5 Calming Hobbies To Try Sooner Than Later

Day 14 of the 30 Day Writing Challenge

I am always saying how important I think it is for people to have hobbies. Hobbies have really allowed me to get to know myself, to get out of my head space, to practice mindfulness, and to just generally unwind and relax. For this reason, I think they are a great form of self care. So today I want to share with you 5 hobbies that you can try that are calming.

Hobbies are also proven to lead to increases of wellbeing (such as reduced stress hormones) that last well into the next day. This ultimately leads to a greater overall wellbeing mentally and physically. So why not indulge in a hobby? I don’t see any good reason why not to.

Knit or Crochet

There is something about fibre craft that is very soothing. Working with the colours, the textures of various yarns, is a sensory experience that is very calming. The repetitive motion of creating stitches is also relaxing, and once you are more advanced, following patterns is also a great way to practice mindfulness as you need to pay attention to the instructions, and what your hands are doing. Plus, it’s rewarding as in the end; you have created something beautiful. Also, this doesn’t need to be an expensive hobby. You can make a hat or scarf for fifteen dollars or less.

Drawing

Now, don’t say you can’t draw. Anyone can draw. Your skills may rusty since grade school, but you can draw. And you don’t much more than sketchbook and some good drawing pencils. Youtube has lots of guided drawing videos, so you can learn skills from there, and just enjoy the process. Again, working with line and colour can be very soothing. Plus, in the end, you can collect your pieces or even frame them and give them again or hang in your home. Having a body of work that you have created can be very rewarding.

Yoga

Yoga is definitely for anyone. Anyone can practice yoga. Old, young, various weights and body types–it doesn’t matter when it comes to yoga. Practices can be simple and focus more on breath and relaxation or can be more intense and serve as a form of exercise working your core and legs as well as including the breath work and relaxation. However you decide to practice yoga, it will be soothing as yoga is a mind and body practice. It’s a great activity hobby in my opinion, and one you can practice at home as there are tons of yoga videos on Youtube. I’d start with Yoga with Adrienne.

Scrapbooking

This one isn’t for me, but scrapbooking can be very relaxing and is a great way to store photographs. Finding the photos to include, deciding on a theme, choosing the accent pieces, all of this requires your mind to be focused on a task that is outside of yourself and your problems. Working with the various colours and details can be very soothing as well. If you’ve ever noticed how involved a child can be become in a cut and paste and colouring activity, how proud they are of their work, you can experience and reap the same benefits. Just on a adult level. Honestly, why do we stop playing?

Origami

Now this is one hobby I’ve always wanted to try but never really got around to. I have learned that is actually easier than we think, given the end product, but it’s now easier than ever to learn with Youtube and how to tutorials thanks to the internet. And this is low cost too, you can use any paper really though of course, you can always buy high end patterned paper as well. Folding the paper, working with those colours, is soothing and a great way to pratice mindfulness. This is actually something I want to try myself sooner rather than later!

Final thoughts

I can’t imagine my life without hobbies. I really have experienced a great deal of benefits from taking the time to enjoy my hobbies and they are a huge part of my self care. Hopefully you already some hobbies, but maybe one the ideas here will jump out at you if you are looking for a new one.

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