Play with Alyssa Serpa
What influences the balance between seriousness and playfulness in physical training and movement practices?
Physical challenges highlight the intricate relationship between personal growth and self-reflection.
“I think that there is a lot of creativity for one— but also, just progression, that happens in the space of being playful, goofing around, and not taking your practice too seriously.” ~ Alyssa Serpa (13:07)
The conversation focuses on the interplay of seriousness and playfulness in Parkour and how each can influence personal growth and training outcomes. Insights are shared on the importance of reflecting on one’s commitment to training and how shifting priorities shape practices. A nuanced discussion emerges around how environmental factors, such as the pandemic, have impacted community interactions and travel.
Another theme explored is the role of injuries in redefining one’s approach to physical movement. Recovering from injury led to creative exploration and a greater focus on playful practice. The dialogue underscores the importance of striking a balance between structured training and unstructured play, with a strong emphasis on the joy and personal autonomy gained through movement.
Takeaways
Balancing seriousness and playfulness — Finding the right mix enhances both enjoyment and progress in training.
Creativity in movement practices — Playful exploration can lead to unexpected growth and insights.
Physical activity and life balance — Staying active contributes to overall well-being and stress management.
Impact of travel on training — Travel fosters connections but also comes with costs like carbon footprint and financial strain.
Adapting through injury — Recovery periods can become opportunities for lateral growth and skill refinement.
Value of vulnerability — Allowing space for experimentation and failure encourages new possibilities.
Importance of community — Engaging with peers locally and internationally enriches the training experience.
Resources
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
— Hello👋 I’m Craig Constantine.
In the Movers Mindset podcast, I talk with movement enthusiasts to learn who they are, what they do, and why they do it. I’m interested in the nature and philosophy of movement and in exploring themes like independence, self-direction, and human excellence. My interests color each conversation and provide some structure to Movers Mindset. But since I like to take the scenic route, every conversation ends up going somewhere unique.
The purpose of Movers Mindset is to create and share great conversations with movement enthusiasts. Each conversation feeds my insatiable curiosity, but I share them to turn on a light for someone else, to inspire them, or to give them their next question.
I appreciate your time and attention, and I don’t take it for granted.
— Thank you!
My personal mission is creating better conversations to spread understanding and compassion. And Movers Mindset is one of the things I do in service of my mission. Drop by https://craigconstantine.com/ for my weekly email, my other podcasts, writing and more.
The Movers Mindset project grew from conversations I started having as part of my personal journey rediscovering movement. The project started late in 2015, and it was initially simply a web site that shared others’ writing. The project grew, and in 2017 I started the podcast. I’ve worked extremely hard, but none of this would have been possible without so much help from so many people.
Thanks for listening!
ɕ
