I just came back from dinner with a friend who I've kind of known for about three years. He is someone who lives in my neighborhood, and who I've run into numerous times, exchanging pleasantries on the street, at a café, at a restaurant, at the post office or in front of our residences. A few months ago, I ran into him again, and we struck up another lovely conversation. I thought to myself, enough of this polite small talk, there's only so much you can say about the weather or how good your latte is, and I had a good feeling about him. He seemed like someone who was open to meeting new people, so I told him that enough was enough, it would be really nice to actually sit down and get to know each other. He agreed.

This certainly wasn't an isolated incident for me. Two years ago, I was in Halifax lining up for the shuttle to get back to the airport, and I struck up a conversation with the woman in front of me. We talked all the way back to the airport, and even sat together at Tim Hortons until our flights were ready to leave. We found out that we both loved foreign films, and from there agreed that when we returned to Toronto we would go see a few movies together. One movie led to another movie, which led me to introduce her to some friends looking for another female to play on their co-ed soccer team.

The benefits of new friendships, after the jump...

But here is my favourite new friend story. I met this particular pal about nine years ago; let's call her Jane. I loved going to Jane for my haircuts. One year after meeting her, I called the hair salon to book an appointment with her only to find out that Jane had quit. Unfortunately, they would not provide information of where she had gone and needless to say, my hair went downhill from there.

Fast-forward two years: I am flipping through a NOW magazine and land on the classified section. My eyes wandered to one particular ad that said if you are looking for the hairstylist named Jane who worked at a former hair salon X, she is now working at hair salon Y. My jaw dropped, I couldn't believe it. I called instantly to book an appointment, and was reunited with Jane within a week. I figured right then and there that I really enjoyed my conversations with Jane, and part of me had really missed our talks. I decided that I could never let something like this happen again. Jane is no longer a hairstylist, but she is one of my closest friends to this day.

To extend your hand out in friendship can be a risk, and yes, it takes effort, but the rewards are invaluable. Relationships mirror who we are, the good and the bad. We can learn a lot about ourselves through our interactions with people. There is an art to developing new friendships. Apart from asking each other the typical stuff like where were you born?, where do you live?, what to do you do?, etc., you'll find that people have so much more to say, and everyone has an interesting and unique story to tell.

Don't get me wrong, long-term friendships bring a plethora of benefits, there's an acceptance, a comforting presence that you usually cannot get from a new friendship. There are times when all I want to do is be surrounded by familiarity, when I do not want to try, I just want to know I am loved no matter what I say or do, but it's far too easy for many of us to put a cap on friendships. We have our already established circle of friends and there is no roaming outside of that. If people only knew what they were missing -- adventure, new business opportunities, meeting potential love interests, new ideas, laughter -- you just never know where it is going to lead you.

Stop to think about new friendships from a non-selfish perspective too. What are you doing for that other person? You are providing this person with a sense of being wanted – they are important enough that you want to get to know them. I can't tell you how amazing I feel when there is someone out there who is making an effort to want to get to know me.

New friendships can be refreshing, especially if old friendships are weighing us down. Through our relationships, we can share our experiences, we can feel, and we can grow. Our connection to other human beings is part of our existence, and it keeps us alive.

Michelle Uy is a Certified Yoga Teacher and Owner of LoveActionYoga. She is Co-Creator of the Eat Well Feel Well Program, a yoga and nutrition program, and she is also certified to teach Yoga Thrive, a therapeutic yoga program for cancer survivors.