Session 3 of the Mindful Play Sessions. This one was about Spontaneity. We started by defining the meaning of 'spontaneity' and pondering it's purpose, with the help of various experts. 

First up was this quote from Blatner and Blatner, authors of The Art of Play:

Next was Viola Spolin, the Grandma of modern improvisation, explaining how spontaneous creativity allows us to integrate the self:

Next was impro nut and aurthor of 'Free Play,' Stephen Nachmanovich, explaining how improvisation makes us masters of time:

We then returned to the Blatners and Nachmanovich, to explore the tension endemic in spontaneous creativity:

From here, we dived into some of Nachmanovich's theory around the voices that appear during creative process; The Muse, The Editor and The Inner Critic, their function and how to recognise them.

I shared some of my experiences about taming my Inner Critic, before revealing the true purpose of the inner critic- to keep us safe from harm. I brought in the 5 Fears, according to Buddha, so that we could explore what our critics might be trying to protect us from:

I completed the talk, musing on the life our inner critics would have us live, if they were in charge; boring, predictable and safe. I brought in King of Impro, Keith Johnstone to finish:

From here, we explored spontaneity and the Inner Critic through meditation, play and reflection. By the end of the night, the room was full of "Aha!'s"

There's only one more Mindful Play Session, it's on the theme of Connection and it's on March 27th. You're welcome to join us. Info here.

For more theory and practice on the Inner Critic, have a look through the Inner Critic section of this blog.