When you play with a spirit of playfulness you are–

• at your joyous best,
• creative,
• adventurous,
• free of any ‘sense of purposefulness’, and,
• doing something for the pure pleasure of it.

In this time and age, when players paint themselves like warriors, when ‘winning is all’, when a game has the potential of becoming a matter of national pride or shame, when a player is made hero the one day, and insulted the very next, when the notion of fair play has been expanded (read distorted) to include whatever makes you win; in this time and age, the role of play as stress reliever is anything but suspect.

Do you really play a stress relief game with a view to relax, or is it with a view to win? I suspect, in majority of the cases it is the latter: you relax only when you win!

You reach true relaxation when you play with a spirit of playfulness. When you play to win you expose yourself to the feelings that you are struggling to avoid: tension, anxiety, anger, discontent; which results in spoiled relations, poor performance at your work place and even depression.

Stress Relief Games and You: It is the Attitude that matters

In recent times Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a psychologist, has studied extensively, under controlled conditions, the experiences of playfulness, relaxation, happiness and success. He explains all this with a concept he calls flow. You are in flow, when you are involved in something which is challenging, but doable. This can be best expressed with the help of a matrix of Challenge vs. Skill.

1. Low Challenge ↔ Low Skills: This is the domain of apathy and boredom. Most of your passive pastimes come under this category, like watching TV.
2. High Challenge ↔ Low Skills: Imagine being pitted against something that you are not equipped to handle. Result: Stress and anxiety.
3. High Challenge ↔ High Skills: This is the domain of flow. You are involved in something that calls upon your skills, and you are confident in handling it. This is the state of flow, the bliss.
4. Low Challenge ↔ High Skills: This is where the boredom sets in. Nothing is there that is worth doing. No challenge, no satisfaction!

You are in flow when you are doing something that you enjoy: you get immersed in the activity, forget about the time, and the moments doing that activities are felt as pure ecstasy. Such experiences are experienced by ace players, musicians, artists, rock climbers, software coders and other experts in other areas. You may remember such feelings arising out of the activities or hobbies that you really enjoyed.

Unwinding, stress relief, de-stressing, call it whatever you will, ultimately it is all in the attitude. It is the attitude with which you approach an activity that determines whether you get relaxed or not. The activity that relaxes can also make you all tensed up if you make it into an ego trip.

Make Your Choice

Does the stress relief game of your choice provide you with an experience of flow? Do you indulge in any hobby that helps you unwind in your spare time, relaxes you and gives you the experience of having spent the time well? Consider developing some hobby of your own!

There are plenty of stress relief games on the internet, some good and some not so good. The Wild Divine is quite unique in its approach which can be played by any age group. It is an enchanting interactive game ('inner-active', they say) that helps you to reduce stress and improve relaxation along the way. Click here to watch the trailer.

Further Reading

Stress Relief Games - A Winner's Way To Play

How Does Stress Affect a Person....How It Affects You?

How Good Are You At Stress And Time Management?

Stress Relief Tips & Techniques: Top 10 Stress Relievers

6 Simple Steps to Relaxation Response

Aromatherapy for stress relief: How Natural Scents Change Your Moods

What is Workplace Stress?