Our medical practitioners are forever telling us that we need to be more physically active and while this is excellent advice, they seem to forget the health benefits that watching sport actually provides us with as well. Clearly, we enjoy the many physical health benefits when we take part in the sport itself but when it comes to our mental health, watching sports can provide many advantages. Being a spectator is not a passive pastime and if you really love your team then you can get through a lot of calories in the space of one game.
The good news is that there are always AFL tickets available for many games throughout the month and unless it is a particularly popular derby or it is a semi-final or final, then tickets can be purchased for you and your family. People often overlook the many health benefits of watching sports in real-time and so we will cover just some of them here today.
- It is an emotional experience – This is especially relevant if you are cheering on your own team against your local enemies and we go through a wide range of emotions during a particularly close scoring game. Our emotions are all over the place and this is incredibly therapeutic for the body as we get adrenaline flowing around our bodies because we are there watching the game in person and this helps to rid our bodies of any bad stress that they are carrying around.
- It’s perfect for social connections – Enjoying a sporting event as a family is a fantastic way to bring everyone closer together. It provides the perfect opportunity to meet up with friends and really make a day of it. Attending a sporting event in person leads to lots of interaction as opinions are passed around the group. There have been many studies carried out on the fact that if you enjoy stronger social connections then it is incredibly good for your mental health and lowers the rate of depression and anxiety.
- It reduces stress & anxiety – We all carry around far too much stress in our lives and it isn’t the good stuff. Stress can take its toll on your body and it can lead to things like high blood pressure and heart problems. We all need to do whatever we can to escape from the pressures that are put onto our shoulders on a regular basis and so taking the time to go to a sporting event to watch it in person is a great way to relieve your overall stress levels.
We need more inspiration in our lives to motivate us and push us further towards any personal goals that we might have. Watching someone on the football field for example, playing at the top of their game and playing at the highest level is motivation in itself. We watch them handling the many challenges on the field and it drives us on to address our own challenges.
