The Lost Art of Play in Fitness

Tim Walker at The Atlantic wrote an enlightening article that came out yesterday about the differences in kindergarten classrooms in the United States and Finland, entitled The Joyful, Illiterate Kindergartners of Finland. In it, he compares the regimented schedules increasingly dominating American classrooms and the self-directed play that drives Finland's early-education programs.

Buried in the article, one of the teachers he is interviewing quotes an old Finnish saying: 

"Those things you learn without joy,

you will easily forget."

I find this extraordinary on many different levels. With a threenager at my house, just a year and a half from entering his kindergarten year, the thought of limiting his physical activity and play time to 20 minutes at school is unacceptable. But beyond that - beyond Mr. Walker's salient point about the importance of play for young kids - the message he has uncovered applies to the American population-at-large (a.k.a. grown-ups) more than we might be prepared to admit.  

In particular, it applies to our pursuit of health and wellness. "Those things you learn without joy, you will easily forget." Diets and workouts that don't give us joy, that don't spring from our authentic selves are destined to be left roadside. It's really that simple.

We spend a lot of time defending our kids and fighting for their right to a happy childhood, but what about our own right to a happy adulthood in agile bodies, energized by what we love to do?

Let the kids have their recess! Yes! And while we're at it, how about setting aside all of the shoulds and shouldn'ts of fitness to discover what kinds of physical activity actually turn us on and set us alight? 

We could all use a whole lot more joy in our workouts... and in our kitchens. We could learn a thing or two from our kindergarteners at play.

My boys at play, summer 2015.