Five Key Benefits of Leisure - Essay Example

Five Key Benefits of Leisure Leisure is the period of time spent away from regular compulsory activities to achieve a balanced of mind andincreased productivity. There are a number of benefits that can be achieved from leisure activities. The benefits may be in terms of physical fitness, psychological uplift, spiritual gain, social health and of course economic growth. The concept of leisure developed step by step since the ancient age. In the contemporary society there are huge numbers of opportunities to enjoy leisure as well as to achieve the benefits of leisure (Roberts 32). It is a fact that present society has been developed a lot since ancient time and individuals now have to put in long time to work and to keep pace with the competitive social structure. But it can always be stated that social development or success can never be achieved if the employee productivity is lowered and we all no that continuous workload and stress reduce productivity significantly. Now in this immensely busy modern society achieving the benefits of leisure could be a challenge, which is accepted by the society and is successful to quite some extent. Physical Benefits: Leisure activities like sports, exercise, taking long walk and other fitness regimen can benefit people physiologically. As the approach to work has been changed towards mechanization and automation from historical approach of using human labor the society moved towards more and more sedentary life style. Thus physical fitness suffered a lot. To keep fit both medically and in appearance we need to engage in physical activities. As we have to put long hours to work, we may not have such time in hand for this kind of leisure. But it can be said that having realized the importance of physical activities many fitness centers have been established with quite flexible timings. People can join these centers for their regular requirements of physical activities and can enjoy leisure for at least that amount of time. Many organizations arrange for fitness centers in the workplace and that is also helpful to achieve benefit of leisure while being physically active. Long walk is also pleasing for some people. Just just walking to work can benefit them. Weekend sports activities in different clubs or even on the beach or Local Park are able to provide the required time for leisure along with physical benefit. Psychological Benefit: The main importance of leisure lies in its connection to psychology. When we say that a person is stressed out we mean the psychological pressure s/he is experiencing. Reduced productivity in work also results from psychological anxiety along with physical strain. Leisure is one of the most important means in dealing with psychological stress. A person can achieve mental health from any kind of leisure activities, which s/he enjoys and undergoes voluntarily. It can be yoga or meditation session or an exhausting sport. The key is to enjoy whatever s/he is doing. Just watching a movie or playing a computer game may be helpful sometimes for psychological boost. If satisfaction can be drawn from the leisure activities then those are even useful for occupational therapies according to Beard and Ragheb in 1980 (Di Bauna 58). Thus psychological benefit is completely achievable from any kind of leisure activities. Spiritual Benefit: Leisure activities like yoga or meditation or even any sort of religious activities may help in improvement of spiritual health. Participation in theatres, concerts, any kind of social or charitable work can induce a sense of satisfaction and spirituality. Reading books is a helpful leisure activity that can improve knowledge base and can provide the sense of spiritual improvement as well. One’s thoughts can be expressed through writing or painting and is way to connect to spirituality through creative satisfaction. Social Benefit: The leisure activities are often exercised in social environment along with friends or family. If such an activity can be made helpful for certain segment of the society then it is able to provide both social and spiritual benefit. For example spending time with the elderly people and enjoying a number of pleasure activities with them. This can prove to be a real stress buster and the elderly persons are also able to feel their importance as a part of the main stream society. Social interaction stimulated by participating in social gatherings or community activities is helpful in personal growth. All of these can be achieved in between the daily work schedule by taking lunch with the peer group, attending a community gathering in the neighborhood or just by enjoying attending a fitness program along with friends. Organizations also arrange for social and charitable activities now a days as part of theirs corporate social responsibilities. These activities are also able to provide the leisurely respite to the employees from their daily chores. Students can also participate in such social activities arranged by their schools or colleges or can even organize one on their own along with friends and achieve the social benefits from leisure activities. Economic Benefit: With the increase in opportunity for leisure activities there has been a tremendous growth in the economic sector. The leisure activities mainly involve physical activities like exercising or sports. A huge benefit is drawn from these sectors. Development of fitness gears and sport equipments is a booming industry. Enormous amount of money is involved in several sports events. Tourism is another flourishing industry. Traveling, hotel and food industry draw immense benefit from tourism. Economy of some places is completely dependent on tourism. Tourism indirectly helps in prosperity of some cottage industries through sale of crafts to tourist. Apart from these activities, any kind of social gathering or concert creates economic benefits for at least some part of the society. Thus it is completely feasible to enjoy leisure as well as economic growth at the same time (Roberts 5). Is it feasible in the modern society? In modern society as the opportunity for leisure grew the time period put to work has also lengthened. Thus people may argue that though having so many options of leisure activities, time or to some extent money may not permit us to engage in such activities. But I think leisure activities can be adjusted within this short time period also. The key factor is to draw satisfaction from the activities done (Di Bauna 56). Some organizations have arranged for exercises in workplace, so a leisure time can be squeezed out to indulge in physical activities here. Then everybody can afford one or two outing to the beach or park and enjoy some sports activities. Walking is a good physical activity and makes a part of leisure too. For psychological and spiritual benefit only a few minutes time for meditation or yoga at home may be enough. Music, reading, painting, writing all these activities need little time and money and all of these are helpful to increase productivity and creativity. Enjoying a social gathering or indulging in some social activities or programs with friends or colleagues is surely possible once in a while and if chosen carefully these few activities can also work towards social growth or benefit. Leisure activities contribute a great deal towards economic growth of the society through tourism and sports (Roberts 5) and almost everybody gets a time out for vacation and can enjoy these activities at least once a year or two. Thus it can be said that the five key benefits of leisure are surely feasible to achieve in modern society and one can be benefited from leisure without spending much time or money. Conclusion To conclude from the above discussion it can be stated that achieving benefits of all kinds from the leisure activities is completely feasible in modern society as long as people are willing to do so. The main objections cited in this case, the lack of time or money can easily be taken care of as discussed above. The key factor is to enjoy the activity and to try to draw at least some benefit from the same (Di Bauna 56). References 1) Di Bona, Laura. “What are the Benefits of Leisure? An Exploration using the Leisure Satisfaction Scale.” The British Journal of Occupational Therapy Volume 63, Number 2, (2000): 50-58(9) 2) Roberts, Kenneth. Leisure in Contemporary Society. UK: CABI Publishing, 2006. Read More