“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by
the play instinct” -Carl Jung The amount of learning in our first five years of life is amazing. We start by lying, then learn how to roll, sit, crawl, walk, run, jump and more. Language develops from cooing sounds to words, questions or statements in both oral and written form. Eating, drinking, dressing and the biggie, going to the bathroom are also mastered at this time. These essential life skills were not accomplished by hard work or intense intellectual effort. They were mostly learned by playing. Milton Erickson believed that play is a kind of emotional laboratory in which the child learns to master their environment and come to terms with the world. Moshe Feldenkrais created his method to utilize the play instinct to help humans better interact with their lives and world. Curiosity, mental attention, self monitoring and awareness are all parts of the innate play instinct needed for new learning and self realization. Group Awareness Through Movement lessons are mystery games of movements. You play a somatic detective who uses verbal instructions and questions to investigate physical actions and discover how you best function (in both mind and body). Functional Integration is a playful dance between student and practitioner. Together, they explore the process of movement, learning how to create more efficient and varied actions. George Barnard Shaw famously stated: “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old by stopping playing”. Isn’t it time to start playing again? Visit the S3NSE playground at www.s3nse.org.