Taking up a Hobby That Can Improve Your Mental Health
Having a hobby is important, and it’s something that in itself that is good for your mental health. Taking care of your own mental health is important, especially when you’ve got so many other stresses and anxieties stemming from your working week and other commitments. That being said, it’s not always easy to do or even how to know what you can do for yourself.
Suppose you haven’t got any hobbies or similar prospects on the horizon. In that case, it might benefit you to do some research into which hobbies are famously beneficial for your mental wellbeing and see if you’d be interested in taking them up. Not only could this be a good opportunity to look after yourself, but it could also get you involved in something new that will provide you with hours of enjoyment.
Consider Taking up Gardening
If you’re lucky enough to have your own garden space, maybe it’s time to make the most of it. While you might do so in the sense of putting your feet up and reading a book there or maybe firing up the odd barbecue, the space itself and its potential might be going to waste. You can change all of that by perhaps seeing what the hobby of gardening can offer you.
photo Fluteflute via wikimedia commons
Gardening has many benefits that might be considered therapeutic, with some people reporting reduced stress and improved mood. It can also be rewarding due to how you will get to see your garden’s progress from unused space into a much more impressive area that you can take pride in and feel responsible for. You can take this a step further by perhaps introducing a greenhouse to your garden as well to care for crops and plants outside of their season.
Walking and Exploring
Depending on where you live or what kind of weather you regularly experience, this might be something that could land anywhere on the spectrum of how realistic it is. However, if you’re looking to benefit your physical and mental health, you could do a lot worse than an activity that takes you outside to green spaces while giving you plenty of exercise.
If this is something that doesn’t immediately appeal to you, that might be because it’s something that you don’t have much experience with and haven’t really tried – you might see walking as more of an inconvenience that you only really engage with when it’s absolutely necessary. Walking in itself can be a massively rewarding experience that provides you a pleasant sense of calm, especially when it takes you to some scenic locales.
You could live in an area for years on end and not be aware of the green spaces surrounding you. It might even be that you’ve been aware but just never visited them out of a lack of interest. If you’re someone who spends a lot of time in urban places, you might be unaware of the positive effect relaxing in a natural space can have on you.
Author: Carol Trehearn
photo courtesy Streetstrider
