Reclaiming Childlike Joy: A Creative Play Meditation for Busy Adults

Remember when creativity flowed effortlessly through your fingertips? When an afternoon with finger paints, Play-Doh, or bubbles transported you to a world where imagination ruled and perfection didn't matter? That's exactly where we journey together in this episode of Create Harmony.

As part of our summer "Play it Forward" series, this guided creative play meditation invites you to reconnect with your childlike spirit—that part of you that knew how to play without self-judgment or concern for productivity. Host Sally Burlington guides you through vivid sensory experiences from childhood: the slippery texture of finger paint swirling across paper, the satisfying squish of Play-Doh between your palms, the magic of bubbles catching sunlight as they drift on the breeze, the tactile pleasure of sand castles taking shape, and the distinctive smell of a fresh box of crayons waiting to bring your imagination to life.

But this isn't just about nostalgia. When we reconnect with our playful spirits, we fundamentally shift our approach to life. "It's about giving yourself a break from being productive and successful and just leaning into wonder,".   This meditation offers a refreshing counter to our achievement-focused culture, creating space for joy and spontaneity to flourish again. The real magic happens when we carry this energy forward into our daily interactions, brightening the day for everyone we meet.

Whether creative play feels like a distant memory or a regular practice, this episode provides a soothing reset for your spirit. Discover how just a few moments of playful mindfulness can transform not only your own experience but ripple outward to create more harmony in your world. Take a deep breath, settle in, and remember what it feels like to just play.

To learn more, go to mycreateharmony.com

Chapters

• 0:06 Welcome to Create Harmony
• 0:38 Introducing Play it Forward Series
• 1:14 Today's Creative Play Meditation
• 3:57 Moving Beyond Your Comfort Zone
• 11:13 Closing Thoughts on Playfulness

Transcript

Speaker 2: 0:06

Welcome back to the Create Harmony podcast. So you have found a place that, when your life gets noisy and busy and filled with conflict and chaos if that seems to be the dominant narrative this is a place where we shift the conversation back to things that lift your spirits, things that clear your mind. So in our world it's really easy to lose focus on what's very important, but here we dwell on how to incorporate more goodness and gratitude into your life and we strive to refresh your life and soothe your soul. So this is episode 137, and I'm your host, sally Burlington, and so we're continuing through our summer series that we're calling Play it Forward P-L-A-Y, play it Forward. What does that mean? It means that we are focusing our attention on the more playful spirit of summer, in the hopes that we can connect with sort of our more childlike mindset. So let's just think about what the flavor of this needs to be. It's the spirit of summer, which is a season when we have outdoor parties, we have cookouts. Maybe you like to go towards water, maybe a pool, an ocean or a lake. You might spend time at a river. There's time for picnics and hiking. It's bright colors and pool toys, blooming flowers, freshly cut grass. You got the warm sun to invite you out to celebrate life's simple joys. So summer encourages us to play with abandon and we are really trying to reconnect with that idea. That is the whole flavor of our Play it Forward series. We're going to revel in the freedom of summer and embrace those spontaneous road trips or adventures, backyard barbecues, whatever you enjoy doing in the summer. That's more playful and hopefully, as you are participating in this Play it Forward series, as you're listening to this and thinking about those things more, you're catching the energy of that and then taking it out to the world around you, to everyone you you connect with in your day, and that's the play it forward part. So you're taking that playfulness out into the world.

Speaker 2: 2:17

So the rhythm we're using during this summer is to one week we have sort of a calming and restorative guided visualization. It usually has a nature theme or something kind of playful, and then the next week we have story time, just like we did as children, right on the carpet I'm reading a children's story aloud. But today we have a meditation. We're doing the guided meditation of our rotations and today's meditation is related to creative play. So we are going to shift into our more mindful posture so we can get ready for that. So that means you're going to try to still your mind and your senses and you're going to let my voice be your guide into a more peaceful state.

Speaker 2: 3:01

So Settle your spirit, open your imagination. As you are listening to my voice. You want to start out by thinking about your body. I always say this to try to help you release tension. Just think about your body. If there's anywhere you can feel yourself holding tension, you can shake that out and release that right now. Settle yourself into a comfortable position or some situation that you can listen for just a few minutes, take a deep breath, breathe in possibilities and breathe out gratitude, and if it makes sense for you to close your eyes, you can do that now and settle into calm.

Speaker 2: 3:58

Now let your mind take you back to your childhood, when you remembered how to play in a creative way. This is things like finger painting, legos, play-doh, bubbles, things you do with your hands, engaging your body into a creation. What does that bring to your mind? Did you think of finger painting? Can you imagine? The paper is before you covered with paint and you slide your fingers into the paint and across the page. Your hands swirl freely and move the page. Your hands swirl freely and move the paint around. What can you see as the paint meets the page? Remember what it felt like to touch that page and move that slippery paint all around.

Speaker 2: 5:42

Maybe you thought about playing with Play-Doh. So imagine holding a ball of dough in your hands. Look at its vibrant color and think about how it feels To hold and mold that dough. Squeeze it and roll it. To hold and mold that dough, squeeze it and roll it. What could you make? Maybe you thought about bubbles and you saw yourself outside on a sunny morning. You had a tray of bubble solution and a big wand and you touch the wand down into the solution and then lift it into the air and blow some light, shiny bubbles and they float away on the wind, glistening in the sunlight, and you like to watch them drift all around you. Some of them pop with a burst of sparkle. Maybe your creative play is sand play. You could be in a sandbox at the park or out on the beach.

Speaker 2: 7:40

You have buckets of sand and stack them up to create a castle. How does the sand feel on your hands and your feet? What could you create? What? Could you create?

Speaker 2: 8:14

Or maybe you thought about crayons and drawing. Can you remember what it felt like to hold a crayon in your hand? Do you remember the smell of a whole box of crayons? What color will you choose? What? What could you draw on the page?

Speaker 2: 8:50

Now pick your favorite of these creative playthings and imagine it in your mind for a few more seconds. See it clearly and think about what other senses you could engage in this experience. And now it's time to draw our playtime to a close. You can do that by bringing your awareness back to where you started, back into your body, but you can bring the playful energy with you. Take a final deep breath, breathe in possibilities and breathe out gratitude. And if you closed your eyes at the beginning, you can open them now. So thanks for joining our creative play meditation.

Speaker 2: 10:32

And that might have been a little out of your comfort zone. Maybe you felt like I didn't know about that. That was a little bit out of my, out of place for me, but don't forget that the point is to connect with a part of you that is joyful and peaceful. It's not about getting your creation to be just right or making something beautiful or perfect. It's about rediscovering a mindset that doesn't take yourself so seriously. It's about giving yourself a break from being productive and successful and just leaning into wonder. And then, once you've leaned into that more childlike, playful mindset, it's about taking that new energy out into the world to brighten the day of everyone you meet. So hopefully you got a chance to connect with that exercise in that way and and thanks for giving it a try Maybe you'll come back next week and we'll have story time and continue our Play it Forward series. And until next time, peace, thank you.