play into their later years.

And a lot of times it's with their children to help develop these different

social skills and help develop, uh, their brain and their bodies.

Uh, to function in the society that they grow up in and, um, really

teaches them some valuable lessons that they can use later on in life.

And I think it's also very important for us to note that we as human

beings, we do a lot of growth and development outside of the womb.

Right.

Um, if you think about a baby, a baby is still developing largely when it's born.

And, uh, it's almost helpless, right?

Like it's doing all this additional development, especially within

the brain as it's growing up.

Whereas a lot of animals, uh, they come out a little bit more developed

and able to take care of themselves.

Uh, we have this time where we're really still developing, um, even after birth.

And play is going to have a huge role in how we develop.

Um, especially as kids.

So make sure that you're letting your kids get out there and play.

Uh, but even for ourselves.

And so today's whole talk is going to be really revolving around play.

Why it's good.

Uh, not only for us as kids, but also for when we get older as adults.

And also how it could actually help increase our lifespan, which is one

of the main things that I'm really focused on is, you know, increasing

our lifespan, allowing us to live a longer amount of time, but also enjoying

those years that we're living for.

Right.

Um, to me, I don't want to live a long life if it's not enjoyable

and you know, where I'm able to do all the things that I want to do.

So.

To me increasing lifespan means increasing not only the years of your

life, but the life of your years.

Right.

Uh, that nice little saying there.

So why is play important?

As I already said, most mammals do it.

We do it.

We need to do it.

It helps us to develop a cognitively, physically, socially.

Emotionally even, and it's actually been shown to help develop areas

in kids, such as confidence.

Self-esteem.

Resilience interaction, social skills, independence, curiosity,

coping with challenging situations.

That's a huge one.

Uh, physical fitness and then balance and coordination, all of which are

extremely, incredibly important.

And.

If you really think about.

Kids when they're playing or even when you played as a kid.

Like, what were some of the things that you were doing, you were typically going

outside and getting very physically active in terms of, you know, playing

hide and seek or cops and robbers or whatever the heck it was that you

were playing, maybe it was hopscotch.

And while you were playing, you were mingling with other

people, other kids, right.

Learning to develop the social skills, learning social norms,

amongst each other, and really how to build a relationship, how to

develop, how to start a relationship, how to continue that relationship.

Um, and also learning, uh, how to define boundaries and learning how to

set rules and, and follow and listen and all these different things, right?

Like there's so much benefit.

Um, and on top of that, you're outside, you're breathing fresh

air, you're getting dirty hopefully.

And, you know, just being a kid, right.

Uh, there's a very de stressing nature to play as well, which is

very, very important for adults.

And we will get into that.

A little bit more, but I also want it to take a moment and talk a bit about.

Coping with challenging situations.

So.

One thing.

I think we're really starting to lack in our current society

is we don't allow the younger generation to struggle a little bit.

Uh, struggle's important.

We need to be faced with difficult situations because that is how

we ultimately learn and grow.

Uh, I see all too often where, you know, a great example is

like a kid tying their shoe.

Of course, it's pretty frustrating to teach a young kid how to tie a shoe.

Um, they will mess it up many, many times and it might take them a while to get it.

But if we never force our kids to learn, and we just enable them

by tying their shoes for them.

It's actually going to be a much more like, you know, Uh, prolonged

issue if you, uh, never allow them to struggle and figure out how

to tie their shoes on their own.

And I understand that, you know, of course parents are extremely busy as a parent.

Uh, especially if you have a job as well, like you have very little time.

I can absolutely respect that.

But if you are just enabling your kid over and over again, whether it's cooking all

their food for them, whether it's tying their shoes, cleaning up after them, all

of the different chores that eventually they will need to be able to do one day.

The more and the longer you enable them in doing these tasks.

The longer it's going to take for them to learn, which is ultimately

going to eat up more of your time.

So while it might be difficult to be patient in the moment and make your kids

struggle a little bit, it is going to be largely beneficial later on in life.

There's actually a show called.

Uh, I think it's called, Ooh, I'm totally forgetting.

It's old enough.

There we go.

It's a Japanese television show where these very young kids are

given a task, like go to the grocery store and purchase some items and

then come on back to the house.

And I mean, they're like three years old, right?

Maybe four.

And they're given money.

They're told how to go to the store.

It's the store that their parents always go to, you know,

so they should know the route.

And it's just so interesting to see how the kids work through

these difficult situations.

You know, there's a lot of things that happen, maybe their bag rips

and all of their, you know, all their groceries fall onto the floor.

And then they have to.

You know, figure out how they're going to pick it all up and carry it home.

And, you know, it's like all these little tasks that if an adult was there, of

course we would just help out the kid pick up this stuff for them that they dropped

and, you know, whatever it may be, but by forcing them to do it on their own, we're

allowing them to be them to develop these skills at a younger age, which is going

to ultimately aid them later on in life.

So my biggest thing right now is if you are raising a child

right now, Absolutely allow them to have some safe, but struggle.

Right?

Like don't put them in.

Any kind of a dangerous situation, but allow them to have a little

bit of struggle, give them some, some responsibility, right?

Because they were going to need to learn that down the road anyways.

And the earlier we can instill that in our kids is going to be.

You know, just ultimately better, not only for them, but for everyone else.

Um, I know that there's a lot of kids nowadays who, you know, they're,

they lack certain social skills.

Um, you know, they are not able to.

Do some, you know what?

We would almost consider basic kind of tasks because they've just been enabled

so much in their early stages of life.

And they've never been given the opportunity to kind of struggle and

figure those things out for themselves.

So.

I love, um, out of the quote, uh, you are sorry out of the book.

You are a, and sorry, I'm just quoting here, but you are a bad-ass.

Um, And you are a badass at making money.

I can't remember which one is, she has a few books.

I think her name is like Jen Shapiro.

Uh, and she says, tough love is still love.

Right?

As much as it may hurt.

To have to give your kids some tough love and you know, it might

make you a little sad in the time.

Uh, being butt.

At the end of the day, it is love.

You are doing it from a place of love.

You want them to succeed in life and do well.

And therefore you were going to give them a little bit of struggle because

you know, it's for the greater good.

So play ultimately can help with that.

When you allow your kids to go outside and play.

They're going to come across difficult situations and how they navigate

those situations is going to be pretty key in moving forward in life.

It's a while it might not be something that they can reflect

on and think like, oh, when I was a kid, I did this and this game.

Right.

But without actually thinking about like more subconsciously, they're going

to know how to navigate certain social situations and just difficult situations

overall, a better than a person who maybe never was given the opportunity to go.

Go outside and play with kids and, and, you know, learn

all these different skills.

So.

It is absolutely crucial for our development, especially as children.

To get outside and play, allow your kids to go outside, allow them to play.

Uh, I know video games are considered a form of play and who a degree.

It can have some benefit in terms of like the community around

it and all of that good stuff.

But at the end of the day, I think getting outside and having some of that old school

play is really just the best form of play.

Um, like I said, you get the social interaction, you get the

physical interaction as well, which is great for the body.

Uh, so overall play is just great for children.

Now.

As I stated earlier, play is not just important for kids.

Hey, every, one-on-one take a quick moment from this episode to talk a little bit

about the nutrient gaps in our diets.

If you listen to the show often, then you already know that due to some

specific farming practices, depleted top soils and nutrient deficient

foods that are out on the market.

We are lacking in very critical vitamins and minerals that are absolutely

necessary for us to perform at our top level and fight off some of those

nasty diseases that I talk about.

About on this show.

Now for that reason, I turn to my favorite micro algae spirulina.

The reason I love spirulina is because it's not technically a supplement,

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And in fact, NASA had studied spirulina in the 1970s.

And it has even been claimed by some, to be one of the most powerful,

concentrated foods available.

Now on top of all of that, it's super high in chlorophyll, which is great for

cleansing the blood of heavy metals.

And it has even been seen to have some antioxidant and anti-inflammatory

properties in the brain.

This is huge in terms of battling some of these cognitive diseases that we

absolutely want to stay away from.

But unfortunately we are seeing a rise here in our society,

in these cognitive diseases.

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Play is also very extremely for adults as well.

And there's multiple ways in which play is actually beneficial to an adult.

For example, it's been shown to increase, uh, creativity.

Uh, it allows one to appreciate beauty better.

It improves one's outlook on life.

Their sense of humor.

Uh, and gives them a better ability to cope with stress as well as

obviously improving, improving their physical health, depending on the

type of play that they're doing.

Now.

Those might not sound that incredible, but overall, those are very beneficial

things to have like improving one's outlook on life and even being

able to cope with stress better.

As I stated earlier,

We.

Well, actually I say this in a different podcast episodes.

Sorry about that.

We are highly stressed individuals.

And this comes from.

Basically just living in a state of a sympathetic nervous system, as opposed

to parasympathetic nervous system.

So we are just always kind of in this slightly stressed state, we're

not taking deep, full breaths.

We're stressed about work or stress about, um, you know, our partner, our kids,

uh, traffic bills, whatever it may be.

Right.

There's all these different kinds of stressors that we have nowaday.

And we don't tend to go into the parasympathetic state enough where we

can really just calm down and relax.

Now when we play a game.

Or we go outside and just play in general while you might be activating

a sympathetic response, because it's a very active game, like

basketball or something like that.

It is still very distressing, right?

It's an opportunity for you to relax and let go of the troubles of

the day and just really be present in the moment and focused on.

You know, the game itself and the camaraderie.

And just like I said, being present, right.

It is almost a form of a meditation.

Uh, it's being able to drop in like some of these high-level athletes, you

know, they get into the zone, right.

They get into that, that flow state where they are just completely present

and focused right on the moment.

And this can have some really great benefits for our mental health as well.

Obviously, playing a sport is going to be extremely beneficial

for our physical health.

So it has also been shown and I tried to find the science backing, this one,

everything else you can look up and you will find a backing for it on.

You know, Dr.

Google.

Uh, but this is the one where I could not find where I found

or where I heard about this.

Um, but I believe it was Dr.

Deepak Chopra who said this.

And he said that when you do a workout where you know, like you have to drag

yourself to the gym and you're just completely dreading it, like you had to

force yourself to get there and force yourself to get through the workout.

That compared to, let's say an, uh, type of workout that

you would enjoy, like maybe.

Having a pickup game of basketball with your best friends.

There's going to be a difference in the level of endorphins, which

are your brain chemicals are your feel-good brain chemicals.

Uh, there's going to be a difference in between these two exercises and the

release of endorphins, the one where you had to force yourself to the gym.

Of course, you're still going to have a release of endorphins because

working out we'll just do that for you.

It's incredible.

Uh, for the mind and the body.

But if you enjoy the activity that you are doing, AKA playing right.

You're actually going to have a higher increase in endorphins,

a release of endorphin.

So you're actually having more, like, feel good chemicals in the body.

Just by doing something that you're enjoying.

Right.

Um, now, like I said, I don't have the science to back it up.

I'm very sorry for that one.

I believe I heard it from Deepak Chopra.

Feel free to go to try and find it if you, if you care to do so.

Um, but nonetheless, I'm going to stick with it.

I like it.

And personally I feel it myself.

So when I go do a workout, like acro yoga with Ashley,

It is something that I truly truly enjoy.

And when we do acro yoga and we're just having a great time and just playing.

The time flies by, and then you not only does the time fly by, but by the time

you're done doing acro yoga, you feel.

Just an overall sense of really.

Well being, I don't know how to explain it.

I'm sure you have all experiences, but you just feel good and it is due

to that release of those endorphins.

Very likely.

So getting out and playing is going to be extremely beneficial for.

Any age, basically.

And on top of increasing physical health, uh, it also

does increase our mental health.

So they've seen that when you are in a good mood, basically, Uh, you are able to

increase your ability to learn information as well as to retain that information and

recall on that at a later time and day.

They have seen that this is very likely because.

When we are in a good or improved mood.

We are going to be releasing more dopamine, which is going to

basically make learning, feel fun.

Like it's going to make it feel enjoyable and rewarding.

And when you enjoy and.

You know, something that you're learning about.

You're just more likely to store those memories and

learn that information faster.

And a very good example of this is if you were in a classroom,

And you're practically falling asleep because the, you.

The teaching is just completely boring.

It's very likely that you're not going to remember that information, right?

Like a week or two later, or maybe even just later that day, you

probably are not going to remember much of the information that was

being relayed to you by your teacher.

However, if you were completely engaged in that teaching, maybe

it was a hands on activity, right.

And you were able to really just be engaged and, uh,

enjoy the type of learning.

It's much more likely that you're going to remember those teachings for a longer

period of time and also be able to call.

Recall on those.

On that information.

Easier than if you were in a, you know, kind of bored state.

I would say in when you were learning that information.

So being in a good mood having play, whether it's with.

You know, just a spore or actually learning something.

It is going to be beneficial and the last and probably most important thing

here in terms of, you know, really increasing our lifespan with play.

Is community, right?

So I know of course that play increasing our physical activity levels.

And you know, also if it's in terms of learning, that's going to increase the,

um, cognitive load, uh, uh, benefits.

But we have seen time and time again with these blue zones,

that one of the most reoccurring themes and most important themes.

Among these blue zones is there.

Community.

It is their connection to the community.

It is their friendships.

It is having good camaraderie with people.

It is having someone to turn to when you need someone to talk to.

Right?

It is so, so important to have this community.

And a lot of the times play can lead to that because of course you

can play something by yourself.

But it's very likely that your form of play is going to include other

people, whether it's a basketball team, whether it's ACRA, yoga,

whether it's even chess, right?

Like you have to play someone in chess typically, or, I mean, you

could play a computer, but you know, you could obviously play with someone

and find a community of people.

And that right there is going to be so beneficial for our health.

Right.

I mean, if you really just took the de-stressing nature of play,

the physical nature of play, the ability for us to learn faster.

And recall on that information better with play or enhanced moods.

And as well, having a sense of community through play.

Those are all amazing factors for increasing our lifespan and

can really, really just help us.

Not only live longer, but enjoy the years in which we're living.

Right.

I mean, It is very enjoyable to have a community that you can share

time with and share, you know, these activities with, um, it's much more

enjoyable than just coming home and being alone every single day.

Right.

And especially.

Now that we know.

Loneliness is on the rise and is at hot, the highest levels it's ever been

at in terms of our recording of it.

If you haven't listened to my previous episodes on depression

and anxiety and just mental health overall, please go check them out.

Um, I believe it was stated that somewhere around 60% of people.

Uh, have stated that they feel lonely on a regular basis here in the U S uh,

that's 60%, um, almost a hundred percent.

I'm quoting it.

Right.

I knew it was over 50% for sure.

That's a lot of people that feel lonely.

Right.

And that is not good for our.

Any kind of our health, our mentor, our physical health, our spiritual health,

any of that, it is terrible for it.

So go play, go find a group of people to go be a kid again with and just go play.

It's going to do wonders for your mental health, your physical health,

your spiritual health, everything.

Right?

Cause we like to look at health as a whole being right.

Everything is interconnected or not just isolating.

Health to what we eat or how we exercise.

Right.

They're important, but they're only pieces of the puzzle.

And play is a very important piece as well.

So that's where I'm going to leave.

You all is get outside and play.

If you are a grown adult, which you're very likely are.

If you're listening to this podcast.

I get outside and play.

You go be a cat again, it's a great time.

It can literally give you youth essentially and make you just feel

young again, which is incredible.

Uh, so go outside.

I don't care what it is that you're doing, whether it's throwing

a Frisbee around or playing basketball, whatever, I don't care.

Just go out and play, make those connections with people and,

uh, add some life to your years.

Right.

Okay, everyone that is going to do it for today's episode.

I really appreciate you all for tuning in to these episodes time in and time again.

It really means a lot to me.

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Thank you so much for tuning in, have a beautiful rest of your day.

You guys know the motto of the show.

It's do everything with good intentions and connect your elements.

Have a beautiful one, everyone.

Peace.

And I know you guys are gonna love it too.