PlayGrounding

Screen Free Week, May 3-9, 2021, is the Children's Screen Time Action Network’s annual celebration of unplugging, reconnection, and joy. They’re celebrating differently this year because screens have become the only means of connection for so many of us. But maybe that’s all the more reason to focus on this area of our lives?

In our interview with the Action Network's Director, Jean Rogers, she makes sure we understand they’re not ...

Alessandra Calderin has a very no-nonsense approach to health and spirituality that I really appreciate. Conversations about spirituality can take on characteristics similar to a religion with its own jargon and its own sets of assumptions. If you don’t agree with those assumptions or understand the jargon, it can seem as if you’re on the outside looking in. In this episode, Alessandra and I talk about spiritual jargon and examine ...

Dementia is seen as one of the most horrible things that can happen to a person – a “loss of self” or “living death.” Susan Massad and Mary Fridley are part of a coalition working to challenge that way of looking at dementia, known as “the tragedy narrative.” They created a workshop called The Joy of Dementia Workshop (You’ve Got To Be Kidding!). Using improvisation and social therapeutics, they teach how we can reframe what memori...

Spirituality and religion are linked to positive physical and mental health outcomes, but at times, unhealthy teachings can cause more problems than they solve. On this episode, Gary Ware interviews Kara, the host of PlayGrounding. Through her work toward interfaith ordination, she’s begun the process of uncovering her own story of religious trauma, sexual assault, and finding her way back to a healthy spiritual life. None of it wo...

If you’ve ever believed you couldn’t share your own story or let your voice be heard until you “fix” yourself, then you need to hear what Jessica has to say. Jessica Brustad, Co-Founder of Playful Mind Project, has worked with individuals struggling with mental health issues like anxiety, OCD and Postpartum Mood Disorders and has helped companies like Google and Microsoft improve their cultures through her original style and mindfu...

Meet the co-founders of the recently launched Playful Mind Project, play experts Jessica Brustad and Rona Lewis. The focus of their launch is on one of the hardest hit demographics during the Covid-19 pandemic – working moms. Jessica and Rona are not therapists, but their work is informed by therapeutic exercises like cognitive behavioral therapy. They specialize in stress relief through Purposeful and Attuned Play using fun and in...

This week you’re going to meet Charlette (Charly) Ford, a seasoned entertainer, executive producer and curator of the You’s A Fool Improv and Variety Show in Atlanta, GA. Charly is an Improv Acting Coach and bold event host, she brings charisma, comedy, and culture to her students and audiences alike. She’s one of the most playful people you'll ever met! When Charly’s around, it’s nearly impossible not to smile. She’s not the type ...

Kay Ross believes that life is an improvisation game and a playground of possibilities. She is an improv performer and an Applied Improvisation trainer; a bodyworker/healer; the Head Tour Guide in The Playground of Possibilities (that’s her project about guiding people to choose more joyful, resourceful thoughts, beliefs and stories about themselves and the world, and take inspired action). She’s also an editor, a copywriter and a ...

Have you ever heard the quote, “Be the person you needed when you were younger.” This quote by Ayesha Siddiqi is embodied in the work of Rita Ezenwa-Okoro. Rita lives in Lagos, Nigeria and is the Founder and Lead Visionary of Street Project Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that uses creative arts and performing arts tools to facilitate opportunities for youth employment, social mobilization and cross-cultural dialogue in N...

Gary Ware is concerned about your plan to work an all-nighter to finish that project. You might want to listen to his advice, because he's been where you are. Gary is the founder of Breakthrough Play, where he helps teams be more creative, confident, and collaborative using play. He has over half a decade of experience with improvisation, and over 14 years in the field of Digital Marketing.

I ...

None of the problems our world is facing right now can be solved if we can’t find new ways to talk to each other. Right now, consensus seems like a far off dream and we find ourselves asking, are we doomed to fail? Or is it possible to create a new way to talk to each other so that we can reach consensus and move forward? Maybe we’re following a script that isn’t working? Maybe it’s time to improvise.

And that’s what we’re going to...

Pat Rumbaugh, founder of Let’s Play America, returns for another conversation on PlayGrouding! Let’s Play America has a new e-book called The Play Day Handbook, which is an amazing, step-by-step guide for how to create play days for your community. Their play days, and all the advice in the Play Day Handbook, are relevant for kids-only play days, play days at nursing homes, and more importantly, play days for all ages to play toget...

According to Andrew Walsh’s daughter, he is “A librarian who teaches grown-ups how to play”, which is far more important than any “real” job description. He is founding editor of the Journal of Play in Adulthood and is a core member of the Playful Learning Association. Hear about his research into how adults play and about his newest book, a compilation called Forgotten Lancashire Folk and Fairy Tales, comin...

Scott Froschauer is an artist known by many for his public art installations of street signs. They look just like the street signs you pass by every day, but the messages they convey are not what you’d ever expect to see. In this episode about play and activism, he discusses how how experiential art has a lot in common with improv. It grounds us in the moment and helps us, as he describes it, “do a check on who’s in charge of your ...