Play is a serious matter. Very serious. I’m not kidding.  For instance, John Ratey M.D. a wonderful man and doctor whom I got to know in the last year is tremendously aware of this.  We share a belief in play. Play involving physical activity is not just good for the body, it improves academic or mental performance. There really is an academic study of play- I’m not joking or about to make excuses for my behavior. You can find academic level discourse on play and a body of “play literature”.  Studies indicate that learning, memory, concentration and mood have significant impacts on a student’s academic performance, and studies suggest that physical activity enhances each of these attributes (e.g. Ratey, Sattelmair and Ratey). Play is important for kids and adults.

For the past few days, I’ve taken to play with the same passion and mission-driven intensity that I bring to most things. I’ve bodysurfed in the waves, snorkeled, paddle-boarded, wind-surfed, kayaked, and danced til the wee hours. And all this in one day. And the same the next day.Today, I’m updating my blog, because my body has cried “uncle” and demanded a morning off- the mind betrayed by the body’s limitations.

Yesterday was tremendous.  Strengthening winds brought some “big roller” waves to the beaches of St Barths where I’m spending the Holidays.  Seeing the whitecaps on the ocean, my daughter and I charged over to Gouverneur Beach (not content with her trouncing me a windsurfer, I willingly signed up for more punishment.) 

I stepped barefoot onto the soft powdery sand and looked onto the ocean. The wind sang against a cadence of cracking and pounding rhythms from the surf. Once quick glance, a big grin, and my t-shirts was thrown on the beach. I raced my daughter to the sea, and dived head first into an oncoming wave. Then it was serious bodysurfing, watching the sets, picking the best wave – it’s always the one after the first large one. When the wave came, I paddled fast and furiously, to launch myself into uncontrollable surf and hoped for the best. I knew when I’d caught the big wave because it was sudden rush then sand in the swimsuit, water up the schnoz, and legs and arms flying in directions that nature never intended. Just hanging on until the wave exhausted itself and dumped me on the sand, where the next surge promply dragged me back into the washing machine. It was brilliant. I felt physically alive, I excercised, and I laughed aloud.

After a while I noticed something- the absence of other adults!. Except that is for those with young kids who shared the fun and adventure in the surf.  And as if reading my thoughts, two middle-aged men entered the water perhaps, I thought, the exceptions to prove me wrong.  They strategically placed themselves close to the best spot in the break, but in the calm water out of the breaker line.  A couple of well cared for New York guys, they stood in the man-to-man, face-to-face, position and engaged in stone faced conversation. Their bodies never moved but their mouths never stopped.  They spoke loudly. Except for the fact that they were naked from the waist up, nothing distinguished their conversation from a Wall Street lunch.  They jousted over stock-brokers, attempted to out-rank each other with how much they hadn’t lost in the last year (a lot). In today’s economy, it’s not cool to discuss making a lot of money but status is based  on how little of it you lost.  With no clear winner in the cash and stocks category, the slightly chubbier of the two fretted aloud over sending private cars to relative who wouldn’t ride in them. That seemed to tip the balance to the slightly chubbier guy. The vanquished nodded solemnly and his head went down. (He was probably looking at his gut and thinking, “well hey at least I look in better shape with my shirt off”).  Ok. enough of giving moneyguys a hard time in this season of goodwill. I’m not being fair but I use them only to make my point. Neither one was “playing” in the Ratey sense. They clearly worked out hard and regularly in a gym. But they had entered a nature’s gym- a place of physical play beyond the weights and the cario-machines. But without the sense of play to encourage activity, nothing happened to spark a new neurological awakening. They had spent a small fortune for a naked business encounter.  Yet a couple of feet away the sea was filled with bodies in motion. All around them brain cells activated, neurons were firing and most importantly laying down new neural pathways- new ways of thinking and of doing. Most of us, if we even have time to go to the beach, often sit and observe. Have we adults simply forgotten how to play or perhaps we are too embarrassed and feel foolish or childish. But if we need an excuse to play, well here’s one. It’s good for our health and great for our brains, especially if it’s cognitively, socially, and aerobically demanding – physical play is what we need.  So get out there and PLAY in 2010.  In the year ahead I wish you all much joy and a lot of good play. And I’m off to practice what I’ve preached!