The Surgeon General released a study yesterday on the health risks of loneliness. Calling it an epidemic and explaining the mental health risks, the increase of 30% for stroke and dementia, and how it can shorten our life span considerably.
As adults, we spend fewer than 20 minutes in contact with our friends daily. We have fewer friends, and the quality of our interactions within our community is far lower.
We work most hours of our day. This work includes our jobs, taking care of others, and doing the mundane tasks that we complete daily in our household. Who has time to make friends?
It's never been easy to find a group of people who are welcoming and happy. It's even harder with our busy lifestyles. However, it's very important, and now we have the science to prove it.
Mantra Yoga has always been a community-focused yoga studio. Before and after classes, the practice space has always been buzzing with conversation, laughter, and connection. We've been proudly called the Cheers of Yoga, where everyone knows your name. Lasting friendships have been made here, and our wellness is improved not only by the practice of yoga but also by the friendships and community connections made at Mantra Yoga.
Today at Mantra, our connection, our social interaction, and our ability to connect within our community have been increased for the better.
Our software has allowed us to connect with our unique Freind feature, which lets us invite friends to join us in class, see which of our friends is already attending class, and allows us to gift classes and passes to our friends all within our app.
One thing it lacked was the ability to chat with our friends, create group messages, and send and receive media (ex: images). Imagine creating your own group of friends to check in, share, and motivate each other. Sounds a little like Facebook, but unlike Facebook, there is no crap, no negative or divisive content, or ads to purchase some trinket you never thought you needed. Instead, our app is all about our community and how you can connect with each other, meet at the studio in person and do something truly healthy to improve your life. All within a group of like-minded friends and neighbors. Oh, yeah, you can also book all our services, purchase passes, and follow our newsfeed too, all within the Mantra Yoga app. Pretty cool, right? We think so :)
Here's a quick video showing you how to enjoy the new Chat with Friends feature in the app or on your desktop.
If you haven't already downloaded our app, what have you been waiting for? Get it now by searching your app store for the FitDegree mobile app, followed by a quick search for Mantra Yoga within it. That's it easy, peasy. Now everything you need is just a couple tabs away ;)
Here's to making new friends and living a longer, healthy life for it.
xo - Marlena