Sure, hobbies are a fun thing to do every now and then. But what if I told you that your hobbies help you feel better. Want to know how? Keep reading to find out:

• 10 Hobbies That Are Good for Mental Health
• 3 Tips to Boost Your Mental Health
• A Bonus Tip!
• And much more

10 Hobbies That Are Good for Mental Health

1. Meditation

Meditation is a wonderful hobby that can help you stay calm and collected during tougher times. 

Consistently practicing meditation is helpful in many other ways as well:

• Lower Blood Pressure: Studies show that consistent meditation has been linked to lower blood pressure in those who practice it. This effect was also seen in people with high blood pressure (hypertension). If it can work for them, it can work for you. 
• Memory Gains: Meditation is also known to improve your memory. The process of clearing your mind helps you focus and remember better. Also, the act of meditation can fight the effects of stress on memory. 
• Better Sleep Quality: Meditation can significantly improve sleep quality, especially for those with sleep issues. Additionally, you can try our sleep therapy for even better rest.

2. Gardening

Whether you live in the city or the countryside, getting familiar with nature through gardening is a unique experience. You’re contributing to making the planet greener while taking care of your mental health in the process. 

So how is it helping you?

• Improves Your Diet: You get to grow your fruits and vegetables, leading to an overall more balanced and nutritious diet.
• Exercise: Working in the dirt, potting plants, and shoveling fertilizer is not easy. It requires a good amount of muscle power and energy. So, you end up exercising without knowing it! 
• Intervention: Gardening is also used as an actual mental health intervention to help people with significant mental health problems. This can include anxiety and depression. 

3. Music

Be it playing music or listening to it, being involved with music has multiple benefits for your mental as well as physical health. 

Learning how to play a musical instrument is linked with the following benefits:

• Better Social Communication – Interacting with people of similar interests helps in developing social skills
• Decreased Anxiety and Depression – Research has also found that learning an instrument helps reduce anxiety and agitation
• Helps with Stress – Music also helps with stress-related concerns on the body such as tightened muscles.

4. Art

Like music, art is a method of expression that is loved by many. Art, in the form of writing, dancing, poetry, or painting, has had a huge influence on the mental health community. 

Art has been used as a form of therapy for multiple illnesses such as psychosis or schizophrenia. Creative art therapy is a wonderful way of increasing self-expression, helping with coping with your emotions, and increasing self-esteem in the process. 

Expressing yourself through art also helps you combat negative thoughts, often associated with depression and/or anxiety. 

5. Cooking

Cooking for yourself and others often leaves you with showering compliments. Apart from the delicious foods and never-ending praises, cooking yourself can also impact your mental health in many ways.

For instance, cooking helps you increase your social connection. Everyone loves to eat together, and cooking is a great way to bring people together. Also, getting a recipe you’ve been trying to get right can do a lot for your self-esteem.

6. Journaling

A lot of people who don’t use medication utilize journals as a way to teach, advise, and treat mental illness. 

Journalling allows people to work through difficult emotions, ideas, and experiences by writing them down and letting them go. This way, you reduce their influence on you by writing these things down.

Journalling can help you deal with overthinking and anxiety. Your anxious thoughts are out in the open, you put them into words and then put them away instead of letting them become an obsession.

7. Volunteering

People who volunteer benefit physically and mentally. A study showed that adults aged 60 and over who volunteer, say they are more busy than those who don’t volunteer.

Volunteering brings people together and helps them form a support system based on shared interests. Doing something together is one of the best ways to make new friends and build bonds with people you already know.

8. Exercising

We all know that exercise is amazing for our body. But it does so much more than work our muscles and build our bodies. 

Exercise has been found to enhance cognitive performance. It also works on lowering depression, anxiety, and a low mood, exercise also benefits mental health. Low self-esteem and social isolation are among the symptoms that exercise has been shown to help.

9. Playing Sports

Playing any type of sport is fun and it fosters a sense of community when you cheer for your favorite team. Be it basketball, cricket, rugby, football, or any other, sport has had a long list of physical and mental benefits. 

Taking part in sports has been shown to improve mental and social health. Also, sports can help you deal with stress. 

Endorphins are chemicals in your brain that make you feel good when you’re in pain or stressed. It also lowers the amounts of adrenaline and cortisol, which are stress chemicals.

10. Solving Puzzles 

Putting together puzzles can be extremely beneficial for your mental health and happiness. Puzzles are a fun and interesting way to improve your health. 

Studies show that solving puzzles is a great way to improve mental health. So much so that studies are being conducted on how well-solving puzzles can help people’s depression, anxiety, and negative thoughts improve!

3 Tips to Boost Your Mental Health

1. Exercise Regularly

Making changes to your lifestyle could be an inexpensive way to improve your health and quality of life at a time when health issues and obesity are becoming more and more common. 

Making changes to your lifestyle can be especially important for people with serious mental illness.

It has been shown that aerobic workouts like jogging, swimming, riding, walking, gardening, and dancing can help lower anxiety and depression. So be sure to get your daily 20-30 minutes of exercise in any form. 

2. Sleep Well

Sleep plays a major role in regulating your mental health. When we don’t get enough sleep, it can be hard to deal with even small sources of stress, and it can affect how we see the world.

Be sure to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep every day.

3. Connect with Friends and Family

People who are more connected to their community, family, or friends are happy, healthier, and live longer. They also have fewer mental health problems than people who are not as connected. 

Social connectedness also helps protect us against major illnesses such as heart disease. So, don’t forget to reach out to a friend or loved one every once in a while. 

Bonus Tip! Practice Mindfulness 

Being mindful is a big part of getting better mental health in general. Being mindful helps increase your awareness about what is happening around you right now. 

The increased awareness helps give you control to figure out how your thoughts work. It lets you take a mental break and look at those trends. 

Practicing mindfulness makes it easy to spot early signs of stress, worry, or even depression.

Conclusion

Hobbies can greatly improve mental health by lowering worry, anxiety, and sadness, making new friends, and making it easier to think and remember things.

In addition to regular exercise, enough sleep, and strong social connections, living a healthy life also improves mental health. 

By doing these things and following these tips every day, people can make a healthy, balanced routine that makes them feel good all around.