Winning tactics for mental and physical health

How effective is an extracurricular activity or hobby on mental and physical health? Many high schoolers don’t take part in any extracurricular activities. There are so many activities out there for everyone of all ages, shapes, and sizes. Whether it’s all year round, after school, or in a certain season, there are many events to choose from. Extracurricular activities allow students to release any stress experienced during the day. They also can apply any concepts learned in class to an activity. The more students do extracurriculars and activities the more confident they become.

Power napping

Power naps make you feel relieved and refreshed. It is an activity that causes your whole body and mind recharged and ready to go. The article Power Naps: The Benefits, How Long They Should Be, and When They Work Best by Moira Lawler, states “The main benefit of a power nap is to help you feel refreshed, so you feel more awake through the rest of the day. “When you take a power nap, it energizes you and makes you more alert for the next four to six hours,” Khan says. “You feel like you can get a lot more accomplished.”Some might argue that naps always make me feel like crap and tired. It may even make me lose sleep at night. This is true because experts say that anything over 30 minutes is not a power nap. In the article by Moira Lawler, it states “it shouldn’t exceed 30 minutes. That’s because the body enters a deep sleep around that time, and waking up from a deep sleep can lead to grogginess, according to the Sleep Foundation.” Napping for more than 30 minutes may cause sleepiness, even more than when starting the nap. This shows power napping with a quick 20 minuter is more effective. For people that hate power naps, don’t oversleep next time.

Exercise

Exercise is a great hobby that relieves stress and can be beneficial for your health. It makes you feel good and more confident. According to the article Exercise and Stress: Get Moving to Manage Stress by Mayo Clinic Staff

“You know that exercise does your body good, but you’re too busy and stressed to fit it into your routine. Hold on a second — there’s good news when it comes to exercise and stress. Virtually any form of exercise, from aerobics to yoga, can act as a stress reliever.” This goes to show that any form of exercise or hobby, such

 as sports or exercise can act as a stress reliever. Skeptics might say that exercise isn’t “my thing,” or they don’t even know where to start. But there are so many different forms of exercise. Find one you enjoy doing. Any form of exercise can increase your fitness level while decreasing your stress. A little movement such as walking or playing pickup basketball can go a long way.

General enjoyment

The most important thing is to pick an activity that you enjoy. Examples include walking, swimming, stair steppers, painting, napping and many more. Having a hobby or extracurricular activity people enjoy doing helps with time management. Someone gets home after school and realizes they have all the rest of the day to finish an assignment.  That assignment will likely take the rest of the day to do.  Now another person gets home after an extracurricular activity or hobby. They now have a limited time between when they get home and go to bed compared to the first person. The person with less time before bed will manage time and homework better. Some may argue there could be too many activities in a person’s life and it could cause frustrations. They could be “overworking” themselves with school, sports, or activities. According to Jory MacKay “research has found that people who are able to psychologically disconnect from work experience:

-Less work-related fatigue

-Lower rates of procrastination

-Greater engagement at work (and getting into a state of flow).”

This is very true, not only does the evidence support this but experience supports this. Time to disconnect has caused more engagement, less fatigue, and less procrastination. As a result, find your passion, or something you enjoy doing. This will help you enjoy and savor life more each day. It helps give you yet another reason to wake up and have a great day. A little hobby or sport goes a long way when it comes to stress relief and contentment.