“There’s always an emotional energy associated with any movement. And if you want to regulate your nervous system through change, it’s really important not to get stuck in states of fear or disassociation. Because then you’re losing your creative capacity, said Jyoti Jani, Author, Facilitator and Organizational Behavior Expert.
It’s easy to slip out of alignment with yourself, especially now. Stuffed calendars, social unrest and financial pressure from the economy, adds weight to daily decisions. And we continue to reel from major changes to the systems we rely on, like education and healthcare.
Survival means adapting. Not only how you manage your responsibilities but self-care strategies to keep mental, physical and emotional health in check. Your toolkit can continue to evolve so you can bring more clarity and fulfillment to this moment.
Trimming Versus Adding
Spoiler alert, to ease your overloaded soul, you will have to streamline. Trimming and shedding responsibilities reduces competition for each moment of your day. However, what you add back is important too.
Many of us feel anchored to obligations we dread. The infinity loop of laundry, emails, dishes, bill paying, scheduling and school forms, can feel draining. But what happens to your mood when even one thing you enjoy breaks through the schedule-log-jam? Right, it feels great.
Bring in More Fun
Those well-known “good for you” categories, up at the top of the Mom’s Hierarchy of Needs, like sleep, movement, and nutrition are important. But there are others you may not think about. Like stress management, healthy adult relationships, learning and fun, which includes play.
During my interview with Jyoti, who specializes in play-based facilitation she explained we can add play to our lives in many ways. Including more whimsical activities like building with Legos®, breaking out board games, dancing or painting. But you can also engage with your life and work more creatively.
Play to Problem Solve
Early childhood education is largely play based learning. And we invest in playful experiences for our kids all of the time, for excellent reasons. However, adult brains benefit from play too. As reported in Psychology Today, “…despite the belief that play is not a productive use of time and only for children, research highlights its significance for adults. Play can be an important source of both relaxation and stimulation for adults.”
Play helps everything from mood management and creativity, to enabling the neuroplasticity that fosters learning. So, in a busy season, where can you bring play into your life more often?
Start with Meetings. Really
Jyoti explained there are three levels of play: the relational, systemic and individual. Her work is focused on bringing play into organizations. She said, “How can we start to create more psychological safety in groups with play? I recommend to my clients; the easiest thing to start with is meetings.”
You probably weren’t thinking about meetings as a venue for playfulness. But they can be. She shares techniques in part one of our interview, including the use of ice breakers early in a presentation, fun props, music, and movement. “Meetings are the heartbeat of organizational culture, and most people are in too many. Yet, meetings represent one of the biggest opportunities for us to shift culture and to create a sense of safety.”
And Your Other Relationships
You can experiment with a variety of tools. Jyoti said, “Play with your kids. And if you notice that you’re feeling overwhelmed or anxious about a project or something on your to do list, approach it with a playful lens.”
Most of us find it easier to play with our children because they’re naturally playful. However, we can approach conversations with curiosity and a sense of fun with adults too. Including friends, family members and if you’re partnered, partners. Jyoti encourages us to ask ourselves, “How might I do this differently? How might I break up this unmanageable task into smaller chunks? Invite a sense of wonder and curiosity back into your life and give yourself permission to be like a kid.”
Make Rest Your Foundation
Jyoti is intentional about cultivating conditions where she can remain thoughtful and happy. When I asked, what self-care means to her and how she brings it into her life she said. “Number one is just rest. Radical rest. We can’t really be creative or regulate if we’re not rested and so rest is a very strategic part of my self-care ritual.”
It turns out, rest and sleep are different, and both are necessary. Physically and emotionally, we need to feel level. Jyoti added, “It’s really important to lay down. So, I’ll lay down even if I don’t take a nap because it resets my nervous system. After 10 to 15 minutes of laying down, I can go for another few hours.”
Include Creativity for Self-Care
Jyoti said, “Music is number two. I think everybody should have a creative outlet and for me it’s music. It helps me unplug and find joy.” Creative pursuits have been proven to reduce stress and modern studies have shown music to reduce cortisol, the stress hormone in our bodies. And music therapy, like art therapy, is an effective specialty within mental health.
And Shift Your Focus
Many of us are intent on improving the structures that influence how we live. Although systems work is meaningful it can feel thankless and slow at times. Jyoti said, “Focus on finding what is joyful and hopeful. Sometimes that’s a matter of paying attention to different things. Right now, we’re in this collective contraction but if I look in my local community, I see incredible leaders doing amazing work. I see artists, founders, and executives being model leaders and doing their best to keep pushing and doing great work. And when I focus on that, instead of the news, I feel rejuvenated, restored and energized to keep going.”
Many thanks to the talented Jyoti Jani!
Check out her delightful book: Creating Culture: Empowered Leadership For Systems Change and follow her great adventure on her website, and Linked In.
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📚 Buy the new book, Repair with Self-Care: Your Guide to the Mom’s Hierarchy of Needs.
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About Jyoti:
Jyoti Jani has been designing and delivering people and culture programming since 2011.
With a background as an engineer, learning and development strategist, and systems thinker, Jyoti has developed expertise in cultivating creativity, communication, and cultural transformation across diverse industries. Her journey began by addressing knowledge transfer, employee engagement, and participative strategic planning where she leveraged play and creativity to unlock innovation and emotional intelligence in teams.
As the author of Creating Culture: Empowered Leadership for Systems Change, Jyoti provides actionable frameworks for leaders who want to reshape their workplaces into thriving ecosystems. Drawing on her unique perspective as a woman of color and global leader, Jyoti integrates research, storytelling, and real-world insights to help organizations move from chronic misalignment, avoidance and stress to brilliance.
Jyoti has facilitated executive retreats, leadership workshops, and immersive creative experiences for organizations like Boeing, Microsoft, and the Gates Foundation. She has also collaborated with community-focused initiatives like Y-WE (Young Women Empowered) to build responsive systems that prioritize trust, equity, and impact.
Whether on a stage as a keynote speaker, in a studio as a DJ at KEXP, or at a corporate offsite, Jyoti inspires leaders to reimagine how they connect, create, and communicate, using embodied and artful methods. Her work invites people to reclaim their agency, embrace play, and build systems where everyone can thrive.
