These 5 Hobbies Improve Your Health

Besides work, we all need a balance that keeps us healthy. These 5 hobbies do not only keep you fit, they even improve your health.

Cooking

Cooking has positive effects on your body in two ways. Firstly, preparing your own food ensures that you eat healthier and therefore consume fewer calories. On the other hand, snipping, steaming and cooking also has a meditative effect on the body – it relaxes and reduces your stress.

Knitting and crocheting

Knitting and crocheting also has a particularly positive effect on your own stress level. Because working with your hands clears your head, as a study from 2013 shows. The study showed that manual work and cognitive skills are closely linked. In other words: Those who knit more have improved brain activity.

Gardening

Two thirds of all Germans regularly weed, dig and rake in their gardens. Even Angela Merkel finds relaxation in gardening. Why is that so? Because gardening reduces stress and anxiety and, like a natural antidepressant, ensures good mood, satisfaction and serenity. In addition, all muscle groups on arms, legs and back are used, which trains the circulation and promotes strength. So, out into the air and into the flower beds.

Meditation

With meditation you can escape from the hectic world and once consciously recover and regenerate. Body and mind come back into harmony, thinking is refreshed and creativity is stimulated. Besides reducing stress, meditation also has a positive effect on the body: for example, blood pressure is lowered and digestion is improved.

Travel

Travel not only opens up new horizons, but also reduces your everyday stress many times over. And it also reduces the risk of depression and cardiovascular disease. 4 reasons why travel improves your health:

• You’re out in the fresh air a lot more.
• You are more active than at work.
• You get more sun and therefore more vitamin D.
• You can sleep in and take time for yourselves.