Take Up A Hobby For Good Mental Health
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We all know that hobbies are fun and can provide an engaging activity for our leisure time. But did you also know that they can be good for your mental health? Let’s learn some of the benefits of having a hobby and which hobbies can improve your mental health.
The Benefits Of A Hobby
● How Hobbies Improve Mental Health
Engaging in a hobby can help those who suffer from depression or are recovering from an addiction. That’s because hobbies help you regain a sense of control, provide a feeling of accomplishment, and can help you find purpose and meaning in your life. Additionally, arts and crafts can help increase confidence while helping build and maintain healthy relationships with people who share a similar interest.
● Hobbies Prevent Boredom
That’s good news for everyone. While some boredom can be beneficial, too much time on your hands can lead to negative self-talk, depression and even relapse for people in recovery.
● Stress Relief
A recent study showed that hobbies reduce stress just as well as exercise. Participants were also less sad while engaging in these activities. It didn’t matter what hobby they did as long as it was one they enjoyed.
● It Promotes “Flow”
According to Very Well Mind, flow happens when you are so engaged in an activity, you get lost in it. Flow provides a feeling of serenity and personal control. The experience can enhance your performance in a variety of and can benefit your mental health.
● Hobbies Can Help Your Social Life
Psychology Today lists “foster new social connections” and “make you interesting” as two more benefits of having a hobby. It not only improves your social life, it can bring you interesting and creative opportunities for personal and professional development.
Great Hobbies That Improve Your Life
Now that you know some of the benefits of hobbies, let’s see which ones can boost your mental health the most.
Learning To Play An Instrument
Learning to play a musical instrument may be one of your best options. That’s because it can increase your memory, teach you perseverance, and fosters your creative self-expression. Certain instruments can even improve your posture or your lung capacity and health (woodwinds). Learn more benefits of a studying a musical instrument at Effective Music Teaching.
Cooking
Cooking is a great endeavor that everyone needs. In-person cooking classes help you socialize and provide a fun activity to put on your to-do list. With an array of YouTube videos available, you can cook what you learned in class at home with a little audio-visual guidance.
While any cooking class will help, taking a class in healthy cooking can be an important way to build good mental health. For example, fatty fish like salmon is rich in omega-3s, a great fatty acid for boosting your brain. Find a cooking class that focuses on fish, vegetables or other healthy eating options.
Drawing
While we all know that drawing can help us develop our ability to creatively express ourselves, it has other mental health benefits as well. According to this post from Good Relaxation, drawing can:
● Improve your memory.
● Help you develop critical thinking skills and problem-solving abilities.
● Can increase positive emotions as well as releasing hidden emotions necessary for recovery.
Sewing
We don’t often think of sewing as benefitting our brain, but it can enhance creative thinking and may even be linked to a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s, according to PositiveMed.com. That creative thinking ability improves your brain’s ability to grow new brain cells.
Here are nine more hobbies that have been shown to help with anxiety and depression from Care2.com.
As you can see, choosing the right hobby can improve your mental health and provides other benefits as well. Which hobby will you choose?
I agree. These hobbies takes the stress out of our minds. Stress is one of the leading causes of mental disorders.
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