Playfulness has the power to reconnect us with our sense of self, and help us achieve growth and self-fulfilment. The author of this wide-ranging book explores the universal significance of play in the pursuit of happiness and authenticity. Providing a brief overview of the role of play in social, spiritual and intellectual endeavours throughout history, she discusses the harmful consequences of taking things too seriously, and reveals playfulness as a necessity for both the psyche and soul. Informed by the Core Process psychotherapy model, Buddhist philosophy and personal testimonies, the book illustrates how the lighter side of life enables us to re-examine the makeup of our identity and recover from negative experiences. Much more than an insight into the therapeutic properties of play, it is an eloquent ode to the importance of simply "en-joying" ourselves.

As adults, we have more responsibilities than we could have ever imagined growing up. Learning the work of marriage. Navigating the bumpy terrain of parenting. Maintaining social relationships. Facing grave hardship. Finding contentment in our career. As the years pass by, we sense how the good things in life are so often eclipsed by stress. We find ourselves doing everything we can just to endure adulthood, all the while wondering whether we are actually enjoying it. This is exactly why Dr. Anthony T. DeBenedet decided to write Playful Intelligence: The Power of Living Lightly in a Serious World, to show readers how playfulness helps us counterbalance the seriousness of adulthood. “Five years ago, my life was becoming more intense and stressful,” DeBenedet says. “My relationships, clinical work as a physician, and basic interactions with the world were blurring into a frazzled mosaic. Going through the motions became my norm, and every day brought busyness and exhaustion. I thought about whether I was depressed. I didn’t think I was. Anxious? Sure, but aren’t we all anxious on some level? I also thought about the lifestyle factors that could be making me feel this way. Was I getting enough sleep? Was I exercising regularly? Was I eating healthy? Was I playing and remembering to be playful?” Today, we live in a taxing world. The endless pressure to keep up with our responsibilities and the daily headlines swarming around us can be overwhelming. DeBenedet’s work comes at a time when stress, uncertainty, and intensity levels are high. Playful Intelligence shows adults that there is a way to live lighter—and smarter—as we navigate the seriousness of adulthood. It’s not about taking life less seriously; it’s about taking ourselves less seriously. The book’s core chapters are devoted to exploring the effects and benefits of five playful qualities: imagination, sociability, humor, spontaneity, and wonder. By examining playfulness as a sum of its parts, readers will gain a working awareness of its power and be able to apply playful principles to their own lives, bringing the magic of childhood back into their day-to-day existence. The book also offers practical suggestions on how to make life more playful in nature.

From Today Show contributor, Meredith Sinclair, comes this ultimate resource for awakening your playful spirit, jumpstarting your relationships, and upping your happiness quotient. In our age of digital addiction, many of us have lost our ability to be spontaneous. More parents are complaining that they no longer even remember how to play…with their children, their spouse, and even with their own friends. Don’t fret! In Well Played, expert Meredith Sinclair helps families relearn what used to come naturally and shows how to find happiness through play. For children, playing comes naturally…or at least it used to. But today that kind of easy-going fun is harder to come by, for both kids and their parents. With hectic lifestyles and constant technology overload, families have simply forgotten how to play. The solution? Relearn how to integrate fun and creative play into our day-to-day lives. Well Played will show you how to simplify your overscheduled lives with plenty of original and entertaining ideas, including: Why a disco ball is an essential kitchen appliance Lip Sync Battle, family edition Parent-child slumber parties…don’t forget the popcorn! Party like it’s 1949 with old-school table games 12 dates that are way better than dinner and a movie Stop helicopter parenting yourself—find things that thrill and slightly alarm you all at the same time! Grown-up field trips to slap on your schedule Packed with fun and engaging line drawings, entertaining DIY projects, and hundreds of lists and tips on capturing the game-changing joy of goofing off, Well Played is an indispensable guide for families to incorporate quality fun and playtime into our daily lives.

Every womans guide to timeless wisdom and modern science to help you discover how to: Awaken to your natural power, energy, wisdom and healing to attract love, health, wealth, and happiness. Transform yourself into the radiant, contented, self assured person you are born to be. Carry with you only the most positive and uplifting thoughts that will attract to you the same in experience. Create magical days with your words as your wand to bring in all that you wish for. Access your personal support staff who surround you, always joyful to assist you in any matter at all times. Let go and enjoy your lifes new ease and peace. Use the secret key already in your possession and unlock your souls treasure chest for a life to enjoy. Artistically create the grandest masterpiece of all-- your life. ...and much more!

Arts Therapies and The Mental Health of Children and Young People presents innovative research, theory and practice in the arts therapies. The different social, cultural and political contexts and developmental age groups illustrate and underscore the richness and diversity of contemporary arts therapies' creative response to the needs of children and young people in contrasting locations. The book represents an acknowledgement of the high rates of mental disorders in children and young people and addresses this subject. In presenting an array of responses from arts therapists working with children and young people in different contexts and countries, the book highlights the particular features of distinct art forms, yet also points to the potential dialogue between disciplines. Chapters show how the expressive potential and appeal of the arts, when facilitated within the therapeutic relationship, are crucial in fostering hope in the future and the capacity for trust in self and others. This book will be of great interest to arts therapists as well as academics and postgraduate students in the fields of arts therapies, social work, psychotherapy, health psychology, and education.

If you have ever felt overwhelmed, exhausted or unworthy, this book is for you. Sometimes all it takes is a simple question to awaken the strength and compassion hiding within us. To wake us up to the truth and beauty of who we are. Daily Awakening is a nurturing guide to living a life free from struggle, anxiety and overwhelm, offering a sacred space for introspection where self-acceptance and self-respect can blossom. Drawing on ancient wisdom and modern science, this book provides 365 days of insightful questions to encourage reflection, awareness and healing. From overcoming perfectionism to rediscovering your inner child, and coping with anxiety to tackling burnout, integrative counsellor and meditation teacher Nicola Jane Hobbs offers soothing words and gentle advice to inspire you to slow down, make peace with yourself and create a life full of meaning, beauty and joy. This year-long journey will allow you to form a deep connection with your authentic self and will equip you with the tools to stay true to your heart among the never-ending demands of the modern world.

Discovering our meaning and purpose--our reason for being--can seem like an impossible task, especially given the tumultuous times in which we find ourselves. Through challenging provocations, uplifting narratives, and profound insights, this book emboldens readers to experience their lives, not as spectators, but as reflective, courageous and purposeful participants. We can turn toward the problems, look them in the eye, and begin the work of setting things right--we can begin the process of awakening. Organized as a five-part journey, it explores, both cognitively and experientially, what it might mean to assume the rightful authorship of your life. By breaking out of the dominant narrative of how life should be lived, and by becoming more aware of the world around us, we can gain the tools essential for becoming open-minded, embodied, introspective and soulful human beings.

A WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER Unlock your originality and unleash your unique talents with this simple guide from the acclaimed author of Think Like a Rocket Scientist. We say some people march to the beat of a different drummer. But implicit in this cliché is that the rest of us march to the same beat. We sleepwalk through life, find ourselves on well-worn paths that were never ours to walk, and become a silent extra in someone else’s story. Extraordinary people carve their own paths as leaders and creators. They think and act with genuine independence. They stand out from the crowd because they embody their own shape and color. We call these people geniuses—as if they’re another breed. But genius isn’t for a special few. It can be cultivated. This book will show you how. You’ll learn how to discard what no longer serves you and discover your first principles—the qualities that make up your genius. You’ll be equipped to escape your intellectual prisons and generate original insights from your own depths. You’ll discover how to look where others don’t look and see what others don’t see. You’ll give birth to your genius, the universe-denter you were meant to be.

This is a guide, in theory and in practice, to how current technological changes have impacted our interaction with texts and with each other. Henry Sussman rereads pivotal moments in literary, philosophical and cultural modernity as anticipating the cybernetic discourse that has increasingly defined theory since the computer revolution. Cognitive science, psychoanalysis and systems theory are paralleled to current trends in literary and philosophical theory. Chapters alternate between theory and readings of literary texts, resulting in a broad but rigorously grounded framework for the relation between literature and computer science. This book is a refreshing perspective on the analog-orientated tradition of theory in the humanities – and offers the first literary-textual genealogy of the digital.

Coming up with new ideas for your student ministry can be grueling. After a while, you may find yourself tapped for creative ideas. But you're not alone! Les Christie will help you explore the stumbling blocks, the tricks of the trade, and the catalysts to creativity, helping you tap into your own creativity and look at your ministry in innovative ways.