Did You Eliminate Recess Too?

I recently checked in with one of my clients and asked her how her day was going.

 “It’s going great; I started with recess,” she replied.

It made me smile. Recess for her that day was mountain biking. Sometimes, it’s racquetball. And she’s always trying new things.

She thinks of it all as recess.

Like most people, she has more than plenty to do. She runs her own business, and she’s a mom to two boys.

It would be easy for her to succumb to the grind. To perpetual productivity.

But she’s not a machine.

Her life works a lot better when she makes time for recess.

Many people are justifiably upset about schools eliminating recess.

It’s crystal clear what happens when kids are made to sit down and shut up for five, six, seven hours straight.

They need to run around and play. They aren’t wired to sit still in chairs in tidy rows all day long.

And neither are you.

You need recess too.

Maybe hopscotch isn’t your thing—or maybe it is. Whatever you like to do, the idea is to take a break from being productive. The idea is to go “run around and play” in a way that feels good to you.

Children aren’t nearly as productive, happy, and healthy without recess. If you’re honest with yourself, neither are you. It’s easy to fall into the trap of do, do, do. And it’s utterly exhausting. It’s a wet blanket that makes life feel like a burden rather than a blessing.

Here’s the great news: You’re the superintendent of your life.

If you eliminated recess, you can bring it back. In fact, you get to create your entire curriculum.

Here’s a big question: What do you need in your life?

Not to merely survive but to absolutely thrive.

Do you need recess? What else do you need?

Only you know, and only you can pull yourself from the rat race and step into your best life.

If not now, when?

About Jason Gootman
Jason Gootman is a Mayo Clinic Certified Wellness Coach and National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach as well as a certified nutritionist and certified exercise physiologist. Jason helps people reverse and prevent type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other ailments with evidence-based approaches to nutrition, exercise, stress reduction, holistic wellness, and, most importantly, lasting behavior improvement and positive habit formation. As part of this work, Jason often helps people lose weight and keep it off, in part by helping them overcome the common challenges of yo-yo dieting and emotional eating. Jason helps people go from knowing what to do and having good intentions to consistently taking great care of themselves in ways that help them add years to their lives and life to their years.