A Playful Mind

Being playful is the most important part of Yuna. Surprised? Did you think Yuna is all about health and being powerful, kind and mindful? You are absolutely right. It is. But there’s more.

A playful mind is at the core of practicing all these qualities. Why? Because every kind of training has a limit and we get stuck at a certain point. We always want to be stronger than others. We make everything a competition. Recently, the term „spiritual athlete“ came up and honestly, that is scary. What now…who is better in being spiritual?! We are creating a crazy world. And not the good kind of crazy.

So, what happens when we do stuff with a competitive mind?

Compare and Compete

Whatever practice we do – lifting weights, yoga, meditation, running – first we learn and grow and become better and some day, reality hits. There are days when we are tired, impatient, sick or simply can’t make the time to train. What happens? We get frustrated, we are disappointed, we judge ourselves. And then, two options: One, we push harder and ignore our body’s need to rest. Two, we decided that training is not for us and look for another kind of sports. With either option, we are running from something we don’t dare to look at.

Are you ready to look now?
Look where you usually turn your head?
Let’s do it!

What we are running from is an inner program called „not enough“. Not strong enough, not flexible enough, not skinny enough, not bulky enough, not relaxed enough, not spiritual enough, not kind enough.

The transformation

So, how can we transform our training and the „not enough“ chant in our head? How can we stick to something and deal with all the days we fall, we are stiff, we feel weak in a benefitial way? We start to play.

Strength and joy

A playful mind can bounce back fast and unburdened from all the not super delightful days. It is there for us to help us through a bad day on the mat or in the gym. When we are playful, we find ourselves laughing because the legs are shaking on the treadmill or because we just fell out of a balancing pose for the forth time. Playfulness allows us to enjoy what we do, even if nothing goes the way we planned. A playful mind takes away the struggle and replaces it with joy and this thing called: fun.

A fresh start

Let’s look at practicing inner qualities. How is playfulness beneficial there? Let’s imagine we miss an opportunity to be kind – yes that happens to the nicest people on the planet. We could hate ourselves for days…I don’t have to go into detail how we treat others when we are in a bad mood, right? With a playful mind we can let go of things that didn’t go too well and make a fresh start. We can choose: Do I hate myself for days or instead do I forgive myself for…well, being human. When we allow ourselves to move on, we can stay present to use every opportunity to spread kindness again. In every Yuna class, we strengthen the playful mind that truly transform our overall approach to dealing with challenge. Start to play and experience the difference!

A playful mind is insightful.
It is strong enough to say „I am sorry“.

A playful mind is a fast learner.
It is free from the past and can be with every unique moment as it is.

A playful mind neither creates tension in the body nor heaviness in the heart.
It is not looking for answers, because it doesn’t create questions in the first place.

The playful mind is in direct communication with the essence of life.
And the essence of all loves to play.

Comment below and share your views, worries, stories, positivity and thoughts with me. Or send me a DM on Instagram @suzannefreiherz

Photo by Tom Freiherz.