5 Indoor Winter Hobbies for Mental Wellbeing |

The days are cold and dark, and the holidays are over. This season can bring a host of mental health challenges. Loneliness and isolation can set in as the gatherings with friends and families thin out. Many feel guilty for giving up New Year’s resolutions. And others suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which means the low light and frigid weather bring on depression and anxiety. Moreover, it’s more difficult to be outside or be active.

Winter Activities Indoor

That’s why winter is the perfect time to explore new hobbies and activities that will bring calm and joy into your life. This collection of 5 indoor winter hobbies focuses on activities that help bring mindfulness, lower stress, cultivate happiness, and strengthen bonds. Finally, each of these activities involve working with your hands, an essential part of an increasingly digital world, keeping us grounded and connected to those around us.

Knitting or Crocheting

One hobby perfect for winter is knitting or crocheting. Not only will developing your skills with a hook or needles help you relax and de-stress, but it will also yield the perfect clothing and accessories for the weather. The repetitive, rhythmic motion helps calm anxiety and helps people cope with everything from deep personal loss to a bad day at the office. Knitting and crocheting can help build connections as you share your creations with those around you. Because knitting and crocheting keeps your hands busy, this hobby is particularly helpful for those working to overcome addictive behaviors, replace bad coping strategies, or need to manage their weight. Research shows that knitting or crocheting lowers blood pressure and the stress hormone, cortisol. Find a tutorial online or join a club and find new friends with your new hobby.

Drawing or Painting

Whether or not you see yourself as an artist, painting or sketching brings a range of benefits. Art therapy has long been used as a way to draw out emotions and memories, cope with trauma or loss, and approach life with a more positive attitude. Here are some reasons you should try art this winter:

The focus and observation necessary for making a piece of art both lengthens attention spans and helps you practice mindfulness.
Creating art both activates the reward center of our brains and lowers cortisol in our blood. This makes it a great way to de-stress and a perfect hobby for those trying to give up a bad habit or behavior.
This creative outlet is also associated with cultivating a more positive outlook on life and reducing negative thoughts and emotions.

For those who find sketching or painting intimidating, start with an adult coloring book, a paint-by-number, or take a class for beginners.

Jigsaw Puzzles

An individual or group project, putting together a jigsaw puzzle is great for your brain. It develops visuospatial brain power, improves short-term memory, and strengthens problem solving. Jigsaw puzzles also promote mental health, letting you slow down and unplug from screens and the constant barrage of distractions. Many families connect and bond as they gather around the puzzle board rather than the TV screen. Putting together a jigsaw puzzle also gives a sense of accomplishment; each piece that you place gives you visual evidence of progress toward a goal. Start with a smaller puzzle with words or plenty of color variation before taking on challenges like a mandala puzzle.

Cooking

A homecooked meal is usually healthier than going out to eat or buying something already prepared. However, the process of meal planning, shopping, prepping, and cleaning up can be daunting and time-consuming. For some, cooking is a natural way to decompress after a long day, and they get both joy and satisfaction from feeding their loved ones healthy, delicious meals. Wherever you land on the spectrum, consider giving cooking a try to help you find greater peace and calm during the long winter evenings.

Take cooking off your chore list and try to approach it with an attitude of appreciating the flavors, textures, and aromas. This will allow you to cook mindfully, freeing your mind of clutter. You can expand your creativity, even when making simple dishes. Additionally, build confidence and a sense of achievement every time you successfully make a dish. Cooking brings people together, whether it’s sharing a meal with those around you or passing along a great recipe to friends and family.

Learning or Playing an Instrument

Music has undeniable benefits for mental health and wellbeing, with evidence that it has been used in healing therapies since the Middle Ages. Listening to music can bring peace and calm to an anxious mind, it can keep our minds young and active, and it can help people cope with a broad range of life experiences and illnesses.

This winter, take your love and appreciation of music to the next level by learning to play an instrument. Playing a musical instrument can reduce feelings of depression and sadness. It helps maintain brain elasticity and both mental and physical dexterity. Some research points to playing an instrument having a greater benefit on mental wellbeing than other hobbies like doing a puzzle, reading a magazine, or clay sculpting. You don’t need to be the next viral pop star to benefit from this calming and rejuvenating activity.

Take on the winter blues this season and begin a new indoor hobby. You can find greater contentment, less stress, and a strengthened mind.