Abstract

This chapter provides an insight into how the capacity to play and integrate games which are aligned with basic principles of social constructionism can directly contribute to the facilitation of the emotional self. An initial overview of ludic approaches and serious play leads into a consideration of how processes of cognition, and in particular cognitive flow, can actively contribute to capacity for escapism, and intrinsically motivate processes of learning and teaching for those in the context of Higher Education, when they are in safe connection with others. This approach is positioned as one potential mechanism of addressing the need for holistic mental health and wellbeing, a long identified priority for recognition, address and sustained integration into Higher Education globally. The chapter concludes with the consideration of issues of inclusion in regulation of the emotional self in the context and culture of making meaning of lived experiences in learning and teaching