Playfulness

Playfulness is a supreme experience of excitement – a playful state of euphoria and involvement sparked by movement in the sensorium.

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A sensorium is the sum of an organism’s perception. It is the interconnection between thought, emotion and sensation from where the organism experiences and interprets the micro-world within which it lives. The fun theorist Bernard De Koven explain it like this:

Playfulness comes from the center of your being, from whatever your soul and mind and heart and body are centered on.”

To enter playfulness you have to challenge the sensorium and be able to let go and immerse into the state.

The challenge can be emotional, physical, mental or social.
[img id=”8599″ width=”400″ align=”right”] The sensorium is interconnected by the nervous system which has similar fractal structure and form as for example lightning and water shorelines. Iterative and recursive and seemingly infinite the neurons interact.
[img id=”8606″ width=”400″ align=”right”] Neurons are living a always dynamical changing based on input from challenges and the choices made.

The body releases five main types of hormones: endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, cortisol and adrenalin.

INDIVIDUALISTIC
Endorphins: Suppress pain ex. from mussel pain under running, laughing.
Dopamine: When goal is achieved ex. eat, see the goal achieved. Highly addictive ex. smartphone, games – dangerous if unbalanced

GROUP RELATED
Serotonin: Pride, status, recognition. Gives confidence. Reinforce relationships ex. between mentor and student.
Oxytocin: Feeling of safety, activated with physical contact, act of human generosity in time and energy, boost immune system, increase creativity,

Cortisol: React on danger, stress, paranoid, suppress immune system, growth, bone.
Makes us self-interested, less generous, less empathic.

Adrenaline (Epinephrine): A hormone that focus your body to come out of a dangerous situation, stress.

The process: Adrenalin in blood stream 1.) -> Increase heartrate -> blood transport to muscles faster -> muscle energy release (ATP = Adenosine triphosphate) 2.) -> signal lever -> release glucose (blood sugar) -> body cells incl. brain cells.

The outer and inner senses of the body.
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Ignite play with movement and contact! From there you can go anywhere.

Play resources: A resource page about play with a collection of selected books, game list, festival and related stuff (the password is ‘play’).
Reference list: Reference list on interesting books and articles about playfulness. Direct link http://bit.ly/playfulness-references
Play video channel: Welcome to the play channel of Jakob la Cour. A place to lean back and forward while enjoying lectures, study and opinions about play. Videos are embedded and linked to make it easy for you to enjoy.

All the best
Jakob la Cour

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Drawing by Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1899) of neurons in the pigeon cerebellum