Soon enough, the room broke into laughter as they started having conversations with their toys. Silly as it may sound, by the end of a 10-minute conversation, some found solutions to their own problems through coaching themselves, some were able to create distance between themselves and the challenge, see it as less magnified and therefore feel less stressed out. All of them had a good laugh, felt more relaxed, and reenergized.
During “play”, chemicals in our brain, neurotophins, are produced to encourage learning, improve emotional functioning, and reduce anxiety.
Lu concluded, “This is a different approach to managing stress, and makes it more fun, relaxing. We were also able to come up with creative solutions in the process, and be reflective on our play histories to applying it to manage our emotions at work. This also helped to stimulate conversation and enhance team work for long lasting effects personally and professionally.”