How to improve your social life in a healthy way

I just got back from my semi-annual doctor’s visit. One of the docs the Doc gave me as I was leaving was entitled “Management of Your Personal Health.” The header of one section reads:  “How can I improve my social life in a healthy way?”

Learning that he is concerned with my social health as well as my physical health kick-started an inner monologue of new-found appreciation for my choice in health care professionals. After all, we keep hearing that social and physical health are interrelated.

So here’s the 411 on improving your social life in a healthy way courtesy of my family physician, minus the $20 co-pay:

• Build lasting friendships.  Family and friends provide emotional and social support
• Get out off the couch and out the house and interact with other people at:
  • evening classes
  • church
  • social clubs
  • volunteer opportunities
• Avoid bars and nightclubs as places to meet new friends
• Limit how much TV you watch
• Limit how much time you spend on the computer
• Be as physically active as possible.  Besides it’s health advantages, exercise gives you more energy for all of your activities

A good list of solid advice. It got my thinking of how the BeltLine Lifestyle addresses these line items, many in one fell swoop. The BeltLine is transforming acres upon acres of toxic brownfields and blighted  greyfields into what is becoming a healthfield of epic proportions. This public space will eventually connect green space, dog parks, youth centers, places of worship, athletic fields, playgrounds, spraygounds, grocery stores, housing for active folks of all ages and more via miles of rail trail. It is already facilitating social interaction in a healthy way on a large scale. Have you been on the Eastside Trail on a Saturday or Sunday? It’s becoming the biggest social club in the city. And a diverse socioeconomic social club it is of cyclists, walkers, joggers, skaters, skateboarders, yoga-practicioners and people riding unusual conveyances I’ve never seen before.

Volunteer opportunities abound where the BeltLine is concerned. My family and I have developed some great friendships while volunteering on various BeltLine projects. From simple corridor clean-ups to assisting with art installations to working festival booths, it can be a bonding experience working with fellow volunteers.

We don’t have to wonder what the next big thing in social networking is. It has arrived and it’s called the BeltLine. It’s social networking in the Real World. And it’s healthy.

King of Pops Yoga in the Park

Image credit Creative Loafing