Why is it important to participate in recreational activities?

Recreation is anything you do in your leisure time. Leisure time is defined as time spent away from all the essential things in your life like work or the necessary socializing. Recreation can be anything from a hobby to you reading a book every day, staying up to date with the William Hill Grand National, or taking a walk. 

Is recreation important, though? Here are 5 reasons that say it is.

1.    Recreation Resets Your Mind

Coming home from doing a difficult shift can leave you exhausted, even though you are not physically tired. Having a recreational activity to turn to can make up for all of that tiredness and make you into a new person after an hour. Whether you like fishing or playing video games, you can spend that time doing something you love and simply be happier. Once your mind resets, you can enjoy the rest of your day feeling a lot happier.

2.    Recreation is Good for the Body

Recreational activities can also be physical activities. You can go running, cycling, stretching, to the gym to lift weights or stay at home and do yoga or Pilates exercises. All of those activities are beneficial to your health. If you do them everyday or every other day, you can stay healthy. Doing something you love, which is a recreation activity, is also good for the body on a hormonal level.

3.    Recreation Keeps You Interested

Going back home to a TV show or binge-watching TV shows or doing the same repetitive things every day can be very tiring. The more you repeat those activities, the worse it gets. If you add a hobby, a recreational activity, you can challenge yourself to think creatively and do something new. Hobbies like painting, drawing, calligraphy or playing musical instruments are all helpful in promoting creativity and generally provoking positive emotions. The more interested you are, the more likely you are to find new hobbies and perform better at work.

4.    Recreation Gives You Perspective

Trying out many new things and having fun while doing them can give you perspective. You do not always get that opportunity. Once you open up to the possibility of doing anything as a recreational activity, you can end up learning a lot of stuff. Whether traveling or reading is your hobby, you will learn new things and get a better or different perspective of the world around you.

5.    Recreation Builds Consistency

Being consistent is difficult, even more so when running into challenges and not being able to overcome them. But, if you have recreational activities you love, you can get better and better at doing them, slowly coming to the realization that everything can be better with some work and the consistency of doing it for a longer period of time.

Being consistent takes time and practice, all of which can be mitigated by having recreational activities which simply make you happier.

Recreational activities have been shown to improve the overall quality of life. A happier person should find tackling new challenges an easy task. Someone who is happy with themselves will have no problems finding another job. Someone who is physically fit can find adventures around every corner.

All of these benefits come with simple recreational activities. Find your own recreational activity, the choices are endless and a thought away.

Posted at 14:28h in Assessment Center by Randi Nelson

Recreational activities are always a good idea. They provide social, physical, and mental benefits. These types of activities are used as an effective form of therapeutic treatment for individuals struggling with mental health issues. Sometimes it can be difficult for one to realize the positive impact recreational activities have as they just deem it a way to pass time or something that feels forced. However, this is simply not the case. By looking at recreational activities through the scope of social, physical, and mental benefits, we can better understand the importance of practicing recreational activities.

The Social

Social support, social networks, and social unity can be found in group-based recreational activities. These aspects of social interaction can enhance the mental health and wellbeing of a community.

Research shows a direct correlation between social support and increased and continued participation in sport and active recreation. Often, once one creates a bond with others and feels part of a community, they will continue to uphold their part there. Recreational activities can teach individuals how to navigate themselves in social situations and how to effectively communicate and problem solve with others. The best thing about this? Participants don’t even realize how much they are learning. It doesn’t feel like school or a boring lesson, it is instead finding teachable moments through fun activities.

The Physical

Everyone knows physical activity is good for us. Recreational activities satisfy our need for exercise too. It’s a win-win situation. Physical activity can enhance feelings of well-being which could be a result of the release of endorphins during exercise. Also, physical activity can help one develop an increased sense of confidence and self-esteem. Physical activity that occurs through recreation not only helps alleviate mental health issues but also helps prevent other health-related issues such as obesity or disease. Engaging in regular physical activity offers a healthy way to blow off steam, disconnect from the world, and manage stress.

The Mental

Perhaps the greatest benefit of recreational activities occurs on our mental health. The social support and fostering of specific skills during recreational activities help one improve and maintain their mental health. Therapeutic recreational activities are designed to address the issues that arise with mental health diagnosis’. These activities offer educational value to participants. They learn skills that they can transfer from the activity to their everyday lives. Communication, teamwork, problem solving, and coping skills are all important elements learned through recreational activities that can help improve one’s mental health. By grasping these concepts, one will gain a greater sense of self-awareness and learn how to effectively combat their mental health issues. Recreational activities are a great way for one to rest and recharge in a healthy fashion.

ViewPoint Center can help

ViewPoint Center is a specialty hospital that provides care and proper assessments to adolescents ages 12-17. It is a comprehensive therapeutic assessment facility licensed as a specialty psychiatric hospital with 24-hour nursing. Support stabilization, diagnostic clarity is achieved following the assessment process. Our staff helps create an individualized treatment plan and provide families with options for seeking the best treatment for their child. ViewPoint Center is dedicated to providing families with the help and care they need. We can help your family today!

Contact us at 801-825-5222.

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Recreational activities are important for the physical and psychological wellbeing of people. If a person does not take time out from work, stress and other health problems are more apt to arise.

Recreation is an important process that helps refresh and reinvigorate both the body and mind. Most recreational activities take place in what is known as discretionary time, or time that a person has when he does not have any responsibilities to attend to at the moment.

Recreational activities can range from physical actions such as team sports to playing in the park or taking a hike in nature. They can also refer to exercise such as visiting the gym or running on a trail. These activities allow people to use their bodies and increase their levels of personal fitness for health-related reasons.

Some forms of recreational activities do not need to be physical at all. These activities can help improve cognitive function and take stress off of a person who thinks about work all of the time. Some non-physical recreational activities include trivia nights, card games, board games and even video games.

Recreational activities also offer people a great way to socialize and meet others they would normally not have contact with in their daily lives.

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