RECREATION

Recreation or fun is the expenditure of time in a manner designed for therapeutic refreshment of one's body or mind. While leisure is more likely a form of entertainment or sleep, recreation is active for the participant but in a refreshing and diverting manner. As people in the world's wealthier regions lead increasingly sedentary life styles, the need for recreation has increased. The rise of so called active vacations exemplifies this.

 Health

 A few individuals view recreation as largely non-productive, even trivial. Excessive recreation is not considered healthy, and may be labeled as escapism. However, research has shown that recreation contributes to satisfaction, and that the stress management aspects of it contribute to quality of life, health and wellness, happines, and that the use of recreation as a diversion may have clinical applications to individuals with chronic pain and other health impairments. In some cultures and religions, recreation is encouraged on certain days and discouraged on others. For example, in Judaism, the Shabbat is a day for recreation,study and relaxation; some Christian churches use the Sabbath. However, others interpret the Sabbath to be a day of worship, in lieu of recreation.

Recreation is one (not the only) kind of stress management. According to research cited in Time magazine, stress is a major factor in many of the leading causes of death in the United States.

 Examples

 

Art

Computer games

Cycling

Dancing

Drawing

Eating and drinking

Hobbies

Hunting and fishing

Kite flying

Music

Martial arts

Partying

Pet ownership

Reading a book

Recreational drug use

Sexuality and Dating

Sledding

Shopping

Singing

Sports and exercise

Travel and tourism

Texting

Using the internet

Video games

Visiting an amusement park

Watching movies

Yoga

Painting

In recent years, more exciting forms of recreation have received more attention, such as skiing, snowboarding, bungee jumping, sky diving, hang gliding, paintball, rock climbing, backpacking, canyoning, caving, BASE jumping, adventure tourism and motor sport.