The Importance Of Leisure Activities For Stress Reduction

When author Hans Selye first published his now-classic book regarding the stress of life, he made the proposal that “no one part of the body must be disproportionately overworked for a long time.” It's like carrying a heavy suitcase for an extended time period with one arm, when you feel the pain (stress) of this arm, then you shift the bag towards the other arm, so the stress is equalized with no one set of muscles is overworked.

causes of stress

This goes true in life as well. If we spend the majority of our time working, or relaxing, or doing too much church work, only then do we are overtaxing one part of our personality, and this is tension-producing.



As we have discussed in the past articles, many people today have grown to be raging workaholics. They spend long hours at work and whilst they are enjoying what they are doing immensely, this type of person not leading a well-balanced lifestyle. Eventually, through sickness, heart attacks, or other physical problems, nature catches up with them and they are forced to slow down.



A better way to begin slowing down is to change our attitudes. We must recognize that leisure is not wrong or unnecessary and is not a misuse of talent or even a waste of time. Just like jobs are crucial to life, leisure is equally as important. If we fail to take time for recreation, we might be successful at our career, but lose our family, friends, and even our health in the long run. Even just short breaks which are taken frequently can rejuvenate our body and mind and make our work more effective.



Once you have decided that leisure is important to you, next decide precisely how you plan on unwinding. That is tough for most people, but a good place to start is by searching your past. What were a few of the things that you enjoyed doing when you were younger? What were the hobbies that got you interested? What were things that you always wanted to get into but never felt you had the time for? Work on using a way that is different than your work. If your job is sitting in a computer all day crunching numbers and writing text, when look towards outdoor activities like playing volleyball or hiking through nature. If your work is one that is very physical then look towards leisure activities that allows you to relax your body, like reading a good book, or taking a boat ride.

stress management