It is requisite for the relaxation of the mind that we make use, from time to time, of playful deeds and jokes.

Thomas Aquinas - 1225–1274

Thomas Aquinas was one of the most influential Christian philosophers and theologians of the medieval period. A Dominican friar and Catholic priest, he is best known for integrating Aristotelian philosophy with Christian theology, creating a system of thought that became the foundation of what’s known as Scholasticism.

He wrote the monumental work "Summa Theologica", a comprehensive exploration of Christian doctrine that attempted to explain faith using reason. It remains a cornerstone of Catholic education and theological thought to this day.

Aquinas believed that faith and reason are not in conflict but rather two ways of arriving at truth. He used Aristotle's logical methods to support and deepen Christian understanding.

In the Summa Theologica (Part II–II, Question 168), Aquinas explicitly defends the role of play, amusement, and rest in a well-ordered life:

“Just as man needs bodily rest for the body's refreshment, so also he needs mental rest; and this is found in amusement.”

He argues that play is necessary for restoring the mind to return to serious and virtuous work. Denying yourself proper rest, he suggests, can lead to burnout, imbalance, or even sin (like becoming irritable or prideful).

Where across the course of your day today, could you consider where it might be that you do something playful?

Play isn’t just for kids. In fact, adult play is a powerful nervous system reset, a relationship builder, a creativity booster, and a path to deeper presence.

In a world that often mistakes seriousness for significance, we forget that play isn’t childish; it’s essential for restoration, creativity, and connection.

Adults need to play just as much as children, not as a distraction from purpose but as a pathway back to presence. Whether it’s through a few rounds of improv games or dancing like nobody’s watching in your living room-turned-silent disco, these small acts of spontaneity soften the mask we wear and let our true nature breathe.

A game of barefoot backyard cricket or volleyball can reawaken a primal joy many of us buried years ago. Even something as simple as telling a made-up fairy tale or drawing a surreal comic with friends can shake loose creative blocks and invite flow back into our lives.

Play can also rewire how we relate to space, people, and even our inner critic. A nature treasure hunt (“find something smooth, wild, and blue”) reconnects us to our environment with curiosity. Board games, especially the kind that spark laughter and wit, build relational trust and quick-thinking agility.

Build your own obstacle course to get your body involved in the fun. Role-play absurd scenarios, like only speaking in rhyme. Blow bubbles, fly a kite, or let yourself spiral into a moment of spontaneous absurdity. Play isn’t the opposite of work; it’s the antidote to burnout. It doesn’t pull you away from purpose; it draws you deeper into your aliveness.

Where across the course of your day today, could you consider where it might be that you do something childish for fun and release?

I enjoy working out and all forms of physical exercise. A skipping rope is one of the most underrated, cost-effective, fun and high-impact fitness tools on the planet.

Every jump involves the lower body: calves, hamstrings, quads, and glutes. Core: stabilising the spine with every bounce. Upper body: shoulders, forearms, grip.

One tool, hundreds of muscles activated simultaneously.

Skipping taxes your heart, lungs, and coordination and at the same time increases VO2 max and endurance, improves agility, rhythm, and timing, while building explosive power (especially with double-unders or speed intervals)

Skipping rope requires bilateral coordination, timing, and spatial awareness. That lights up the cerebellum (motor control), the prefrontal cortex (executive function), and the corpus callosum (communication between brain hemispheres)

Skipping literally makes you smarter while you sweat. It’s portable, affordable, and versatile. It fits in your backpack, glovebox, or suitcase and costs less than a single group class.

Skipping can be used for HIIT, steady-state cardio, warm-ups, or metabolic finishers whether at home, in a hotel room, or on a rooftop.

Skipping torches calories fast. Depending on intensity, skipping can burn between 300 and 500 calories in a 30-minute session.

Because it uses multiple muscle groups, it triggers EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption), meaning you keep burning calories after your workout.

It builds mental toughness. Reps to failure = resilience. Tripping up = humility and adaptability. Pushing through = discipline

Skipping naturally synchronises movement with breath. As your body settles into a rhythm, your nervous system follows. Nasal breathing (especially during moderate effort) develops breath control under load, which is vital for resilience.

The repeated, rhythmic motion, paired with intentional breath, can shift you out of sympathetic overdrive (fight/flight) and into a more regulated, adaptive state.

Skipping becomes a moving meditation. It’s cardio for the body and coherence training for the mind.

It’s Fun! There’s something almost childlike about skipping, which bridges embodiment, exercise, and entertainment; three of the 8 E’s of Equilibrium.

Where across the course of your day today, could you consider where it might be that you seek out a skipping rope, to get your heart pumping while you’re jumping?

Here’s one for $5, and it will be delivered by tomorrow SKIP TO IT

Adult play is not about childishness but presence without performance.
No scoreboard. No outcome. Just curiosity, novelty, connection, and joy.

Thomas Aquinas viewed rest and recreation not as distractions from spiritual or intellectual life, but as essential to sustaining it. He believed in virtue as a balance, including knowing when to withdraw from exertion to preserve clarity, well-being, and purpose.

Aquinas taught that humans are a unity of body and soul, and that natural needs like food, rest, and relaxation are part of God's design. Neglecting those needs wasn’t seen as holy; it was seen as a misunderstanding of human nature.

He was heavily influenced by Aristotle’s concept of the golden mean, the idea that virtue lies between excess and deficiency. So, too much rest is sloth, but too little is recklessness or pride. True virtue includes knowing when to rest.

In 1323, Pope John XXII canonised him as a saint and later declared him a “Doctor of the Church”, a title given to saints recognised as great teachers. He’s also the patron saint of universities and students.

I have an affinity with Thomas Aquinas. The first seven years of my schooling were spent at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School, where it was requisite for the relaxation of my mind that I made use of playful deeds and jokes most of the time.

While you’re thinking about that, think about this and have a Gr8 day!

Be well.

DL

“Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.”
Chinese Proverb