This post is part of a project to share reflections about all 28 of the Core Elements of InterPlay. For background information about InterPlay or this project, read What the Heck is InterPlay?!.
What creates information overload for you?
Too much time browsing the internet does it for me. And juggling multiple creative projects at once. Not to mention the emotional ups and downs of navigating the world as a (hopefully) clear and honest communicator. Phew!
Information overload can sometimes be too much of a good thing — like excitement about falling in love or finally accomplishing a personal goal.
When I’m in a State of Too Muchness, I crave balance. And that’s where exformation comes in.
Exformation is InterPlay‘s word for the process of moving unnecessary information out of one’s body.
Imagine for a moment that information is physical, and it accumulates inside our bodies. It’s almost like our bodies are sieves that process our daily experiences.
Most of the time our experiences flow easily through us, like the flour in the picture above. But sometimes that sieve gets clogged. What can we do to loosen up that gunky, yucky clogged feeling that comes with stress and overwhelm?
We can exform! And if information has a physical component, then so does exformation.
The simplest kind of exformation is breathing, sighing, and shaking your body out.
But exformation can include just about any activity that allows you to be truly in your body. The InterPlay facilitator’s manual suggests activities like
exercise, art-making, journalling, making love, taking long showers, meditating, doing housework, cooking, walking in nature, singing, etc.
I invented MuseCubes as a simple exformational tool. After a roll of the dice, folks can howl, twist, and sigh their way to feeling more refreshed and balanced. I’ve been collecting stories about all the ways people use MuseCubes to exform; you can read those stories here.
The regular practice of InterPlay is another way many people choose to get exformation in their lives. By telling our stories, playing with our voices, and moving our bodies, exformation becomes a multi-sensory experience!
The beauty of exformation is that we don’t have to wait for a State of Too Muchness in order to do it. Instead, we can build exformational activities into the daily rhythm of our lives. Preventative exformation! I try and incorporate movement, creativity, and play throughout my day.
What do you do to keep your sieve clumpless and flowing freely?
Trackbacks/Pingbacks