Stress is prevalent and ubiquitous in our everyday lives. Sometimes, stress can be beneficial as it can provide the extra motivation needed to succeed in business, achieve an education or foster relationships, however, it can also have significant negative impact. Accumulative evidence show that stress have potent impact on the health and well-being on an individual. Furthermore, some studies have even found that stress can have a stronger impact on one’s health than major negative life events. Thus, recovery from and resilience to stress is vital for health and well-being. As such, a method to manage, cope or counteract stress is participation in leisure activities. Leisure can be broken down into two categories: casual leisure that involves
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For example, an individual who spends too much time on his work could end up with serious health problems due to an increase in negative affect. The person might feel pressured to do more work than needed and if he decides to bring home the work, this will not only cause stress on the individual, but it will also stress out the family. Spending more time on work and less with his family results in the person growing apart from his loved ones, which could ultimately lead to depression and cardiovascular disease. One way to cope with this kind of situation is to participate in casual outdoor leisure. Spending time outdoors socializing with people acts as a source of distraction that deviates one’s problems, such as work related worries. The individual will be given an opportunity to express his feelings to others, which has been proven to lower ones stress (Godbey, 2015). Furthermore, outdoor socializing provides a way to maintain or re-establish social ties and important relationships (Godbey, 2015), which might have been damaged due to stress. It releases the individual from mental and physical tension, and spikes his interest which likely indicates lower boredom levels (Zawadzki, Smyth & Costigan, 2015). As boredom been related to poor health behaviors, including consuming more food, less exercise, smoking, alcohol and drug use (Zawadzki, Smyth & Costigan, 2015), …show more content…
For example, if a person is feeling stressed out because he failed an important task, serious leisure can provide an opportunity to gain some sense of accomplishment in other areas to offset this stress. Participating in a serious activity voluntarily pouches the person’s mind and body to its limit in an effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975), which initiates flow. Being engaged in flow allows the person to put all his concentration and interest onto one activity, which takes the person’s mind off stressful events. If for instance, the individual decides to partake in American Kennel Club events, where he can vigorously train his dog to take part in competitions, winning or doing well acknowledges the effort put in and validates the owner’s identification with dogs (Baldwin & Norris, 1999). This can deviate some of the negative affect, like the sense of failure, as participation provides excitement and enhances the sense of championship (Baldwin & Norris, 1999). Feeling competent in doing an activity can also provide a sense of being able to exercise control, especially in tough situations (Stebbins, 2010), which is very important for an individual who might feel hopelessness and helplessness as this can eventually lead to depression and autoimmune disease (Iwasaki, Mactavish & Mackay, 2005). Furthermore, involvement
For example, an individual who spends too much time on his work could end up with serious health problems due to an increase in negative affect. The person might feel pressured to do more work than needed and if he decides to bring home the work, this will not only cause stress on the individual, but it will also stress out the family. Spending more time on work and less with his family results in the person growing apart from his loved ones, which could ultimately lead to depression and cardiovascular disease. One way to cope with this kind of situation is to participate in casual outdoor leisure. Spending time outdoors socializing with people acts as a source of distraction that deviates one’s problems, such as work related worries. The individual will be given an opportunity to express his feelings to others, which has been proven to lower ones stress (Godbey, 2015). Furthermore, outdoor socializing provides a way to maintain or re-establish social ties and important relationships (Godbey, 2015), which might have been damaged due to stress. It releases the individual from mental and physical tension, and spikes his interest which likely indicates lower boredom levels (Zawadzki, Smyth & Costigan, 2015). As boredom been related to poor health behaviors, including consuming more food, less exercise, smoking, alcohol and drug use (Zawadzki, Smyth & Costigan, 2015), …show more content…
For example, if a person is feeling stressed out because he failed an important task, serious leisure can provide an opportunity to gain some sense of accomplishment in other areas to offset this stress. Participating in a serious activity voluntarily pouches the person’s mind and body to its limit in an effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975), which initiates flow. Being engaged in flow allows the person to put all his concentration and interest onto one activity, which takes the person’s mind off stressful events. If for instance, the individual decides to partake in American Kennel Club events, where he can vigorously train his dog to take part in competitions, winning or doing well acknowledges the effort put in and validates the owner’s identification with dogs (Baldwin & Norris, 1999). This can deviate some of the negative affect, like the sense of failure, as participation provides excitement and enhances the sense of championship (Baldwin & Norris, 1999). Feeling competent in doing an activity can also provide a sense of being able to exercise control, especially in tough situations (Stebbins, 2010), which is very important for an individual who might feel hopelessness and helplessness as this can eventually lead to depression and autoimmune disease (Iwasaki, Mactavish & Mackay, 2005). Furthermore, involvement