Doing things by yourself can be scary. Doing something with even just one person backing you up can give you a boost of confidence. For example, let’s say you’ve been wanting to consult a chiropractor for a long time, but you’re just too afraid. Asking a friend to come along with you can lend you some courage.
Even one person can help you in doing things you have never imagined before. Imagine how many benefits you can reap when you do things in a group. According to the University of Vermont Medical Center, joining groups can motivate you to achieve your goals.
If you want to be healthier but can’t find that motivation to do it yourself, joining wellness groups can help. In addition, you may find that physical activities are more enjoyable when you do them with other people or a community.
Even companies have started group wellness programs for their employees. Employee wellness programs are said to improve employee health behavior. It can even reduce absenteeism as performing health programs in groups is found enjoyable. The office ceases to be a workplace and turns into a place that people look forward to.
Some even say that having a wellness program in the workplace can encourage new employees and retain old ones.
For all these reasons, there should be plenty to encourage you to start doing wellness activities in groups. To give you some ideas, let’s discuss some group activities that you can do to achieve wellness.
Yoga
For some, yoga can be boring. There may be two reasons for this; you haven’t found the right setting to practice yoga, or you haven’t found a community you can do it with.
Yet, if you want to practice calming your mind and strengthening your body, you must try yoga. To help you get started, research for the best yoga class online. Once you start enrolling in a class, you will soon find yourself part of a community that can help you reap the benefits of yoga.
There are several benefits of practicing yoga in a group. We’ve already talked about the motivation groups provide, but we haven’t discussed how a group can help you achieve your goals.
Joining a yoga group can prevent you from getting bored and slacking from your goals. As joining a group can be sometimes competitive, seeing people in the group get positive results can push you to achieve the same results.
Since yoga also involves challenging poses, your yoga classmates can help you boost your confidence and even guide you in doing poses correctly. Also, when you see other beginners having difficulty doing the same pose you can’t execute, it can make you realize that it’s okay to start slow and don’t be so hard on yourself.
Lastly, doing yoga can also provide synergy. There’s nothing like being part of a community that works towards the same goals. This gives every member of the group energy to achieve those goals.
Walking
Walking has been part of our daily activity. We often ignore how it benefits us. Walking is a basic exercise that contributes so much to our physical health. Some benefits include strengthening of the muscles and bones, as well as lightening your mood.
Some may think that walking is an individual activity, but think otherwise. Walking groups are slowly becoming a trend. If you haven’t been in one, it’s time to join. Just search for a walking group, put on your trainers, and start walking.
Walking in groups has a lot of advantages. Like yoga, it provides motivation and support from group members. At the same time, it is an opportunity to socialize. Imagine chatting with someone while walking– it definitely won’t be boring anymore. You don’t realize that just by walking casually, side-by-side with another person, you’ve already reached a few kilometers and burned lots of calories.
At the moment, the majority of people who join these walking groups are older adults and retirees. Walking in groups is recommended for this group to help them overcome certain health conditions they might be facing, like arthritis, dementia, or Parkinson’s disease. Research has proven that group walking helps in alleviating these conditions.
But although research on the effects of group walking on healthier adults hasn’t been conducted, there is no one stopping you from joining or even forming a walking group. Research has proven that walking is effective whether it is led by a professional or a non-professional. So if you wish to start one, ask your friends or neighbors to join you. Who knows, you might start a trend? It’s definitely better than sitting on a couch and storing unnecessary fats.
