Three Hobbies That Are Actually Good For Your Health
The seasons can have a profound effect on our moods, as the reduced temperature and sunlight hours of winter see us much happier huddling under duvets than anything else. But with the sun coming back out, many of us may be rediscovering that itch to get active – without any specific way to scratch that itch.
Choosing a hobby can be a difficult thing, especially if you are anxious to give time to a discipline that doesn’t give much back. But hobbies can be much more than a way to pass the time – and some can even help you improve your health. Here are three hobbies that could well be good for you.
Cooking
The culinary arts are a vastly underserved medium for creative expression, an activity often left to the professionals, the local takeaway, the microwave or to the last minute. But cooking at home can be so much more than a means to an end, and the results can even have a positive impact on your diet.
Often, the biggest roadblock to starting out learning to cook isn’t finding the time; it’s having the right equipment. A good chef’s knife and a choice of induction pan sets can make all the difference when it comes to enthusiasm for cooking, and can improve the end result no end. The more you cook at home, the more you’ll want to cook at home – and all the better your diet will be for it.
Mountain Biking
There are many thrill-seeking activities out there for the more adrenaline-fuelled of us – but many of them are expensive, impractical or both. Thankfully, there are some excellent ways to get your fix with a relatively low cost of entry, and fantastic health benefits as part of the deal.
Mountain biking is a thoroughly engaging sport for people of all experience and fitness levels. Trails can be found across the UK, from simple bicycle routes to tougher mountain trails in Wales and Scotland. A little investment in a good second-hand mountain bike can get you well on your way to experiencing the best of the British countryside, making new friends and engaging in active exercise to boot.
Electronics
Gone may be the days of father and son building radio kits together on a rainy weekend, but interest in hobby electronics has retained a cult following ever since the advent of sophisticated ‘disposable tech’; indeed, grassroots tinkerers have successfully lobbied for a change to right to repair laws, enabling people to fix their own appliances at home and ensuring the repair-friendly construction of future gadgets.
Electronics may seem a left-field choice for this list. It is also true inhaling a little too much solder fumes can be a little detrimental to your health… However, learning to test and build simple circuits is a great way to build knowledge and patience.
Much like other ‘brainy’ pastimes like programming, or hands-on hobbies like carpentry and knitting, building circuits can improve your mental health. Making things is a form of practical mindfulness, a way for you to keep your mind wandering from the present moment, and help you process your thinking in a healthy way.
