AUGUST IS NATIONAL WELLNESS MONTH
The Importance of Leisure Interests
What are you doing to maintain proper physical and mental health?
Did you know that leisure interests can help improve not just your physical health but your mental health as well? Engaging in leisure interests (activities) helps our brain relax thereby producing more serotonin (happiness hormone) which can lead to a higher level of emotional well-being.
Some of my clients are at a loss when I ask the question: “what are your leisure interests?” “What do you do for fun?” Common responses include:
-I have none
-I don’t know what I like
-I don’t have any time
-Between work and the kids, I don't have time to do anything else
Guess what? We do have time😊 It is up to us to carve out the time and then be intentional about using that time.
This is a two-part series: this first blog is for those who struggle to identify what they do like. The second one will focus on a plethora of leisure interests.
How do I identify what it is I do like?:
- Ask yourself how you want to feel
“Leisure interests present an escape—they can help us get out of our head and calm down,” says Matthew J. Zawadzki, an associate professor of health psychology at the University of California, Merced, who has researched the connection between leisure and well-being. He suggests asking yourself how you want an activity to make you feel: mentally engaged? distracted? relaxed? socially connected?
It can also be helpful to consider what your life is missing, like creativity or physical activity, and allow that to guide your choices. “Recognize that you have different needs at different moments, and that’s OK,” he says.
- Start small
Don’t invest a lot of time and money in a new interest immediately. If you’re wondering if yoga might be a good fit, join a studio that offers a complimentary class. Try it out first, if you like it, great! Sign up for more, if not, move on, or sign up for a one-time pottery class, rather than a set of eight. It’s also smart to resist the pressure to over-commit. If you join a running club, and once a month they compete with other clubs, and you are not up to competing, then don’t. You do not have to feel pressured into doing something you do not want to do. Remember, leisure interests are supposed to be fun!😊
- Keep an open mind
Keeping an open mind and not dismissing a potential interest is important. Don’t be afraid to learn something new. You may just like it! Tap into your imagination, creativity, and curiosity. So next time someone hands you a flyer, or invites you to tag along to an event, seize the opportunity. It could introduce you to something you never guessed you would like. You can also brainstorm ideas, look at what others are doing, ask family, friends, and colleagues what they are involved in…maybe that will ignite some curiosity.
- Reflect on your childhood years
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? The answer could point you toward that interest you had forgotten you liked. If you wanted to be a professional photographer, what can you do now that fulfills that urge for you? Here is one idea: offer to take pictures for family and friends as they celebrate significant events.
Joining a soccer team or coaching neighborhood kids could help reignite a long-dormant passion. The nostalgia doesn’t have to stop there. Revisit activities you loved when you were young, like drawing pictures, putting together model kits, collecting various items, or building clay figures. Your childhood activities can easily evolve into adult interests.
- Back to school
Consider auditing a class at a local university or signing up for a lesson to learn more about a potential interest. You’ve always dreamed of writing a novel? Enroll in a fiction-writing program.
*Just recently one of my clients who loves to write and is in the process of writing a movie script, told me he has been looking at courses in the Fine Arts Department at a university he had once thought of attending. You just don’t know what can become of those interests…hmm?
Fascinated by family history? Take a genealogy class. Enjoy cooking? Take an in-store or online cooking class, for example Publix Aprons Cooking Class. Lots of colleges offer career assessments that can help students determine what to major in and how to navigate their professional lives. You can also use these tools to glean insights about potential interests. If you’re a college graduate, connect with your university’s alumni center; sometimes they make these assessments available for free.
- No guilty feelings
Too often we feel that if we put aside time for ourselves we are robbing others of our presence, our support. It is however more important to make self-care a priority; only then can we give others our fully energized, physically, and mentally, self.
Let your children see you slow down, read a book, walk in the park, relax, participate in something you love…when they grow up, they will know how to slow down and take care of self too😊
Some research has shown that when people feel guilty about spending time on leisure activities, they experience increased symptoms of depression and anxiety. Give yourself permission to do something that you like, and keep in mind that if you are doing something that makes you healthier and happier, then everyone around you will benefit. Think of discovering a new leisure interest as an adventure that will add fulfilling new dimensions to your life.
Make your life more meaningful.
References:
Zubernis, Ph.D., Lynn. 2021. Why Leisure is never a waste of time.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-science-fandom/202109/why-leisure-is-never-waste-time
Leonard, James. 2015. Relax: Benefits of Leisure Go Beyond the Moment.
https://news.ucmerced.edu/news/2015/relax-benefits-leisure-go-beyond-moment