Sports we know today is a very recent invention compared to the vast history of humanity. Before stadiums and scoreboards, there was play, dance, rituals and movement. People ran, wrestled, threw things, climbed, jumped — not for medals, but because it felt good, built strength and bonded the tribe. Everyone was a winner. Community was woven through shared movement and playful challenge, not professional leagues.
Then came the Greeks, the Romans, the age of empires and industrialization. Games became formalized — rules, teams, winners and losers. Crowds were gathers, tickets sold, concessions advertised. What began as simple play turned into spectacle.
Flip to today, and it’s a global industry: billion-dollar leagues, engineered highs, endless entertainment hooks.
The Sports High: What Happens Inside Us
Playing sports, specially in affluence societies is encouraged, normalized and rewarded in many ways. Sports create powerful chemical and emotional reactions inside us, that leave us feeling high and joyful.
Laser Focus — When you are playing sports in the middle of a field or court, you are not thinking about all other nonsense, you are 100% focused on the ball. Everything is spaced out, and it brings the kind of attention to what is now without having to train the mind to be still.
Belonging — With the sports structure as it is today — to be in a team creates that same ancient tribal mind set — belonging to a tribe that works together for same purpose.
Drama & Story — An untrained mind loves the entertainment created by drama – the comebacks, the hard fought victories, the underdogs. The entertainment keep people involved, excited and uplifted.
Chemicals & Release — With laser focus setting and feeling as part of a tribe generates high doses of chemicals (Adrenaline & dopamine, endorphins) it super charges our capabilities. The thrill of competition and doing things that are difficult with enhanced chemicals and rewards of a victory over another — create super high states within.
All these attributes offer a short opportunity to quickly feel alive in a socially visible way without having to train the mind. This elevated state sports create does not last forever. It is short lived and leaves you wanting another go. That is not freedom, it makes you be a slave for the sport for the high. An external stimulation, works well for someone that does not know how to create it within.
Fire Without The Game
Same elevated states of existence can be created by us without needing the external stimulation, from an inwardly approach in a playful way without competition.
Elevated Chemicals — Intense kriya yoga, breathwork, dance or adventurous play (forest quests, climbing) can create exuberance states within from elevated chemicals. Physical aspects of yoga has immense benefits for health and wellbeing.
Laser Focus — Dharana, meditation, flow states of art or music are amazing ways to take charge of our attention. Learning to control attention this way will stay with us forever. This method of attention teaches one to be mesmerized by little things.
Release — Unstructured play, movement, music, singing, ecstatic dancing are amazing and aligned ways to release accumulated energies that are no longer serving.
Belonging — We are called “Human Beings” not “Human Belongings” because we have the capacity to simply be by ourselves without needing a group to belong to. When we cling too tightly to belonging — to be a club, a team, a tribe — it can hinder our growth. It ties our worth to the group’s success or failure, instead of anchoring in our own steady inner intelligence.
Sports is like a quick, short-lived spark that forces intensity, while learning the ways of inner magic is to be the fire itself. The path of inner realization to this magic is not as visible as sports and it definitely does not generate money.
What If the World Realized This?
What if the whole world learned the art of creating inner fire without needing anything from outside — the same kind of laser focus, the elevated chemical uplift, blissed out states, a grounded release, the belonging found within?
Children would overflow with joy through unstructured imaginative play, not endless drills.
Adults would feel steady energy, not dependent on weekly games for highs and release. The global sports-money machine would lose its grip.
Communities would gather in forests, gardens, festivals, creating art, dancing, signing and rituals of shared fire. The culture would shift from chasing sparks to being the fire — steady, powerful, unshaken.
The system thrives on people believing sports as the best socially accepted, culturally rewarded path to belonging and to feeling alive. The local co-ed team may seem innocent, but it feeds the cycle that creates the next generation of athletes for their billion-dollar games.
Question for you is: What would your life feel like if you could spark the fire within anytime, anywhere — without needing a game?