Are you aware of the importance of recreation for your well-being? Do you know how many things you can avoid if you enjoy yourself enough with your loved ones, if you leave time for recreation in your life? Let me tell you that the importance of recreation is significant, so much that chronic illnesses and diseases can be avoided because people who recreate themselves frequently usually have more positive moods and manage their emotions, avoiding in this way the negative stress so harmful to physical, mental and emotional health.
Numerous studies have shown that recreation is a basic element to achieve emotional health, and it is that it directly affects individuals’ wellbeing, based on the premise that well-being refers not only to the material plane of each individual and to the covering of the basic needs of the human being, but it implies the existence of a state of balance of the emotions that provide harmony and tranquillity, which has an impact on the comprehensive health in an indisputable way.
But we must understand that recreation is not necessarily related to parties, excessive alcohol intake, nights of sleeplessness, etc., since these practices instead of benefiting the physical body affect it directly, so there must be a balance, which does not mean that you do not do this kind of activities that everyone likes because they are a way of sharing, and if you do not fall into excesses; they are an important element to be free of the tensions of everyday life.
However, from the point of view of social research, recreation is defined as the creation or production of something again, and it also refers to the action of having fun, rejoicing and enjoying during a process of seeking means for distraction that separate from the routine of work and the responsibilities of the family and / or social environment for a moment. In this way, recreating oneself means creating oneself again systematically from the mental, emotional, physical, work, family, social and spiritual plane.
This is conceptualized by Abel Hernández (2001), who argues that recreation is “all free and pleasurable human activity carried out individually or collectively, which is designed to perfect the man.”
Hence, the importance of recreation for your well-being lies in knowing how to find the most pleasurable alternatives from their individuality, and considering in turn that the participation of people in recreation during their free time makes easier the renewal and replacement of energies worn by the daily routine with a new, fresh and fluid energy which has been the product of recreational activity. Therefore, it is considered that recreation fosters in people the creative renewal of energies from an emotional and spiritual level.
In this context, it is important to point out the conclusions of experts in social matters, such as Cuenca (2004), who affirms that “recreation should be a comprehensive experience related to the meaning of life and the values of each one and coherent with them, a re-creation experience.” In this sense, recreation should be promoted as a process that generates not only physical, but also emotional and mind responses within a context of man’s natural need to achieve his physical, mental and spiritual well-being, as well as to strengthen the comprehensive development at all levels of society.
On the other hand, Aldo Pérez (2003), by analysing recreation from the disciplinary perspective, concludes that it is intended to use people’s free time, so that they feel motivated to increase their value as human beings and as members of a social and / or community environment. Therefore, through the development of recreational activities, a motivating process can be achieved that in turn generates artistic, cultural, sports and social benefits, where the recreational process can be carried out individually or in groups.
In this order of ideas, it is convenient to mention the proposals of Eulogio Rodríguez (1988), who states that “in physical recreation in groups, we must take into account tastes, interests, preferences, demands and offers to achieve participants’ satisfaction.” Therefore, the following aspects should be considered:
Tastes, which are the physical activities by which people are inclined according to their individual criteria without considering the skills that they have for it, nor their degree of knowledge or habits related to the practice of such activities.
Interests, which although are related to tastes, depend on certain individuals conditioned by the criteria of the members of a group that participates in a recreational process, as well as the manner of realization, the place, the duration of the free time and the people who will be part of the group.
The physical recreation preferences in a recreational group constitute the order of performance that people establish in relation to their tastes and interests, and depending on the habits, knowledge and skills that they have.
Demand is the one that arises from the tastes, preferences and interests of groups, and which is determined by the social and institutional environments that make life in the community, and that seek the opportunity to carry out recreational activities for the wellbeing of groups.
Finally, supply comes to represent the result of the decision making of the recreational system before the set of data and information that generated the determination of the tastes, interests and preferences of the groups.
ALFA