About the Book
“Play is highest form of research.” – Albert Einstein
Yoga, Movement and the Way of Play is an exploration of how the inclusion of play infuses deliberate practice with joy, novelty, spontaneity, and discovery. In its absence, practice risks becoming rote, stagnant, repetitive, dogmatic—and perhaps unsustainable. As such, the book is also an act of play, an invitation for life-long learning and creativity, an approach that has come to animate every aspect of Carrie’s decades-long practice as a mover and teacher. As essayist and naturalist Diane Ackerman observes: “Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning.”
For the purposes of this book, play is defined as something one does for its own sake. It evokes feelings of pleasure even when engaged in something challenging, frustrating, or exerting. It is voluntary—nobody can force you to do it, otherwise it isn’t play. It is a joyful, energizing, yet relaxing break from what can feel like the mechanical, monotonous, and overly predictable nature of the digital age. Play is a principle, just like many of the yogic concepts Carrie has been exposed to in her long history with that practice.
As well as being an in-depth study of its subject, the book offers a remedy to dogmatic approaches to movement. In this spirit, each chapter is an adventurous inquiry into the what, why, and how of playful practice. It explores how the permission to play opens up fascinating avenues of discovery, many not limited only to yoga or movement practice. It examines how the opposite of play is not work, but depression, and how the absence of play can be a factor in a lack of motivation, enthusiasm and spontaneity. It reviews how play impacts healthy brain development and function throughout the lifespan; how it might aid adult adaptive neuroplasticity or one’s ability to learn new things selectively; and it explores play’s role in the social engagement system and how its signals help humans communicate in ways that reduce the perception of threat, both in oneself and towards others.
To illustrate the valuable process of play-based inquiry in practice, Carrie draws from her own experimentation and discoveries, and she also includes personal accounts from teachers and students who have experienced the transformative power of play. She shares interviews with psychologists, neuroscientists, play researchers, physical therapists, and dance, theater and movement teachers. There will also be recommended online supplementary videos where readers can play along with Carrie and other movement enthusiasts. Importantly, these sessions will be contextualized with important insights from contemporary movement science.
About the Author :
Carrie Owerko is a renowned yoga and movement teacher with a vast international following. She has travelled throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, and North and South America to share her unique interdisciplinary approach, which weaves movement and exercise science principals into her decades-long study of yoga. She has taught at Kripalu, Triyoga London, Omega Institute, Iyengar Institutes internationally, and many other venues. Carrie created a series of best-selling online courses for Yoga Journal, and has been featured in Yoga International, Prevention Magazine, The New York Times, and other publications.
Recently, Carrie founded The Playground, a virtual studio and library where she imparts her intelligent, playful and evolving approach to yoga and movement with students globally.
Carrie has been a mover, dancer, and athlete throughout her life. Early on, this love of all forms of movement led her to the study of performance. After earning a BFA in Dance and Theater from Loretto Heights College, she attended and graduated from the renowned Neighborhood Playhouse Theater School in NYC. She then spent several years working for a movement/educational/experimental theater company called The Irondale Ensemble Project. After Irondale, she continued her movement inquiries and became a Movement Analyst (CMA), having completed her studies at The Laban Institute in NYC. Her passion for continuous movement exploration also took her into a decades-long, in-depth study of yoga. She eventually earned a Senior Level Iyengar teaching credential. Additionally, she is a certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT), Functional Range Conditioning Mobility Specialist, among other certifications.
