Healthy Leisure and Leisureful Health: Introductory ‘State of the Art’

Abstract

The positive health effects of leisure performed with joy are inevitable; it is beneficial to coping with stress, it sharpens the mind, increases creativity and concentration. Creative leisure includes hobbies, arts (For example, playing music, making ceramics, embroidery and acting), technical activities (DIY and modelling), physical activities (for example, gardening, farming, folk and ballroom dancing) or games among others. The aim of hobbies is to have fun, to realise oneself, to gratify one's desires and to fulfil personal objectives. If someone works not for money, but for the fun the activity delivers, that person works as a hobby, so our paid work can also be our hobby. As a result of our hobbies, we can be acknowledged by art or academic communities too. Leisure activities can also include the outgoing cultural activities (theatre, cinema, concerts and exhibitions) that can connect to different festivals, events, traditions, folk customs and prominent holidays. Not only can our hobbies affect our health, but the promotion and preservation of health can also become our hobby. The relationship between leisure and health can range on such a wide scale that it becomes a challenge to address every aspect in detail. However, as the Beijing Consensus on Leisure Civilisation states, 'Leisure is a common heritage for all human beings, irrespective of nationality, sex, race, age, and religious conviction. This implies that every nation can add theories, examples, research and good practices to this complexity, which we all should listen to and integrate into an international realisation of healthy leisure and leisureful health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)