Get your feet up with Meetup!

Increasing your level physical activity does not only need to be done through formalized exercise. Perhaps you’d rather participate in something more social and/or recreational like volleyball, soccer, rock-climbing or tennis. Are you struggling to find people in your social circle to participate in these activities?  Your level of activity is greatly affected by your social circle, therefore sedentary habits can be contagious.

You may have already tried- unsuccessfully – to engage your friends and family in more activities, so now it’s time to look outside of your normal connections.

There are a number of online resources to help you meet new people with likeminded goals. Here are a couple of examples;

• http://www.meetup.com –>This is a fantastic site (you can tell I use it!) to meet people who have the same interests as you.  You can join groups (Soccer, volleyball, biking, rock-climbing….even salsa dancing) and sign up for events to attend.  This is a great way to increase your physical activity after work or on the weekends. You’ll also make some new friends.

• Utilize Toronto’s Recreation and Community Centres. A number of facilities have drop in sports and activities.  http://www.toronto.ca/parks/prd/torontofun/index.htm . If this isn’t something you would be interested in, you could sign up your kids instead (psst…summer’s fast approaching).
• Be an online maverick and search for online forums where you can meet people who want to participate in pick-up sports in your area. Here’s one for soccer: http://www.soccertoronto.com/forum-toronto-pick-up-soccer
• Our very own Wellness Analyst, Ashley is a member of UHN’s Real Food Gardening Program. Most people don’t consider gardening as a form of physical activity, but IT IS!! For more information: http://seedtofeed.net/

Venturing out to meet new people can be difficult for some individuals (including myself) as it triggers feelings of anxiety and fears of rejection. It does become easier as you become more accustom to going to different events. Drop-in sports or meet up events are primed environments where people are looking and open to making new connections, essentially “you’re all in the same boat”. To decrease your feelings of anxiousness try posting a greeting to the other members to make connections in advance, then you will know who to look out for when you arrive.

Think it over….

Just do it! (Nike might sue me)