Examples of Two Original Play programs:

How To Play With Difficult People

This program focuses on enhancing individual and community relationships. This skill-based program provides a powerful model of moving beyond self-defense with kindness, clarity and courage.  Original Play demonstrates how to better invest your energy in improving relationships, decreasing stress and enhancing productivity instead of exhausting your resources in self-defense.  The skills learned from Original Play are applicable to relationships with your family, your neighbors and the business world.

In this program participants actively progress through a series of interactive exercises to reconnect with behaviors that promote safety, trust and belonging.  Participants identify the differences between responding to others with kindness, clarity and safety instead of reacting with frustration, aggression and other unproductive behaviors.  Practicing this skill is not a better survival strategy; it is a better way of living.

Life Transitions: Playing With Change, Surprise, and Conflict

Share the vision, experience the sense of belonging and develop the skills of playing by heart.

This program offers a compelling blend of provocative ideas, practical alternatives, and experiential activities for students and professionals to transform patterns of interaction from fear, aggression, and violence to kindness, connection and safety.

Difficult situations often arise in everyday life.  These may include divorce, a life threatening illness, family stress, separation, alienation, isolation and job loss.  In such situations contesting with others seems to be our only choice. But contest limits both our options and possibilities and is detrimental to our health, well-being and the safety of others.

Imagine a world of no blame, no fault, no revenge and no contest.  Original play is such a world, a life-affirming alternative to the constant struggle with life.  Original play creates new and practical possibilities for connection and relationships unavailable to us when we fight with the world.  Original play offers each of us a way to be empowered without diminishing others and a sense of belonging that is a tangible affirmation of a safer and connected world.