This was something of a revelation—how much the individual psychological benefits of physical activity rely on our social nature. How so much of the joy of movement is actually the joy of connection.

Roy Baumeister, a world-renowned social psychologist, wrote similarly about the need to belong—about our fundamental and innate need to form interpersonal relationships, to maintain social bonds, to be part of a shared community.

born from comparisons we make within our particular level of prosperity or success, where everyone is living in more or less equal comfort. Sociologists refer to ‘reference group theory’: the idea that in forming our self-identity, we compare ourselves to those in our peer group. Our cognitions, perceptions, attitudes and conceptions of ourselves a