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 emember
that stamp collection you had as a child that engrossed you for hours on end?
Or the sweaters you knit that distracted you through a difficult time in your
life? At any age, a hobby can take you out of your life for a while. It can
be invigorating, relaxing, educational, fun (or maybe, if you're lucky, a little
of everything). But hobbies are more than just ways to creatively pass the time—they're
also good for your health. In fact, hobbies and other leisure activities can
have many health benefits, psychologically and physically.
When you think about it, it makes sense. Scientists have long known the impact
a fulfilling relationship or stimulating job can have on a person's sense of
well-being and satisfaction with life, so it's not surprising that the same
could be true for how you fill your free time.
Hobbies for everyone
Hobbies can be activities for your body or your mind, things you can do on
your own or with others:
- Exercise for your body
Any physically active leisure pursuit is going to have positive health benefits:
regular exercise helps keep excess weight off, is great for the cardiovascular
system, helps prevent bone loss and contributes to an elevated sense of well-being.
But there's another benefit too: if time alone is what you need most, going
for a bike ride or a swim or a walk are great ways of making a temporary escape
and recharging your batteries; on the other hand, if solitude is the last
thing you need, you can find something you can do with others—a walking club,
a tennis game, a class at the gym. Socializing and companionship are an important
part of the equation, essential for mental well-being, just as much as getting
away from it all.
According to the Canadian
Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute, being physically active has
other long-term implications as well. An active lifestyle not only prolongs
good health but it also helps keep older people in the workforce for longer
and less dependent on services. And exercise never needs to stop; it only
needs to change as you age. Activities such as walking, swimming, golf and
gardening rarely cause injuries.
- Exercise for your mind
A study in the New England Journal of Medicine (Vol. 348, June 19,
2003, Number 25) contributes to the growing evidence that staying mentally
active may actually help prevent Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia.
And that doesn't mean that you need to spend free time solving complicated
mathematical equations. Instead, doing anything stimulating—playing cards
or board games, doing crossword puzzles, reading, going to the museum or art
gallery, playing a musical instrument—may minimize age—related memory loss.
In the study, participants—all of whom were at least 75 and had no symptoms
of dementia when the study began—who pursued cerebral activities about four
days a week were two-thirds less likely to develop Alzheimer's compared to
those who rarely challenged their brains.
- Social connections
Throughout our lives, we
need the support of, and connection to other people—family, friends and
member of our community—to maintain good health. Having enough social support
and feeling
included can influence whether we are healthy or not.
Hobbies can help us feel connected. For example, having a hobby that involves
hunting for and collecting something specific is not only good for self-esteem
and sense of pride but also collectors tend to be more social, interacting
with other specialist collectors and so on. Hobbies that help us interact
with others can help us to battle the demon loneliness. In the process, they
can also help keep our minds sharp. In a study of several thousand people
between the ages of 24 and 100, a psychologist at the University of Michigan
and his colleagues found that, at any age, the more
socially engaged participants appeared to suffer less from mental decline.
- Healthy Aging
Hobbies can also help make the transition from working life to retirement
smooth and enjoyable. For example, collecting gives people the sense of being
an expert at something, a feeling of controlling a part of the environment,
and that, in turn, can lead to a greater sense of life satisfaction, at any
age. Thinking ahead, having diverse interests and being engaged with others
are also two important ingredients in aging successfully.
The wonderful thing is that hobbies don't require any previous experience or
equipment; you just have to supply the interest and time and you'll reap the
benefits.
And remember, you can have more than one hobby!
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This article was prepared by Nora Underwood for 
