Want More Joy? 7 Ways To Cultivate A Playful, Child-Like Mindset

Desiree Rumbaugh, Conscious Life News

Do you remember how awesome it was to be a kid? Every day was a new opportunity to play, every person was a potential playmate, and every household item had the ability to be turned into something cool and fun, like a few blankets and chairs becoming a secret fort.

As adults, we can still access that kid inside us and by doing so, infuse our days with joyful, creative energy. One of the well-known principles of yoga, or really any ongoing repetitive endeavor, is to keep a fresh perspective; a beginner’s mind. Because it’s such a simple idea, the importance and depth of it sometimes gets underestimated and overlooked.

Here are seven ways you can keep a child-like freshness in your yoga practice or any other area of your life.

7 Ways To Cultivate A Playful, Child-Like Mindset

1. Be willing to try and try again and laugh when you “fail.” There really is no such thing as failure. What many people label failure is really only feedback on how to try again and do it even better. To see the truth of this, just watch an infant trying to walk. There’s no concept of failure, just a joyful exuberance to try and try again.

2. Believe you can do anything, and speak to yourself accordingly. Kids believe in superheroes because kids believe that anything is possible. And truly, with the right attitude (and the willingness to try and try again – see #1) anything is!

3. Be willing to be seen as silly by others. Kids are usually having too much fun to care how they look. Make joy and learning more important than your image, and you’ll inspire others to be goofy too (they really wish they could be, so set an example and give them permission).

4. Be your unique, amazing self. Don’t edit yourself. That is such a grown up thing to do. Kids just ARE. They invite you to take them “as is.” So spend some time really discovering who you are and wear your style boldly and proudly.

5. Shake it up. Don’t get caught in routines. Do things differently. Walk backwards. Brush your teeth with the “other” hand, try new routes, speak pig latin, eat your (healthy) dessert first.

6. Observe kids playing and join in whenever possible. They’re pros at playing. And you were once upon a time. Engage in the light, buoyant, physical games like hop scotch, tag, jump rope and monkey bars to stimulate your childlike perspective.

7. Learn a new, playful skill. Try hula hooping, square dancing or drawing (which turns on the right side of the brain). Learning keeps the mind open and flexible.

This is just a starter list, of course. There are endless ways we can stay young in mind and heart. But none of those ways will come to us until we choose to make keeping a childlike perspective a priority. Consider shaking your life up a little. Make a commitment right now to throw out your old, worn-out patterns and begin cultivating a fresh, new perspective that will infuse your life with playfulness and joy.

Desiree Rumbaugh is an internationally recognized yoga teacher with an unquenchable enthusiasm for life, love and healing. She brings 25 years of experience, experimentation and creativity to her ever-evolving, outside-of-the-box style of teaching. Desiree travels the world teaching, is a regular contributor to Yoga journal, teaches on Gaiam TV and is the creator of the DVD series “Yoga to The Rescue.”

Want to know if Desiree is teaching a workshop near you? Check her events schedule here. You can learn more about Desiree on her website:DesireeRumbaugh.com and her Facebook page.

Desiree posts a new article on CLN every Thursday. To view other articles, click HERE.