Playformation

Playformation: Improvised Play that Brings Transformation

What is it?

• The dynamic process at the heart of all our services
• A mix of principles, practices & activities largely derived from the world of improvisation
• The synergetic mix of  Left & Right Brain thinking with highly engaging interactivites
• A  solution to information-overload, isolation, confusion, boredom, disembodiment & despair

What will you get out of this process?

• Learn how to get out of your own way
• Have fun & feel energized
• Make new or enriched relationships
• Experience an increase in personal or team creativity
• Make insights & experience transformation
• Feel & be more prepared/empowered for future
• Increased positive mood, hope, trust, inspiration

Playformation workshops can be geared toward either business or personal development.

Professional Playformation workshops can help you to:

• Overcome business blocks that may be keeping you from reaching your full potential
• Decide where to focus your energies within your business
• Feel supported in a safe, fun environment
• Be inspired by the power of playful improvisation
• Come out of your shell and feel more comfortable talking to prospective clients
• Experience personal breakthroughs and help you get out of your own way so you can be more successful

Personal development workshops can help you to:

• Boost your energy and improve your overall mood
• Make meaningful connections with real people
• Have fun and let go of stresses
• Begin overriding and reframing life-long fears and insecurities
• Grow as an effective listener
• Turbo-boost your personal creativity and productivity

Life is wonder-full…right?

Deep down inside you know that life is truly an amazing gift, that your potential is way more than you’re currently expressing, and that you ache to be enjoying & living life as fully as possible. You know that if you could learn to tap into some deeper resources, your freedom, creative output, confidence, caring presence and experience of engaged, intentional living would skyrocket. But like so many of us, you find that you keep bumping up against all too familiar limiting beliefs, fears or other obstacles.

These obstacles block your ability to experience deeper satisfaction & success in work, relationships and other dimensions of your life. Where the heck did these limitations come from? How can you move beyond them?

See wall: Bang head.

Like the rest of us, you’ve likely tried various approaches to get past your fears & limitations: “work harder”, “pretend they don’t exist”, “read self-books”, “attend lectures”, “get therapy”, “drug them away”, “self-talk your way out of it”, etc. Through all these attempts you’ve come out with some great insights, learned about yourself and even had a few breakthroughs -that’s great! However, more often than not, the changes were superficial, didn’t last long, or introduced other costs that made you wonder if it was really worth it. What’s going on?  Is it possible to see personal change that lasts?

You’re More than A Machine

I’ve found that there’s at least three key dimensions that tend to be missing from traditional approaches to self development.

• The first is that they don’t engage us as a ‘whole’ person.  Most service providers (and consumers) are still locked in a paradigm that sees us as left-brain-centric information processing machines.  The reality is that we are much more complex and mysterious beings who need to have our whole mind, creative imagination, emotions & body senses engaged in the process of transformation.
• The second is that they rarely give us the opportunity to feel safe & free enough to access the core faculties that make us human, faculties like our ability to trust, to make authentic choices, to playfully create and to make meaningful connections with other people.
• The third missing aspect is that tend to take themselves too seriously -they’re missing the fun! If we’re aiming for change in our lives, surely it’s so that we can enjoy our lives more, yes? If so, shouldn’t the process also be mostly enjoyable? How likely are we to stick through the process of change if it’s a boring, frustrating or otherwise unpleasant experience?

Fully Engaged

Following our sense of fun is actually how we accomplished most of our ‘growing up’ –by playing, creating, pretending, exploring and experimenting with life.  But sadly, most of us stopped, letting various fears & limiting beliefs shut down our full potential.

As you may have guessed, I strongly believe that if we’re going to see real growth in our lives, we need to find safe, supportive environments that give us enjoyable opportunities to be engaged as whole people, to stretch those core inner faculties of trust & freedom & creativity, and to follow the golden thread of enjoyment wherever it may spontaneously lead.

Why Work with Spark?

I don’t know about you, but I’m not interested in wasting my or anyone else’s time -life is just too precious. Many of the most enjoyable experiences in my life have been when I’ve been a part of an engaged group of people all learning together & contributing their collaborative creativity. As Chief Engagement Officer of Spark Interaction, I’ve focused our offerings to help multiply those experiences and to align with my personal life mission of helping people feel safe, inspired & empowered enough to discover and creatively express their core passions while remaining curious, respectful & supportive of the passionate pursuits of others.

Our workshops have been featured on NBC’s Today Show, PBS Online, the LA Times & in dozens of international papers. I’ve been invited as guest speaker to Seattle’s Bizjam, the Puget Sound Coaching Association and have led dozens of workshops helping people to discover the power of improvised play, what I call “Playformation”, to bring about lasting transformation.

Over the past two decades I’ve worked with a variety of diverse groups in a number of unique settings: as a retreat director facilitating team-building experiences for corporate teams and non-profits using cooperative challenge courses; as a spiritual leader working with youth or facilitating interfaith dialogue; as a facilitator leading internationally recognized workshops on technology stewardship & balance; as a community catalyst igniting dialogue on a number of urgent topics in the neighborhoods I’ve lived in; and as the ‘Chief Engagement Officer” of Spark Interaction giving presentations & workshops related to exploring the power of social technologies or learning & experiencing the principles of group engagement & interactivity.

I’ve used my BA in Communications and Masters in Theology to look at the fundamental questions of human engagement and specifically at how technology can enhance or detract from our relational creativity. I’ve sought out many group learning experiences (often related to the art of improvisation) and certifications such as NASAGA’s Game Design certification, Leahy’s Elements of Choice, Jim Rough’s Dynamic Facilitation & three years involvement with the Applied Improvisation Network –including starting their social site and building it to over 1300 people.

Need to be inspired? Contact us to find out where and when the next Playformation workshop will be.