Playing into the New Year

Hey, I’m Sari Abelson! I’m a Pelvic Health Physical Therapist here at Minnesota Attachment Collective. I’m passionate about teaching clients how to discover joy through movement and find ways to create sustainable and energizing movement practices.

As the New Year approaches, I find myself reflecting on the nature of my personal goals as well as those of my clients.

During graduate school we were instructed to create SMART goals with our patients.

SMART goals are defined as being:

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Time-bound

These goals are certainly relevant for insurance-based practices and tracking progress, however, I find that SMART goals can feel prescriptive and are based on an American value of productivity. For the past few years, my New Year’s “goal” is the antithesis of a SMART goal.

My New Year’s goal is an intention to set aside more time for play. Turning play into a SMART goal would negate the actual properties of play, which are listed below.1

Apparently purposeless (done for its own sake)

Voluntary

Inherent attraction

Freedom from time

Diminished consciousness of self

Improvisational potential

Continuation desire

Making time for play

As an American, making time for play, a “purposeless” activity, feels very counterculture. Americans thrive on productivity and achievement, right? I question whether or not we are actually getting more work done by sitting at our desks at home all day? In fact, I am certain we would be more productive if we took breaks to play, to spark creativity, to move our bodies, to connect, and to feel inspired. 

What if we set the intention to build “play breaks” into our day?

As a pelvic health physical therapist, I work with many busy and overworked Moms who struggle to find time to exercise. We often discuss the concept of incorporating “movement snacks” into the day rather than setting aside time for a 30+ minute workout (unless a longer workout is a goal of yours). In fact, the World Health Organization’s 2020 guidelines state that, “every move counts.”2 In other words, if we don’t have time to move our bodies for 30-60 consecutive minutes, that’s okay.

Movement snacks throughout the day can have a positive and cumulative effect on our health. What if we thought of these movement snacks as “play snacks,” similar to an hourly recess? Who decided that recess is only necessary for children?

In college, I took a life changing class called “Power Play.” As emerging adults, we learned how to discover and create play in the mundane. Life is filled with the mundane: waiting in grocery lines, sitting at stop lights, filling the gas tank, you get the idea. What if we learned to find play in these mundane activities? In class one day we went into the woods and we were tasked with moving from Tree A to Tree B in the least efficient path possible. We rolled under branches, crawled through tunnels, scooted backwards in the dirt, and tumbled over leaves until we finally made it to our destination. It took us 30 minutes to cross a 10 foot path as inefficiently as possible.

In Atomic Habits, James Clear discusses strategies for changing habits. One strategy is to essentially try something different.3 If you want to avoid buying the same junk food at the grocery store, try going to a different grocery store, where you may have to search harder for the same item. You are no longer able to shop on auto-pilot.

During physical therapy sessions, my clients often search for concrete answers and they don’t always love my nuanced responses. I am often asked:

“What are the best postpartum pelvic floor exercises?”

“What are the best core exercises for postpartum strengthening?” 

“What is the best way to hold my baby”

“What is the correct way to lift a car seat”

“When can I return to running again postpartum”

“What are the best perinatal exercises?” 

“What is the correct way to brace my core”

My response is typically something along these lines, “there is no right or wrong way nor is there a best or worst exercise. Let’s explore something different for your body and assess how you respond. Let’s consider taking the path least travelled.” 

Incorporate variety into your movements

Our bodies and brains LOVE to form habits. If we rely too much on one habit then our nervous system may sound an alarm. If we are accustomed to accomplishing a movement task using only one strategy, then sometimes we exhaust this one and only strategy and our muscles may fatigue or our backs may start to complain.

Do you carry your child on the same hip all day everyday and then start to notice your hip is bothering you? A painful hip is your body saying, “hey, try something different, change it up, I’m overworked by this one strategy.” Carrying your child on your hip is certainly not wrong. We have baby-bearing hips for a reason. I recommend that you first pay attention and notice your tendencies, then start to incorporate some variety.

Our aim as physical therapists is to guide your body to explore a variety of different movement strategies. We encourage and guide you to take the past least travelled. And you know what? That may feel daunting at first, but it can also feel fun and playful. 

Consider this exercise: the next time you reach for your toothbrush, try brushing your teeth with the opposite hand. Or try starting at a different place in your mouth. I always begin with the bristles on the bottom left corner and use my right hand to brush. How about you? I have tried switching to my left hand, and I end up spraying my face. If I really want to mix it up, I will use my left hand and start in the top right corner and then I shower myself in toothpaste. “The genius of play is that, in playing, we create imaginative new cognitive combinations. And in creating those novel combinations, we find what works.”1

And for those of you who need a more scientific basis for playing, a more goal-oriented approach if you will, it has been shown that “active play selectively stimulates brain-derived neurotrophic factor (which stimulates nerve growth) in the amygdala (where emotions get processed) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (where executive decision get processed).”1 To summarize, playing basically improves our brain processes. 

So, cheers to 2025, where I choose to incorporate more “play breaks” or “play snacks” into my day, and I encourage you to do the same. “Play is a state of mind rather than an activity. Remember the definition of play: an absorbing, apparently purposeless activity that provides enjoyment and suspension of self- consciousness and sense of time.”1

Get Support

Doing things differently isn’t as easy as it may seem! If you are struggling to incorporate variety and play into your movement- get curious as to why. Is it because your body has been through significant transitions (such as pregnancy or childbirth) and you are struggling to connect with yourself? Is it because you are experiencing pain or incontinence when you move? Is it because you’re having a hard time figuring out how to change things up?

Working with a Pelvic Health Physical Therapist might be the support that you need to be able to enjoy movement again! Sari Abelson, PT, DPT, OCS is a Pelvic Health Physical Therapist here at Minnesota Attachment Collective. She specializes in pregnancy and postpartum pain, weakness, and incontinence; birth preparation; postpartum return to exercise and sex; as well as any pelvic pain or incontinence. Sari has openings at her South Minneapolis location as well as virtually for anyone located in Minnesota.

Cited:

1. Brown, S. L., & Vaughan, C. C. (2010). Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul. Avery.

2. Bull FC, Al Ansari SS, Biddle S et al. World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behavior. Br J Sports Med 2020; 54: 1451-1462.

3. Clear, J. (2018). Atomic Habits: An easy and proven way to build good habits & break bad ones. Avery.