However, similar to a lack of play in children, a lack of recreation can have grave consequences for adults.
Max Butterfield, Ph. Increased and prolonged cortisol levels can lead to lack of sleep, digestive problems, headaches, lack of energy, and even high blood pressure and heart disease.
Ultimately, a complete absence of play, recreation, and leisure can even be fatal. Aristotle placed great importance on recreation, or as he called it, leisure. In fact, he believed that we needed to have time for leisure in order to be fully human therefore, those in his society who only worked without time for leisure were to him incapable of being fully alive. While today we may use the term leisure to mean mindlessly vegging out on the couch or tanning on some breach, leisure, for Aristotle, was specifically the engagement in some activity that allowed for human flourishing — the discussion of philosophical concepts, the listening to music, the reading of poetry.
Leisure was not merely the absence of an activity, or even the lack of work, but rather an active posture of receiving and being. The German philosopher, Josef Pieper, Ph.
Without leisure and recreation, man is not more than an animal that works, sleeps, and eats. He writes:. The inner joyfulness of the person who is celebrating belongs to the very core of what we mean by leisure… Leisure is only possible in the assumption that man is not only in harmony with himself…but also he is in agreement with the world and its meaning.
Leisure lives on affirmation. It is not the same as the absence of activity; it is not the same thing as quiet, or even as an inner quiet. It is rather like the stillness in the conversation of lovers, which is fed by their oneness.
Mark Mann, Ph. Mann pointed to a form of intentional recreation that he participates in on Sundays: gardening. By being outside, trimming his rose bushes, and nourishing the plant life over which he has watch, he is rejuvenated. But Mann also realizes this form of intentional recreation that renews him and draws him closer to God may be anything but recreational for someone else.
For others it might be reading a book, going on a long mountainous hike, or listening and dancing to music. However, if done with a spirit of freedom and alignment to God — even if not always conscious — such forms of recreation can be spiritually restorative. Mann sees this type of leisure as something similar to Sabbath, where we purposefully put aside certain tasks in order to be present to God in a celebratory and rejuvenating frame of mind. This proves true on a biological level, since play, leisure, and recreation have been shown to be restorative to the body.
Play and recreation can be celebratory, allowing us to live out our created humanity. But can play, recreation, and leisure go too far? Many Christians in the past have struggled with the role of play, recreation, and leisure in their lives. To some, including John Wesley, all of our free time should be spent in direct and explicit devotion to God. If you had time to play, then you had time to pray, do spiritual reading, or serve the poor. Sam Powell, Ph. Wesley settled on yes, though only with caution.
Powell looks to the Puritans, a group of people well known for their commitment to rooting out any semblance of pleasure that stemmed from anything other than God.
Adventure programs teach the importance of trust, appropriate risk taking, supportive social interaction and personal challenge while creating valuable life long memories. Leaders are trained, developed and nurtured through leisure organizations such as teen clubs, camps and programs.
Positive and enjoyable recreation experiences can decrease stress and psychological tensions. Leisure activities provide people with the opportunity to expel energy and emotion not being released in other aspects of their lives. Psychologists found that activities such as a walk in the woods gave a boost to the immune system that lasted two or three days. Each additional mile walked or run by a sedentary person would give him or her an extra 21 minutes of life.
The strength of a community is increased through recreation activities that allow people to share cultural and ethnic differences. Land and water parks enhance the quality of life and contribute positively to the mental health of its citizens. Both mild and clinical depression can be reduced with activities such as water aerobics and swimming.
When communities compare themselves to one another, eager to improve, they almost always evaluate their levels of open space, recreation facilities, and leisure program development. The bottom line: it costs times as much to incarcerate than to recreate. A child develops social skills, problem solving and creativity through early play experiences. The best opportunities are those that are planned and supervised.
Physical activity is intellectually stimulating and enhances the learning process and the development of cognitive skills. Under these circumstances, the capital costs of building a one million dollar softball complex could be repaid after only 20 tournaments.
Every tournament after that is profit that could be reinvested into other community needs. Golf was responsible for creating over 12, full and part time jobs in Phoenix, Arizona. Leisure facilitates independence and growth. Leisure experiences develop a sense of competence because it provides individuals with freedom of choice. However, not all leisure activities are sportive.
Some people would rather spend their free time painting, drawing, reading, listening to music or meditating. The quality of life is determined with objective factors and also with subjective perception of factors which influence human life. Through participation in leisure activities people build social relationships, feel positive emotions, acquire additional skills and knowledge, and therefore improve their quality of life.
The positive effects of leisure and play time include better problem solving, improved work ethic, and improved creativity. Outside of a work performance realm, quality leisure time has also been shown to help with wider psychological and cognitive wellbeing, physical health, and quality of life. Several factors influence participation in leisure activities, including age, gender, activity limitations, family preferences and coping, motivation, and environmental resources and supports.
Culture and leisure also support and feed off one another. Without leisure and recreation we would be missing an essential part of our being, even our identity, as it impacts who we are when we are not being pressured to fit a specific role. Participating in recreational activities helps improve physical well-being, emotional health, and cognitive functioning. It also offers opportunities to socialize with peers.
Therapeutic recreational activities at a PACE center teach new techniques to enjoy familiar activities. It could also prevent further decline. Like culture and art, recreation, leisure and sports activities play an important role in communities. Their many benefits include improving the health and well-being of individuals, contributing to the empowerment of individuals, and promoting the development of inclusive communities.
Parks and recreation infrastructure and facilities promotes conservation and environmental sustainability. According to a report by the NPRA, parks facilities conserve natural resources and wildlife habitat, protect air and water quality, and preserve open space for current and future generations.
Recreation Centers Have a Positive Impact on Community Youth By providing safe and adequately equipped spaces for physical activities like dance, martial arts, yoga, basketball, and other sports, community centers instill discipline, healthy exercise habits, and teamwork.
Sports Facilities Advisory knows that these potential community benefits readily come with a recreation center.
0コメント