Discover the health benefits of having hobbies with Meri Sehat. Learn how leisure activities contribute to overall well-being.

Health Benefits Of Having Hobbies

Introduction

&ldquo;What&rsquo;s your favourite hobby?&rdquo;

The one question we dread being asked &ndash; be it with a prospective employer in an interview or with a beau. What do you tell them? cooking, baking, reading, gardening? I mean, that&rsquo;s what you must have learnt over the period of time to reply, to choose the best or the &ldquo;correct&rdquo; answer, fearful that nobody would approve of gaming or exercising as your hobbies.

But those asking you the question weren&rsquo;t doing it just for the sake of it. They wanted to get to know you as a person. And hobbies reveal a lot about a person than most people want to acknowledge. So, when you said you cook as a hobby, did you notice how you spell it out?

Did you feel even a tiny bit of excitement and enthusiasm talking about it? You&rsquo;ll meet people who do that; they bake and they prepare lavish table spreads simply because it makes them feel alive, you know. On the other hand, you&rsquo;ll also come across people quoting &ldquo;my favourite hobby is cooking&rdquo; in hope no one&rsquo;s going to get into the nitty-gritty.

The Covid-19 pandemic allowed a great insight into our lifestyles. The daily grind &ndash; school, work, family obligations &ndash; leave a majority of us with little energy to do anything else, anything that contributes to our alone-time. Especially anything that would not stress us out because we added yet another task to our hectic schedule. 
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In all honesty, post-pandemic, scrolling down Facebook/Instagram or &lsquo;Netflix and chill&rsquo; really isn&rsquo;t the sort of work-life balance you should want in your life. Sure, that way you&rsquo;ll know where everyone is at all times, what they&rsquo;re doing, and you&rsquo;ll be able to discuss the popular show that&rsquo;s streaming online with your colleagues. But it&rsquo;s not called unwinding or being productive with your leisure time. You&rsquo;re doing it because everyone else is doing it. The activity itself gives you no personal satisfaction and definitely no escape from the everyday mundane experiences.

But, guess what? The fact that the only time you think of a hobby is when mentioning it on your resume doesn&rsquo;t mean you can&rsquo;t choose one that you truly feel invested in. Starting right now. Think of it as a break with a purpose. If, at the end of the day, the activity gives you 5 minutes of peace and allows you to reconnect to yourself, well, congratulations! You&rsquo;ve got a hobby to boast about. 
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A hobby is anything that you do for your own self. You are not being paid to do it. At least, not at first. You can always branch out, though, and make your hobby into a full-time profession. For example, there are beauty bloggers, fashion editors, and even photographers who work full-time, doing what they love. And then there are entrepreneurs, too, working on ideas they feel passionate about, like making organic soaps. 
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But, to be precise, your hobby is something you like to do with your free time. Its sole purpose is to help you wind down. At the same time, it can help you connect with other people who share the same interest as you do. The best part about it is, nobody can dictate what you should or should not take up as a hobby. It&rsquo;s entirely your decision based on your interest. For example, it could be a creative, athletic or intellectual activity.

Living in this digital world, you are very fortunate to have reliable options to develop a hobby in this competitive world. From rock climbing to collecting silver spoons to listening to music to sewing to learning a new language, there&rsquo;s a whole plethora of activities for you to explore. You can be a housewife, a school-going teenager, or a corporate employee, developing hobbies will boost your mental and physical health. 
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Understanding the Health Benefits of Hobbies

Haven&rsquo;t you heard of &ldquo;A hobby a day keeps the doldrums away?&rdquo;

According to a study, a hobby markedly reduces the level of depression and, in some cases, it prevents depression, too<a href="#accordion">[1]</a>. One of the major symptoms of depression is anhedonia, i.e., a loss of interest or inability to feel pleasure. It&rsquo;s like things that once made you content are no longer fun. Incorporating hobbies in your routine actually prevents anhedonia.<a href="#accordion">[5]</a>

Some other advantages that your favourite pastime can provide include:<a href="#accordion">[2]</a> 
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<ol>
	<li>&nbsp;Improves Timekeeping: Having a hobby or regular activity helps you use your time more efficiently which, in turn, ensures you accomplish and achieve more. 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li>&nbsp;Enhances Memory: Board games (e.g., sudoku, crossword puzzles, and card games) are said to improve your cognitive function as well as challenge your mental ability. Even video games aid in the faster processing of visual information. 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li>&nbsp;Reduces Stress: Hobbies allow you to turn off the work mode and focus on doing things you enjoy; hence, it is a natural way to combat stress and relax. 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li>&nbsp;Sound Sleep: Your brain requires a peaceful sleep at night after working the entire day. Hobbies help in achieving a restful sleep. However, you need to be careful not to schedule them close to bedtime as this will keep you awake. 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li>&nbsp;Boosts Immunity: Hobbies are meant to help you stay active and alert. As a result, they enhance your immune system and prevent chronic illnesses, such as heart disease, diabetes, <a href="https://merisehat.pk/disease/arthritis">arthritis</a>, and some kinds of cancer. 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li>&nbsp;Decreases Mortality Rate: Hobbies increase your overall life satisfaction. One of the primary reasons that hobbies are important is that they help foster social connections. You can participate in group activities, the ones that you like obviously. This way you overcome feelings of loneliness and, thereby, lower your risks of death by nearly 50%.<a href="#accordion">[3]</a> 
	 
	&nbsp;</li>
</ol>

The most crucial point to remember is there&rsquo;s no hard and fast rule in selecting a hobby &ndash; or sticking to one even though you no longer feel happy doing it. You can have as many hobbies as you like, schedule them however suits you, and change them whenever you want to! After all, you&rsquo;re not Emmet following the instructions to a T to please any President Business (This one is for the LEGO movie fans). 
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Let&rsquo;s see what you can do: 
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<ul>
	<li>Think back to your childhood. Recall activities you enjoyed doing as a kid. Chances are you might still enjoy doing them as an adult. Maybe you loved sewing clothes for your doll, swimming, bike riding, solving maths riddles, or collecting stamps/coins. These are things you can pick up again as an adult &ndash; without feeling embarrassed about it. 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li>If you can&rsquo;t recall any special activity that kept you engaged and sparked joy, don&#39;t worry! It&rsquo;s time to go on a scavenger hunt. Hit the craft store, sports goods store, music emporium, a museum, a bookstore, etc. You can simply browse around and see what grabs your attention. 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li>One of the best hobbies is gardening. It&#39;s close to nature, which is therapeutic and helps to nurture your brain and physical health.<a href="#accordion">[4]</a>&nbsp;Again, you don&rsquo;t have to have gardening as a hobby; it&rsquo;s just an option to begin with as your mind and body adjusts to this new concept of taking a break during the day. 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li>It&rsquo;s alright to take inspiration from or discuss any difficulty you might encounter with an expert. However, never compare yourself to a professional when pursuing a hobby. 
	&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Inexpensive does not imply a lack of excitement, exploration, creativity, self-expression, or fulfilment. Inexpensive hobbies are easily available and provide excellent opportunities to interact with things that offer you delight. Some pocket-friendly hobbies are listed below: 
&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Discover new music</li>
	<li>Scrapbook important events</li>
	<li>Start knitting or crocheting</li>
	<li>Cook or bake</li>
	<li>Indulge in physical activity, like yoga, meditation, or aerobics</li>
	<li>Test your photography skills; good pictures can be taken from your phone</li>
	<li>Stargaze and learn to identify stars 
	&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Make good use of the internet. You can literally access everything in the world in just a click. You can read, watch videos, listen to podcasts or music or audio books, and connect. 
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Conclusion

A common excuse of not incorporating hobbies is lack of time. However, it is essential to devote time to hobbies that you enjoy. There are plenty of medical and scientific benefits of having a hobby. When you engage in an enjoyable activity, your brain produces chemical messengers, including dopamine. These feel-good hormones might then make you want to return to the pastime and become more motivated to do so. If you ever feel low or lack pleasure in your interest, always seek medical guidance from a therapist and indulge yourself in a hobby. 
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Key Takeaways

<ul>
	<li>Hobbies allow you to unwind from your daily problems. They also provide immense pleasure. Apart from that, this recreational pursuit is quite helpful to improve your health.</li>
	<li>Anhedonia is a term that defines loss of interest or inability to feel pleasure, like things that once made you feel content are no longer fun. Incorporating hobbies in your routine actually prevents anhedonia.</li>
	<li>When you engage in an enjoyable activity, your brain produces feel-good hormones, like dopamine.</li>
	<li>An inexpensive hobby does not imply a lack of excitement, exploration, creativity, self-expression, or fulfilment. Inexpensive hobbies are easily available and provide excellent opportunities to interact with things that offer you delight.</li>
	<li>Leisure time activities, such as social media scrolling and watching TV, damage eyesight. However, productive hobbies, from rock climbing to collecting silver spoons, have proved beneficial to human health. 
	&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

[1] Health benefits of hobbies. WebMD.

[2] Unexpected benefits of having a hobby. Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.

[3] Fushiki Y;Ohnishi H;Sakauchi F;Oura A;Mori M; Relationship of hobby activities with mortality and frailty among community-dwelling elderly adults: Results of a follow-up study in Japan. Journal of epidemiology.

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