What hobbies of yours have benefited your mental health the most?

[Bearthewear]

I would say walking , always feel better after a walk.

Horse riding.

However it hurts your bank balance a lot.

Martial arts, without a doubt.

Cross-stitch, and animal crossing-

Kindness rocks. The painting is great for mindfulness and the hiding/gifting is a lovely low cost way to give something back to the community.

Knitting. Something about it makes me feel less fidget-y, and knitting while watching tv is very soothing. I can see the thing I'm making actually taking shape, which is a nice change to most of my work, which is very intangible. Plus, people on ravelry are really, really nice.

Gardening (including lots of hard graft).

And crochet.

I quite enjoy adult colouring books and find colouring while listening to some music or a podcast a good anxiety reliever

Crochet, knitting, cross stitch, colouring books for grown ups - all create something and I find it relaxing, clears my head after busy or stressful days

Gardening!!

Horse riding for sure. Just having pony cuddles if the weather is too bad, is good enough.

Jigsaws and reading. Puzzles online, such as Peak. Colouring in .

Cooking and baking. I'm not usually a creative person and I don't work in a creative field so it's very satisfying and relaxing for me to make something and then enjoy eating it (usually!)

Prior to lockdown, choir.

During lockdown, music (learning to play and produce music) and duolingo.

I like social activities like group dance classes (swing/Lindy hop/salsa etc) and am dram. Language classes are cool too. I like taking courses and things too so in past years have signed up to community college courses like creative writing, counselling and listening skills etc

Don’t want to big myself up but compared to a lot of people I know in their 30s like me, I’ve got a wide and diverse friendship circle and have weirdly managed to be quite popular as an adult precisely because I’ve gone for the more social hobbies that get me out of the house and working on some sort of team project (I.e an am-dram play or dance competition/display, foreign language holiday etc). It’s a great way to bond.

DuoLingo and learning other languages- it's great distraction from negative thoughts.

Gardening, I always scoffed at the suggestion because I imagined it being for OAPs. However since buying our forever home on 1.5 acres that's basically been left to its own devices for the last few years, I have found it so rewarding. From the hard graft pulling out years of thick weeds to sowing plants from seed and watching them flourish in the flowering periods. I love it, my bank balance does not! 🤣

Walking. Definitely. A day that includes a good walk is a good day. A day that includes a walk without a moaning 11yo is a BRILLIANT day.

Crafts. Any crafts really. Just something to make that doesn't take too much thought but I'm achieving something. Crochet, knitting, cross stitch, painting, anything.

Gardening and playing Animal Crossing on the Switch.

Singing in a choir. Which is a bit of a bugger as it’s been illegal this whole time when I’ve needed it. It’s unparalleled though.

Rugby, well its more than a hobby, its a job, but I enjoy everything associated with it and I find when I’m playing/training etc I’m generally at my calmest and I’m just me, I’m not worried, anxious etc.

Oh, Brownies!! I am snowy owl and I love it!! I get to do fun stuff where I play games and make easy crafts, and people think I'm really selfless to volunteer for this every week. I genuinely have so much fun playing at Brownies, and can't wait for us to be allowed to do all the exciting things we would normally do. Day trips, sleepovers, campfires, etc. Zoom is ok, but it's really not the same.

Walking. I'm lucky enough to live in a rural area where it's easy to get out every weekend into ancient countryside with medieval churches, village greens, water meadows, windmills etc

Adult ballet. I so wanted to do ballet as a child but my mother said it would be a waste of money as I was a clumsy oaf. (I was to be fair.)

When my daughter started having zoom ballet in lockdown her teacher invited me to join the adult beginners class. I would only do it with camera off at first. I love it. It's great exercise, a new skill and something I thought I'd never have the chance to do. It makes me so happy. I'm still an oaf though!

Wine tasting 🍷

Running. Has been my saviour over the last year.

Running. Started in my 40s. Never would’ve thought it!