In today’s episode of “The Alphabet of Happiness – 26-day Boost,” Klaudia Mitura explores P for Play and why fun isn’t just for kids!
Discover how play, rooted deep in our evolution, is essential for adult happiness—reducing stress, boosting creativity, and strengthening social bonds.
Klaudia shares practical ways to bring playful moments into your daily routine, like habit stacking, to quickly lift your mood.
Get involved:
⭐ Get a quick summary of each happiness principle—follow along as we reveal a new letter every day!
🏆 Join the competition: Share your thoughts on each principle, tag me (@Klaudia Mitura on LinkedIn / @thehappinesschallenge_klaudia on Instagram), and tag a friend for a chance to win one of three signed copies of The Alphabet of Happiness!
Hello happiness seekers. Welcome back. My name is Klaudia and this is 26 day boost.
And I feel like by now you know the drill and I'm sounding like a broken record, but for some of you who are joining for the first time into this episode, this is 26 Day Boost where I'm bringing you 26 days of science back happiness principles, one for every letter of the Alphabet. And I'm doing that because I've just launched a brand new book called the Alphabet of Happiness.
So each day, if you're listening to this podcast, you get practical tip in under five minutes designed to give your mood a real boost. And this campaign is also a countdown to the big book launch party on 31st of October at Science Museum in London.
And you can learn all about the details@thehappinesschallenge.co.uk book and if you tag me on social media with your reflection, you mention the Alphabet of Happiness, you tag me in your post, tag your friends, spread the joy about happiness. You will enter a chance to win one of the three signed copies of my book. Announcements over. So today letter is P for play.
And I think it's like incredibly interesting to know that the need to play was one of the primary emotions that already existed in animals 500 million years ago. So ultimately what that means is that evolution favored the drive to have fun.
So animals with more complex brains also evolved more sophisticated ways of playing. Think of a fish playing by swimming in circles versus you handcrafting your Christmas decorations.
And as adults, we truly understand the importance of play for children and their development. But we make a big mistake ourselves. We don't permit ourselves to play.
It seems like a frivolous, absolutely waste of time in the face of all our commitments and responsibilities. But this is where we miss a trick. Play absolutely improves our well being and happiness.
Play offers powerful benefits for adults, including reducing fatigue, boredom and stress, while boosting creativity, problem solving and resilience. In everyday life, engaging in playful activities means we can connect with other people more deeply. We can strengthen our social bonds.
We can foster that sense of belonging.
Also, from a neuroscientific perspective, play increases the release of specific protein in our brain which stimulates the growth of nerves in the areas responsible for decision making, emotional regulation. So plague it is a powerful tool for our mental well being.
And in the Alphabet of Happiness I explore play personalities, that is the preferences for certain types of play over others. And most importantly, how can we incorporate more play in our lives in a realistic way? Because look, I get it, I get it.
There's lots of commitments, there is lots of things to deliver on. But we can be playful. And one way to do so is to incorporate playful breaks into your daily routine.
So these can be only a few moments, but they can lift your mood quickly and give your brain a break. So this is where a concept of habit stacking comes in handy.
Because in practice, that means that you already have lots of existing habits that you do regularly, and you can stack a moment of playfulness on top of that.
So, for example, every single time, whenever you automatically pick up your phone, to check your social media, to check your messages, to check your emails, and let's be honest, you do that a lot. We all do that a lot.
You could engage in short moments of playfulness, like learning three words in a foreign language, watching a five minutes video on a TED talk about a topic that is completely out of your expertise. Or you can complete a daily crossword, or you can design a funny joke and send it to your friend.
Since you are picking up your phone multiple times throughout the day, pairing it with that quick moment of playfulness makes you more likely to play and boost your mood. So thank you so much for listening.
I wish you a playful day today, whatever that looks like for you, and I see you very soon for another letter and another happiness boost. Bye.
