Struggling With Your Mental Health? Try a Hobby, Part Three!

You don’t have to be positive all the time. It’s perfectly okay to feel sad, angry, annoyed, frustrated, scared and anxious. Having feelings doesn’t make you a negative person. It makes you human

Lori Deschene

Third and final week on hobbies that can be really transforaminal relative to your Mental Health. If you thought Open Water Swimming was bonkers, read on for a glance at a few more hobbies that may have you scratching your head!

Creative Writing

They say that there is at least one good book in us all so, if you’re not JK Rowling, why not give it a go! As far as hobbies for mental health go, writing is a fantastic one. Writing stories, poetry, articles etc. can be enormously therapeutic. It’s something I Love to do, it’s why I Love writing my blog, something we’ll come onto in a wee while! If you don’t want to tackle a novel, try writing some poetry. Not sure where to start? Well, thankfully there are tons of websites out there that will give you a helping hand, one I found super useful was one done by the good old BBC, you can find it here.

Why is Creative Writing Good for Mental Health?

Perhaps not as well studies as some of the other hobbies here, there is data out there that would suggest it’s good for;

Giving you a creative outlet
Decreases anxiety, stress & symptoms of depression
Provides an alternative method of communication
Can be used as an escape into another world

How to Get Started

This may be the most budget friendly and easiest hobby to get started with because all you need is a pen and paper. I’ve already mentioned the websites for poetry however, try to just start by literally writing as many ideas down as you possible can no matter how crazy!

Keep a little notebook close by so you can jot down the odd sentence here or there, or a line for a poem, as soon as it comes into your head, then when you have time, you can piece it together into something bigger and better flowing.

Meditation/Yoga

If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time, you’ll know I have a passion for things like Yoga and Pilates so, you’ll be aware I’m already hooked! Now I know that every possible website that talks about ways of improving your mental health will mention Meditation & Yoga however, I still think It’s worth a mention here. Meditation doesn’t necessarily mean adopting the lotus position and chanting, there are lots and lots of ways to meditate, sometimes when I’m out on a walk in the depths of nature, I’ll stop and meditate for five or ten minutes.

What are the Benefits of Meditation & Yoga for Mental Health

Again, research and literature would suggest it’s useful for;

Helping you to slow down
Getting you to practice patience
Helping you to be mindful and in the present
Calming your nervous system
Clearing your head

How to Get Started

This could be as simple as following a YouTube video or just taking 5 minutes out of each day to meditate. Not sure how to meditate, it’s simple:

When you're feeling comfortable and centred, you can start meditating, preparation is a key step.

With your eyes closed, simply breathe in while saying “breathe in” in your head as you do. Then breathe out and say “breathe out”.

For the next 20 minutes or so, your aim is to focus on this circular breath and the simple words in your head as much as possible. And yes, it is as simple as that!

If you would rather be taught in person, there are beginner classes everywhere, which could also add the benefit of social connection.

Singing!

Most people enjoy singing along to their favourite songs despite whether they are actually good at it not, especially if you’re of Irish descent, I am living proof! I can tell you with absolute certainty that I am definitely not the next Beyonce.

But if I’m in the shower or cooking in the kitchen and one of my favourite tunes comes on, I will screech along to the best of my damn ability.

Now, obviously making it a hobby is a little more involved than singing in the shower but I have known people to join choirs that don’t require you have the best voice. Indeed, there is a website out there that encourages joining a bunch of people that can’t actually sing, it’s called; Tuneless Choir.

What are the Benefits of Singing for Mental Health

Another hobby that hasn’t much data behind it however, practitioners will tell you;

Gives you a sense of community when you are singing with other people
It helps with memory
It improves mood
It can help with grief
It improves speaking abilities in some people who find it difficult communicating
It releases endorphins
It can ease stress

How to Get Started

There are so many ways you can get involved with singing for a hobby.

You could join a choir, like the one I mentioned earlier. You could start a band, why not! You could even start a YouTube channel or TikTok. You could go to regular Karaoke nights or go to singing lessons or even just have a regular long drive in the car where you crank up the music and sing along!

Journaling

I’ve already mentioned creative writing, journaling is very different! Sometimes we don’t have anyone to talk to and even if we do, they don’t always have the capacity to, nor should they need to, listen to every little thing that’s bothering us. So, Journaling can be a really powerful tool to have somewhere to put all of that emotion, stress, anger and negativity and not constantly carry it around inside.

It's one of the reasons I LOVE writing this little blog, very often, like now, it can be a bit of a self-indulgence and why wouldn’t you want to indulge yourself every now and then!

What are the Benefits of Journaling for Mental Health

I couldn’t find any research relating to this however, common sense would suggest;

It enhances self-awareness
It can help relieves stress and anxiety
It offers a method of communicating if there’s no one to physically talk to
And actually, if you can turn it into a regular blog, the feedback can be a source of praise and recognition

How to Get Started

You don’t need a super fancy bullet journal and all of the pens if that’s too overwhelming. Simply go to the stationary aisle and pick out a notebook that makes you want to write in it and pick out one pen that calls out to you.

If you want to add to your Journal daily, it might be an idea to set an alarm to remind yourself to write in it every evening until it becomes a habit. Once journaling is something that you enjoy doing and has become part of your everyday, then you could move onto the fancy journals with cute pens and stickers and start upping your game with the illustrations, the world is your Journaling oyster!

So, here endeth my tour of hobbies. In conclusion, when considering hobbies for your Mental Health, it’s important to add some play to your life. Something that encourages you to carve out time for yourself and enjoy an activity without the pressure of being perfect at it!

If I’ve missed something you find really good for maintaining your mental health, let me know what hobbies you would add to the list.

What’s on this Week?