THE STUDENT HEALTH CENTER NEWSLETTER
PLAY’S CREATION AND THE THAW OF SERIOUSNESS
You had |ust finished your first lap There
you were oblivious to the world, your body
screaming in pain and your mind contem
plating running the next grueling nine laps
around the track Your goal was to do this
workout the rest of your life But lurking in
the darkness of your brain was a beserk
Brain Cell who discovered your plan to con
tinue this constricted workout for the rest of
your life This Brain Cell persuaded thou
sands of cousin Brain Cells to declare a
strike because they were not being heard
Not to be denied of your fair share of endor
phins, enkephalins and all the good things
that come with exercise, you discussed the
situation with your brain cells They loved
being in shape but felt deprived by too
much seriousness Your brain cells con
tended they had so much to offer (excite
ment, creativity, serenity, delight and even
at times utopia) if only they were given at
tention and time to be themselves Your
Brain Cells needed to play!
When we structure our workouts are they
goal oriented, serious, competitive and
Melanie Steed
hard? Do we ride a number of miles on a bike without over
looking up. hike to the top of the mountain without taking
an excursion to explore a rock or feel the wonder and fas
cination surrounding us? Many of us have made our work
outs excessively goal oriented, competitive and especially
serious
As children, we had a part of us that wanted to be ac
cepted so we obeyed and performed to our parents expec
tations to be that good child We grew up with images of
what we should become These images either guided us
and supported us or the images became our judges that
destroyed us by our own debilitating messages in our self
talk
Many of us also learned to be competitive because win
ning is rewarded, it is being the best and the top However,
losing is failing and being bettered try someone else With
such extreme dichotomies, is it any wonder we've become
so serious! Be perfect, be strong, hurry up, and try hard
are just a few of the rigid phrases we try to live up to. If we
throw away the seriousness that freezes us and allowed
feelings of play (fascination, absorption, laughter, fun, ex
citement and creativity) to flow through us it would be
much more difficult to view our workout as mundane or se
rious
Play often takes a backseat to goal oriented activity be
cause it is viewed as meaningless, but play refreshes our
vitality inspires our spirits and makes life fascinating
again Webster refers to play as recreation If you take
apart recreation then you have? re * create that's play
Play is not serious, competitive or working towards a spo
cific goal rather it's an attitude you carry with you that can
transform the mundane into delight, mud pies into choco
late cake and a run around ttie track into a trek through the
wild savannahs of Africa The point is to use the attitude
of play to get more out of your workouts for your whole be
ing. not just your body
if you find yourself frozen in seriousness try the Poor,
Pitiful Pearl technique or the Monkey Meditation tech
nique from the Wellness Workbook The Poor, Pitiful Pearl
technique magnifies your mood to a point of absurdity
Really get into the sad. burdened, ailing creature you've
become You can dress up and take a picture of this mem
orable moment Monkey Meditation is a marvelous tech
mque in which you position yourself in the weirdest posse
ble ways for about 10 or 15 minutes during those grave
moments Your mantra is your best laugh Or, you can try
finding the humor around you For example, have you ever
noticed the pained grimaces of people in the weight
room9 Or the weight lifter who got stuck in one of those
weight lifting contraptions, or the Inker who forgot he/she
was wearing toe clips when he/she tried to stop' People
really are funny Let those beserk Brain Cells experience
play's creation and the thaw of seriousness!
Come Play
Oz and Us
Campus Spots
and much
more
OM THE HIP
Hey all
you winter
hibernatorsf!!
Do you feel like you |ust
crawled out of .1
cave groggy and out
of shape ' A peer health
counselor is just the an
swer to setting ut 1 rea
sonable program of
good eating and re.r.-on
<iple physical activity for
those sunny days to
come Stop by the
health education enter
on the first floor of the
Student Health Center
and make an appoint
ment today1
Watch out . . .
the “Sex Shoppe"
is soon
to appear.
What ’ You heard us
right Are- you interested
in learning to play
sale? STDs are on the
rise along with AIDS and
unwanted pregnancies
Watch out tor the Sex
Shoppe and new ways to
keep you and the ones
you love sale coming
soon to a college cam
pus near you (hint it s
in Eugene located be
tween 13th and 18th
st reels i
What's your
Nutrition I.Q.9
Are you having a ddti
cult time figuring out
how to eat tor better
health physical conch
tion and weight manage
merit9 We i an help you'
The Health Education
Program at the Student
Health Cenler has tiles
and tiles of resources
shelves ol books and
tree health consulting
Check d our from 104
Oh the lirst tloor ot the
Student Health Center
Love your
heart . .
learn how !i take .ire ol
your sel I !< .1 future of
vitality and good health
Whal you do today et
fects how you'll live in
the years to come Stop
by the health education
center on the first tloor
ot the Student Health
Center and r.k us about
free bioot pressure
screening, dietary coun
seling and free total cho
lesterol screening Yep,
you heard right its
FREE1