There are three intramural sports and recreation facilities on MSU’s campus that house swimming pools, running tracks, weight training equipment, racketball and squash courts and much, much more. And the membership fees for faculty are a steal…how can you afford not to exercise? There are group exercise classes offered to fit anyone’s taste, from aerobics to zumba…we’re not going to tell you what zumba is, you’ll have to check it out for yourself! If tennis is your game, then the MSU Tennis Center is a full-service tennis center only minutes away.

Or perhaps you would prefer some pampering after your workout…the University Club Fitness Center and Spa may be right for you.

The other side of calories out is calories in, and paying attention to nutrition does a body good. MSU’s health promotion program, Health4U, offers a variety of nutrition classes and seminars, resources and services…there even is a delicious and healthy cooking lesson offered each month with a real chef!

Don’t like to go to the doctor’s? No problem. Sign up for the Healthy E-mail Service and have weekly patient-oriented, evidence-based medical information from high-quality studies on numerous and varied topics delivered right to your computer. This service may not keep you from needing to visit your doctor, but you will be a more informed patient.

A mind is a terrible thing to waste, so the saying goes. And boy is it, especially for an academic! The MSU Employee Assistance Program offers free, confidential short-term counseling and referral services for MSU employees and members of their immediate family. The Private Practice Database is a useful resource that allows one to search private mental health care providers in the surrounding region and it will let you know which providers are currently accepting patients and more importantly, which accept your health insurance…now that’s a service!

Maybe that emptiness that you may be feeling inside isn’t a hungry stomach? If you are seeking a faith organization, then the below links offer lists of various local ministries, mosques, synagogues and temples.

• City of East Lansing list of places of worship
• MSU Office for International Students and Scholars list of places of worship

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance may occasionally require some assistance on the family side of things. The MSU Family Resource Center is a great resource for families. The FRC offers help in many areas including finding and choosing child care, emergency backup childcare, eldercare referral services, and much, much more. An invaluable little tool is their Family Helpers List of MSU students who offer their services in a variety of areas including babysitting, house & pet sitting, tutoring, running errands, swimming lessons, housekeeping/cleaning (a personal favorite) and lawn care.

The FRC also manages email list servs for various MSU communities interested in communicating on a particular topic. Communities include parents, eldercare, breastfeeding, adoption, and special need kids.

If you can’t find something fun to do at MSU most any day of the week, then you aren’t trying. The below links offer tons of ideas…but be sure to still make time for your work.

• Things to do at MSU- An activity guide
• New and Early Career Faculty Social Gatherings This is a monthly networking social event hosted by Faculty and Organizational Development in various exciting locales around campus; the Provost hosts similar events -- First Thursdays for Faculty – in the LaSalle Room at the Stadium.
• MSU Athletic Events Calendar
• The Wharton Center
• Music, music, and more music!
• Be sure to take another look at the events under Finding Collaborators- many of them are social events!

You are a busy academic and are most likely working long hours and may even be stressing out about your third year review or getting tenure.

We won't waste your time with tempting language about enjoying the quiet simplicity of a picnic overlooking Lake Lansing or spending an afternoon looking for wildflowers, hiking nature trails or canoeing along the scenic banks of the Grand River. We know that your time is valuable and that you wouldn’t even think of participating in such pedestrian activities such as a baseball, soccer, or volleyball game, let alone biking, skiing, swimming, and tobogganing. So, get back to work and stop thinking about taking a camel ride at the Potter Park Zoo!

But, just in case you would consider some outdoor fun, check out the links below and find out what some fabulous mid-Michigan parks have for you (and your dog) to enjoy!

• On Campus

  If you have just an hour to get away – a mid-afternoon power break?-- some opportunities are just outside your office window. These include:

  Canoe Rental on the Red Cedar
  Canoes are available from the MSU Bikes store, which is just off Farm Lane, between Bessey and the river. The season begins in mid-April.

  MSU Natural Areas
  The University has an array of protected areas, many with trails. Casual visitors are welcome to wander through them. Sanford Natural Area, along the Red Cedar between Bogue and Hagedorn, is a particularly relaxing forested area. If your interests tend more toward more formal plantings, the University has the Horticultural demonstration gardens, between Wilson and Service Roads, off Bogue. There’s a children’s garden, an arboretum, and more. By the MSU library, off Circle Road, the Beal Botanical Garden offers a dizzying array of plants.

  River Trail
  The River Trail isn’t officially on campus, but begins just off it. It’s 13 miles of paved trail, good for biking or walking, that takes you on a relaxed journey through urban and natural pleasures.

• Off Campus

  Lansing, East Lansing, Okemos, Ingham County Parks
  All our local governments like to boast about their parks – and have parks worth boasting about. For an index of their offerings, click on the links above. The Ingham County parks listing is particularly comprehensive, listing well over 100 area parks here. Below is our more partial listing of some of our particular favorites – with a special focus on those that are dog-friendly. Descriptions are generally from park Web sites.

  Lake Lansing Park North
  Over 400 acres of natural recreation area, woods and trails, Lake Lansing Park North is a bounty of year-round outdoor activity. A variety of ecosystems harbor mature oak and maple woodlands, marshlands, pine plantations and transitional field areas.
  Lake Lansing North offers: picnic grounds and shelters, a softball diamond, hiking trails and boardwalk, sand volleyball courts, cross country skiing (equipment rental available), a boat launch nearby, a winter warming lodge, playgrounds, and a basketball court.

  Lake Lansing Park South
  Once a popular amusement park, Lake Lansing Park South is located on Lake Lansing, the largest body of water within 30 miles of Lansing. The 30 acre-site includes a sandy beach bordered by four acres of lush green grass.

  Hawk Island Park
  Hawk Island offers rowboat and pedal boat rental, a swimming beach, a state-of-the-art Splash Pad, picnic areas and shelters, sand volleyball, horseshoes, paved accessible walkways (1.5 miles) and fishing docks and a concession stand. A community-built playground opened in 2004. In the winter, bring the family and enjoy sledding down the big hill or the little folk’s hill. Then warm up with a cup of hot chocolate in the warming lodge.

  Burchfield Park
  With 540 acres of scenic woods, trails and beach, Burchfield Park is Ingham County's largest park. Ribboned throughout by the Grand River, this outdoor haven harbors some of the best bank and boat fishing available in Ingham County The stocked fishing pond offers anglers a chance to hook trout. Burchfield Park offers opportunities to enjoy the best of Michigan’s winter! Experience the snow-covered Michigan countryside on miles of groomed cross-country ski trails. Ski equipment rental is available. Try their ski-skating trails. Climb onto one of the park’s toboggans and zip down a 700 ft. toboggan run. Grab your sled for a ride down the sledding hill. And don’t forget to relax and warm up with a cup of hot chocolate in the warming house.

  Potter Park Zoo
  Featured exhibits of the Potter Park Zoo include: Wings from Down Under, The Barnyard, Bird & Reptile House, Clownfish, Corals & Conservation, Feline/Primate House, Wolf Woods, Duck Pond, Pony Rides, and Camel Rides.

  Sleepy Hollow State Park
  Sleepy Hollow State Park contains over 2,600 acres including a river winding its way through the woods, fields and trails and Lake Ovid in the heart of the park. In addition to hiking, swimming, and cross-country skiing, Sleepy Hollow State Park offers horse riding trails, mountain biking trails, snowmobiling, and hunting.

• Dog-Friendly

  Soldan Dog Park
  The Soldan Dog Park is located just north of Hawk Island County Park in Scott Woods Park (a City of Lansing park). 

  Northern Tail Dog Park
  The Northern Tail Dog Park is a two-acre, double-gated, fenced, off-leash park featuring a doggy station, shade trees and more. It is located just north of the East Lansing Softball Complex along the Northern Tier Trail.

  Dogs are also welcome at the following Ingham County Parks:

  At Burchfield Park ~ you may take your dogs on the trails up to Deer Run Shelter.  Dogs are allowed in canoes; however, they are counted as a person.  You must keep your pet out of the pond and off the beach.

  At McNamara Canoe Landing ~ you may take your dogs on the trails up to the cutoff.  Dogs are allowed in the pond, on a 6' or less leash, at this area.

  At Lake Lansing Park North ~ you may take your dogs on the trails throughout the year, however, no dogs are allowed on the ski trails during the winter when the ski trails are open. 

• Farther Afield

  If you have exhausted all that our immediate area’s parks have to offer, may we suggest that you check out the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to learn about Michigan’s wonderful camping, hunting, trapping, fishing and boating opportunities.

  Now that you are “stuck living in the Midwest,” we will let you in on a little known secret…Michigan is an incredible place to live!  We work hard and play hard in Michigan!

We would be remiss if we didn’t make a plug to get involved in greening up our lovely campus. Here’s how you can make a difference. Be Spartan Green works to green university operations, and the Office of Campus Sustainability brings people from across campus – and beyond – together to work on sustainability.