Latest / The Pressing Play Podcast / Ep2 Pressing Play on the Power Of Play and the Perimenopausal Brain
Transcript
- Jo Fiddy: Hello and welcome to the Pressing Play podcast. I'm your host, Jo Fiddy. And if you are new here, welcome. It is fantastic to see you. In this space, we are rewriting the narrative that tells us that midlife is a decline. And actually rather than live in our pause and post years, it's time to press play. in this episode, ⁓ I will be talking about. ⁓ the power of play. And my hope for you is by the end of this episode, your perception of play has changed because there is so much power in play. And I believe it is the medicine for the mid life brain, especially the perimenopausal brain that's going through so many changes right now. So let's talk about this press play energy. So I'm doing it right now at 45 years old. I pressed play last week and published my first podcast episode. I can't believe I've actually done it. This has been three or four years in the making of thinking about it. And I actually did it and it's brand new. And I'm definitely playing around with the new technology, figuring out how things work, interviewing incredible guests and having fun in the process. And I have never felt. so alive in my life. And I'm gonna ask you, when did you last feel alive? When did you last have fun and press play on yourself? Because in midlife and in perimenopause and menopause, don't you feel sometimes just really flat? Have you also, I know, I say this to my kids sometimes, like I used to be fun. I really used to be fun. Do you feel that too? You used to be the fun one and now you feel quite flat. There's moments when, for instance, like you're, you know, unpacking the dishwasher for the millionth time or putting away the laundry or doing something that you do all the time. And you're just staring thinking, I used to be fun. I used to feel excited about things. Now let's stop there and have a think about what's going on because I don't think it's vocalized enough. When we go through perimenopause and Dr. Mindy Peltz sums this up beautifully. She talks about the girl gang, the estrogen girl gang. Now the estrogen girl gang is like your dopamine, your serotonin, your GABA, all those fabulous happy hormones that we have relied on for a very, very long time. But we know, to the incredible work of Dr. Lisa Mosconi, ⁓ the brain runs on estrogen. And you're probably noticing that at the moment, you the brain fog, feeling just that cognitive fatigue. And I, you know, I forgot something today. I got a date wrong today with an incredible guest that's coming on soon. ⁓ mixed up my dates and is what's happening. ⁓ But apart from the brain fog, What's not talked about enough is that when estrogen leaves, the brain goes up and down in this roller coaster event of perimenopause, she takes her girl gang with her. And one of those girl gangs, one of those wonderful members is dopamine. Yeah, dopamine. And dopamine is essential. It's essential for our wellbeing. It helps us feel more motivated, more excited, more curious, and it dips. And is it any wonder that we are feeling flat? Not to mention we're coming at life at a speed where there is so much on our plate. It's no wonder that we are feeling a bit, a bit meh, a bit oomph. Now I remember when I was, as I call it, my first menopause over 10 years ago, when my body went into a stressed induced menopausal state, that my specialist at the time gave me some golden, golden advice, which I probably took for granted. And he said to me that my brain will be working differently in that I will have to boost my happiness. by myself. It might be that sometimes you just need to boost yourself, have a list, create a list of 10 things that you know can boost your happiness. And I didn't know back then, but he was talking about dopamine and how you can naturally boost your own dopamine levels. And I love this concept. so if is taking away, dopamine, how can we bring it back? Naturally. And one of those ways we can do that is play. This is where play becomes so powerful because play is one of the fastest, most natural ways to stimulate dopamine. Play literally wakes your brain up. But how are you playing? Because play can feel like quite childish, can't it? know, ⁓ that's something that kids do. These beliefs that we have, you know, it's something that's child's play, But actually your brain and your soul ⁓ needs to play. And led me down to the work of Dr. Stuart Brown. And this work completely changes the conversation on play. ⁓ So he spent decades play ⁓ and human behavior. And is what he found. Play is not a luxury. It's a biological necessity. Play actually shapes the brain. It boosts dopamine. It increases adaptability, improves problem solving, deepens connection and unlocks creativity and imagination. It literally creates a brain that is more open, more flexible and more resilient. And my love, don't we need that right now with our brains? I tell you, I definitely do. and a brain that isn't playing can become more rigid, stressed, and reactive. And I think here's the key piece for midlife that we're missing. Play activates dopamine. So if your brain is craving that spark again, play isn't indulgent, it's medicine. And I absolutely ⁓ love More play, please. ⁓ Isn't what we should be doing? Playing more? but you might be there feeling and thinking, well, don't know how to play. I don't know what my playtime will look like. I don't know how to have a playful day. And this is where I love Dr. Stewart's work even more because play isn't a one size fits all. And this this fascinates me by the way. Let me know if it fascinates you too. He identified different play personalities, different ways your brain naturally experiences joy. So if you're sitting here thinking, don't even know how to play anymore. Snuggle in, get a cup of tea and have a listen. and see what you notice and what resonates. I'll read them out to you. So look at your play language, the Joker. You like to play through humor and laughter. And this might look like sending voice notes to make your friends laugh, sending memes on Instagram that you know will make them chuckle and laugh and bring them joy. Laughing until you cry on a night out and that moment where everything feels lighter. You know, you see that great friend, that's play. Another one is movement and playing through your body. This could be dancing in your kitchen, working with music and just getting lost in it, putting on that soundtrack from the nineties and just the 2000s and just disappearing into a different time zone. One area that I love is tapping and really feeling the shift. tapping on my face and really noticing the shift in my mind and my body. This is like nervous system play, movement over pressure. You might be the explorer. You play through curiosity. This looks like trying a new class, going somewhere new, asking what else is possible for me? A novelty? New things? That brings in dopamine. Another one is the competitor. So you play through challenge. This might be setting yourself a goal, tracking progress, turning something into a game. This is the competitiveness in you. Get it out now. It's not pressure. It's just playful momentum. ⁓ Then there's the You play by creating experiences. How does that sound? You play. ⁓ by creating experiences. So you could be the one that organizes the girls night out. You're the one that organizes that retreat. You're the one that loves bringing together. You create the space for joy. That's you, that's the director. The next is the collector. You play through meaning. This could look like taking photos of moments, keeping little souvenirs and journaling memories. You don't rush past life, you capture it. That's how you play. Then there's the artist and creator. You play through expression. This might be writing, creating content, designing, drawing, changing your space, just making something because you just want to. There's no outcome. You just love to express yourself through this way. Then there's the storyteller. You play through narrative. And this looks like sharing stories, podcasting. dreaming about your future. And this is like a real identity level of play. So you play through that narrative. And I just really love this because this just shows the various ways that you can play in life and really changes the narrative and what it means to play. So when I talk about pressing on your life, this is what I mean. Not pushing harder, not becoming someone new, but reintroducing play into your brain, your body, and your life. Because play boosts dopamine, it calms your nervous system. You might be feeling anxious with all the changes going on in perimenopause and midlife. and it really unlocks that creativity and reconnects you to who you are. Now, how does play sound now? How can you walk away from this podcast today and have a playful day? How can you boost the playfulness in your life? Because play isn't childish. It's what we need in this midlife change that we are going through to boost our brains naturally. Because play isn't a distraction from your life. It is the doorway back into it. Thank you so much for listening. It has been a pleasure to spend time with you today. and find me, ⁓ ⁓ to find more playful ways to press play on your life. Sending you so much love.