Right Moves: A LiiNK Center for Healthy Play Podcast

Kicking off our two-part season finale special, we bring on friend and colleague, Dr. Michelle Bauml, as our moderator to flip the script and ask Dr. Rhea about how LiiNK has evolved and burning questions you have asked over the years. That’s right – Dr. Rhea is in the hot seat! Hear the story of how and why LiiNK began, and why LiiNK continues to work in U.S. schools despite rampant teacher burno...

Close your eyes and go to your happy place… Can you hear the birds chirping? Feel the breeze against your face? Taste the salt in the air from the ocean ahead? Imagination is a powerful gift which can be used to manage anxiety and stress or improve performance, but how often are you utilizing it to its full potential? In this last of four installments in our Stress Relief Strategies series, Dr. Rh...

Oftentimes, words cannot accurately depict what we are feeling. Maybe there’s not an exact word for it, or maybe we just don’t know how to express our emotions. When words don’t work, art therapy may be the answer. In this episode, Dr. Rhea dives into the power of art therapy and some of the various ways you can utilize art as a tactile means to release and interpret your emotions in a healthy and...

Each of us has our own special connection to music, whether it’s the memory of seeing a favorite artist in concert, jamming out to the radio on the drive home every day, or maybe how it helped you through the stress of the pandemic. How do those experiences make you feel? Many studies have shown the vast benefits of music including stress reduction, improved brain and cardiovascular health, memory...

If you could give yourself a score between 1-100 for how well you handle stress, what would your score be? This episode starts a 4-part series focused on stress relief strategies to improve your stress score. In part one, Dr. Rhea discusses journaling and expressing yourself through creative strategies such as dream states, realizing positivity, and finding your "tribe with a vibe".

Dr. Rhea brings back playworker and risky-play advocate, Jill Wood, to share how she brought adventure play into The Parish School in Houston, Texas, and just how beneficial it has been for her students and community. More than that, risky play is key to building resilience, joy, trust, and healthy relationships. The language and insight that playworkers bring to recess or play environments helps...

Playwork is a unique approach, developed alongside adventure playgrounds in the U.K., to create and maintain spaces for unstructured, child-directed play. It has now become popular across the U.K., the U.S. and Canada. Dr. Rhea brings on playworker and risky-play advocate, Jill Wood, to share the principles of Playwork and what drew her to this approach in schools and after school programs. Jill W...

Did you know, the average 4-year-old laughs 40 times a day, while the average 40-year-old laughs only 4 times a day? Why and when did we let go of our laughter? Dr. Rhea discusses positive emotions such as laughter, joy and happiness – the healing power of experiencing these emotions daily, the detriment of living without them, and how to laugh more in our search for the proverbial funny bone.

Dr. Rhea is back with Marissa Heyl to discuss her journey from anthropology to neurodesign further. This time, though, she will tie together her passion for neurodesign with her business, Inclusive Wellness Design. She will discuss her goal to bring art, interior design, and play together in the workplace to improve whole health benefits for the employee. Marissa Heyl is a design strategist and ne...

Dr. Rhea brings on friend and collaborator, Marissa Heyl, to share her career journey from cultural anthropology to neurodesign in the workplace. Hear how Marissa’s passion to make the world a better place led her to amazing communities and artisans across the world, and how she is bringing art and play together through design in the workplace. Marissa Heyl is a design strategist and neurodesigner...

It’s no secret that nature has healing powers. The term “shinrin-yoku”, or forest bathing, was coined in Japan in the 1980s as an effective therapy method that involves mindful engagement within a forest or natural environment. In this episode, Dr. Rhea dives into the vast benefits of forest bathing, and the four ways you can experience and engage with the nature around you.

What types of outdoor experiences have you had that gave you a positive sense of self? Do you spend enough time in nature to meditate, reflect, be at peace? Did you know that nature is the game changer for negative emotions and lack of sleep? In this season opener, Dr. Rhea addresses all of these questions and more to help you heal your mind and body through the power of nature, also called ecothe...

Dr. Rhea is back with Dr. Daphne Harris to continue their conversation on father daughter play, diving into the effects of intersectionality, mental health, and the importance of a strong support system. Daphne Chambers Harris, a dynamic speaker, researcher, and dedicated educator, holds a master's degree in clinical community psychology from Texas Southern University and a Ph. D. in Child Dev...

Dr. Rhea brings on Dr. Daphne Harris from the University of North Texas, to share how her relationship with her father and the lessons she learned through father daughter play shaped her life and her career. Daphne Chambers Harris, a dynamic speaker, researcher, and dedicated educator, holds a master's degree in clinical community psychology from Texas Southern University and a Ph. D. in Child...

Dr. Rhea brings back Cheryl Potemkin, this time to discuss her other role with Fort Worth Botanic Gardens and the development of the new family garden coming soon! Learn all the exciting features of the garden and how it will promote risky play, curiosity, and confidence in children and a great place for adults to find their inner play as a “Garden of YES!”. Cheryl Potemkin is the Early Childhood...

Dr. Rhea brings on early childhood educator and OLE! Texas leadership member, Cheryl Potemkin, to share her expertise on outdoor learning environments. Listen as they discuss the goals of OLE! Texas, the benefits and qualities of outdoor learning environments, and the abundance of resources in Texas and nationwide for the promotion of outdoor learning. Cheryl Potemkin is currently exploring a love...

Dr. Rhea continues her discussion from a whole-health perspective and introducing more blurred lines between healthy and unhealthy habits. Tune in as Dr. Rhea discusses more about diets, healthy eating,  and how to manage individual food issues. Resources mentioned in this episode: Home | Dietary Guidelines for Americans MyPlate | U.S. Department of Agriculture

In a world that glorifies fad diets and “easy” weight loss trends, how do we keep from blurring the lines between healthy and unhealthy eating habits? Dr. Rhea dives into nutrition from a whole-health perspective, explaining the risk of blurring lines without realizing it and what considerations are needed to eat better and begin to create a healthier lifestyle moving forward.

The importance and accessibility of play in our lives is often taken for granted and not prioritized in our communities and schools. Play advocates work tirelessly to change this mindset through education, research, and providing more play resources to more people. In this episode, Dr. Rhea sits down with Out to Play founder, Bethany Fort, to discuss one of the biggest challenges play advocates fa...

Unstructured play is necessary to all humans, especially children, but how easy is it to have unstructured play in our daily lives? We can play anywhere… right? Dr. Rhea brings in Bethany Fort to explain the prevalence of play deserts, particularly in urban areas, and how her non-profit, ”Out to Play”, is working to bring unstructured play to you! Bethany Fort has an M.A. in Children's Literat...

Parents continue to enroll their children in sport at younger ages thinking this will give them a leg up on being a better athlete. Coaches have begun to require children to specialize in one sport at earlier ages in hopes of being more competitive. Are these practices healthy for our children and youth? Dr. Rhea brings back her PhD candidate, Kate Webb, to further discuss why focusing on speciali...

Why are the physical and mental health of our youth declining? Dr. Rhea brings back her PhD candidate, G. Kate Webb, to discuss the two extremes of children’s activity levels that we see today – sedentary behavior, and specialization in sport. Both of these lifestyles can take away from the amount of unstructured, outdoor play a child receives, which in turn leads to decreased muscle strength, pos...

What do children actually need during the school day? The U.S. has placed priority on content time and academic test scores more and more in the last several decades, putting recess and play on the back burner. Listen as Dr. Rhea discusses the detriment of this, and how play and learning actually go hand-in-hand.

Are we over-diagnosing and over-medicating ADHD in kids? Avigail Gimpel returns with Dr. Rhea to further discuss the ADHD epidemic, long-term effects of ADHD medication, and what it would be like to prescribe nature as an aid for ADHD symptoms. Avigail earned her BA and graduate degree at Touro college graduate school for Special Education. She married Daniel Gimpel in 1998 while teaching 3rd grad...

ADHD has reached endemic levels in today’s youth, and it’s become increasingly difficult to distinguish ADHD-like symptoms from true ADHD. Dr. Rhea brings in author and educator, Avigail Gimpel, to share her personal journey with ADHD. They discuss what ADHD symptoms may look like in youth and adults, how technology has affected symptom prevalence, and whether exercise could be the key. Avigail ea...