Self Care & Hobbies (Mental Health Awareness)
Hello All! Hope you are having a good day/ morning/ afternoon/ evening <3
With it being Mental Health Awareness Week I have taken the time to get a lil bit of info for you all on Self-Care and Hobbies. There's a few questions at the end to get you thinking :P I hope you enjoy a lil read and if you have any extra knowledge on self care and hobbies you wish to share please do!
What is Self Care?
Self care is the practice of taking and action to improve ones own health.
Why is Self Care Important?
Self-care is the most important way to boost and maintain both emotional and physical health. Many people today neglect it due to a lack of time, and this negatively impacts the lives of those who do not make sure they are putting themselves first. Self care should always come first, and should never be a reward.
Self Care helps you:
Give your mind a break / Clear mind
Time to clearly accept and think about your thoughts
Most importantly to ‘Reboot your brain so you can stay engaged.
Remember...
Self care is different for each person. It could be laying in the bath having a soak or going to have a massage or a pedicure. It may just being doing some of your favourite hobbies ( for me that would be doing crafts :P )
Importance of Hobbies
Hobbies are important to have and enjoy for many reasons..
Physical. Physical hobbies have clear physiological benefits because they increase both your heart rate and brain function.
Mental and Emotional. Carving out time for activities you enjoy is an easy way to improve your mental health and overall emotional well-being.
Social and Interpersonal. Hobbies are a great way to socialize and meet new friends and gain new skills.
Questions…
What can you do for you this week in terms of self-care?
Do you usually practice self-care?
Do you have a hobby? What is it?
If you could start a new hobby what would you choose?
Stay Strong
Joy <3
@JoyIntoDarkness thank you for this amazing post.
Now to answer the questions:
What can you do for you this week in terms of self-care?
I can take some time to take care of my body especially my hair which is always neglected by me due to laziness, I can increase my daily exercise time and also try some new work out moves.
Do you usually practice self-care?
Nopee. When I think about it, I realized how little I take care of myself.
Do you have a hobby? What is it?
yess. I read, dance, draw, make craft items, collect stuffs, etc etc
If you could start a new hobby what would you choose?
my new hobby would be to learn new languages I guess
@positivePumpkin22
I am glad you like the post! I am so happy to hear that you are going to try and take care of you and you general needs eg brushing hair (I too struggle with these at times) and exercise is a great way to release endorphines into our systems to feel better. Im sorry to hear you struggle with self care - its okay you're not alone there are many rescources here on 7 cups and its something many of us have yet to improve upon. Sounds like you have lots of hobbies that you do to keep yourself busy and all very very creative. Learning new languages can be fun what language would you chose to learn first?
Thankyou For Sharing!
Stay Strong and Keep Fighting!
-Joy <3
@JoyIntoDarkness
thank you joy. <3 <3
First of all, you are very sweet. Your words are really encouraging, i must say. We often get caught up in the busy race of life to acquire everything we can within the short lifespan we have that we most often than not forget to take time to care for ourselves and tbh We (especially I) dont really realize how important self care is, so for us this post is surely something stop and reflect on. Being depressed its not very easy for me to take care of myself, im better at taunting me than caring. its a very sad reality im not proud of. But with 7cups stressing much on self care i have started to realize how important it is. So yes sure, ill take a look at self care resources soon. I would like to study italian, french and korean, i guess ill start with french tho.
thank you again.
stay awesome! stay Joy!
@positivePumpkin22
I understand i too struggle with my depression and self care and it can be a real challenge. I and many others are all here with you! I loved learning french at school though i have forgoten a lot of it now :(
Stay Strong!
-Joy<3
@JoyIntoDarkness
What can you do for you this week in terms of self-care?
1) Meditate
2) Journal
3) Plan
Do you usually practice self-care?
As much as I can. Some days I can only bring myself to do so much.
Do you have a hobby? What is it?
I love to sing whenever I can, especially songs from Les Miserables.
If you could start a new hobby what would you choose?
If I could start a new hobby, I would choose running, although I'm not a complete stranger to it already.
@lunathespaniel
Those ideas sound like great things you can do to self harm and im glad you can do some self harm - Les mis is my favourite musical and i am so excited to hear someone else likes the songs too! Running is always fun hope you can do it in future!
Thankyou for Sharing!
Stay Strong and Keep Fighting!
-Joy <3
1)
Sleep better
2)
Not really
3)
Violin playing, piano playing and singing
4)
Don't know
@Starlight2008
Sleeping better sounds like a great start! If you are wanting to learn more about self care let me know and i can link you a lot of rescourcesavaliable here on cups! I am glad playing music are fun hobbies for you! It's also okay to not know don't worry.
Thankyou for sharing!
Stay Strong and Keep Fighting!
-Joy <3
What can you do for you this week in terms of self-care?
Watch a bunch of comedic shows
Do you usually practice self-care?
Yes, a lot
Do you have a hobby? What is it?
Yes, I love painting, reading, and gaming
If you could start a new hobby what would you choose?
I would love to get into hiking
@kiraannnkaur
Watching comedy shows can be super ful and practising self care is awesome - i am glad to hear you enjoy painting and reading and gaming and these are positive hobbies you enjoy? Hiking sounds super awesome - where would you want to go?
Thankyou for sharing!
Stay Strong and Keep Fighting!
-Joy <3
@JoyIntoDarkness
Thank you for these kind words <3 Yes, they're definitely hobbies that I truly enjoy and can spend hours doing :)
There's a few famous hiking spots here in Malaysia that I've been wanting to explore for months now, perhaps once the lockdown restrictions loosen up a little, this would be the first activity on my list!
Have a great day!
-Kiran
@kiraannnkaur
Ooo sounds great! Let me know how they go!
-Joy
What can you do for you this week in terms of self-care?
Yoga and painting
Do you usually practice self-care?
Yes everyday!
Do you have a hobby? What is it?
My hobby is singing, guitar and reading
If you could start a new hobby what would you choose?
maybe learn a new instrument. I would love piano!
@raymaniii
Doing some yoga and painting seems like great self care activities you can do. You have some super awesome hobbies singing and playing guitar. I played piano it is very fun i hope you can learn in future!
Thankyou for sharing!
Stay Strong and Keep Fighting!
-Joy <3
What can you do for you this week in terms of self-care?
Time all by myself to be able to relax and think.
Do you usually practice self-care?
In periods. Right now I do because I need to listen to my body.
Do you have a hobby? What is it?
I sing whenever I can.
If you could start a new hobby what would you choose?
I would probably start to knit :-)
@Kickan75
Taking time for you sounds like a great idea, listening to you body and taking care of yourself is great. ooo you sing, you enjoy singing? what sort of songs? and knitting sounds like a great hobby you could start!
Thankyou for sharing!
Stay Strong and Keep Fighting!
-Joy <3
1. watch movies
2. yes
3. yes, I play violin, read, watch a lot of movies and wirte
4. I would love to start playing the piano and get into running
@exuberantPal6627
I am glad you self care and watching movies helps - sounds like you have many creative hobbies and very musical. hopefully you can strive to begin running if thats something you would love to do!
Thankyou for sharing!
Stay Strong and Keep Fighting!
-Joy <3
What can you do for you this week in terms of self-care?
Go to bed a reasonable time, go for walks. Do things for me, e.g. baking.
Do you usually practice self-care?
I try to but I'm really bad at it. I usually decide I don't deserve it.
Do you have a hobby? What is it?
I like to knit. And bake and decorate cakes. And play music - clarinet, flute, piano.
If you could start a new hobby what would you choose?
I would like to learn to dance - tap, modern etc. Anything that would be useful for amateur theatre productions.
@purpleclarinet
Doing things for yourself is super important and will deffo help you achieve self care - its okay to not be great at it... i too am not the best but as long as we try thats okay! Playing music is super fun and baking ooo you must be super talented! Learning dance can be super fun i studied performing arts and musical theatre si i am a little biased!
Thankyou for sharing!
Stay Strong and Keep Fighting!
-Joy <3
For self care this week
I will rest start a journal.
Hobbies reading watching films
New hobbie cooking finding different things to eat bored of same old stuff
@karenw
Starting a journal is super fun - what sorta journal you going to start? Reading and films are super fun and i can relate to eating the same old stuff if you try anything new and its super tasty let me know!
Thankyou for sharing!
Stay Strong and Keep Fighting!
-Joy <3
@JoyIntoDarkness aw thankyou joy. I will. Just a life journal im going through a lot of things at once at the moment. it is a very difficult time for me but i will get through it somehow. 
@karenw
Awww well i hope it helps you!
-Joy <3
@JoyIntoDarkness thankyou joy
What can you do for you this week in terms of self-care?
Treat myself to some desserts.
Do you usually practice self-care?
I practice self-care all of the time.
Do you have a hobby? What is it?
I have many hobbies most likely to many to list. My favorites are the outdoor hobbies.
If you could start a new hobby what would you choose?
If I could choose a new hobby I would chose Contortion.
@BellatheHappyHelper
Ooo what sort of desser do you think you will have? Im glad you are wanting to practise self-care. Out door hobbies are super cool and fresh air is great. Contortion is very interesting and cool - are you a flexible person?
Thankyou so much for sharing!
Stay Strong and Keep Fighting!
-Joy <3
@JoyIntoDarkness
Any dessert. I was thinking some ice cream maybe
Yes I am pretty flexible
