It's easy to get caught up in your busy life, and you might think you don't have time to take on a new hobby, but when your work/life balance is heavily tipped toward work, you should seriously consider making a change.
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Do you realize the positive impact that fun hobbies can have on your mental wellbeing?
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According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, anxiety disorders affect forty million adults in the US, aged eighteen and over. It's the most common mental illness.
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People with hobbies suffer less from depression and stress, because doing something you enjoy, sets off your brain's pleasure sensors, and releases feelings of contentment and happiness. If it's a physical activity, it comes with even more benefits.
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Before you start searching through lists of new hobby ideas, why not consider climbing? With this activity, the benefits go beyond the release of endorphins.
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Read on, to find out why climbing might just be the new hobby to try.
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Enhance Mental Focus
When you try to find a new hobby, it's not often you find one that involves mental exertion, as well as physical, but with climbing that's what you get.
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It's unlikely you'll start climbing and immediately be an expert, but that's a good thing. Through climbing practice, you learn patience as you improve, along with a sense of achievement.
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Because you're climbing high, your body's natural instinct will be to cling on and find a route to the top. This will keep you focused and concentrating on your hand and foot placement. You'll find that worries won't be on your mind.
Even on the shorter walls, when you're bouldering, your focus will be centered on your route.
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Meditative
The meditative state of mind you'll find yourself in stems from the concentration you need for climbing. Your mind is locked on the activity of climbing and it can induce a meditative state.
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Facing your fears, you will be completely in the moment, aware only of what you're doing and of your breathing.
Friendship and Community
When you're climbing regularly, you'll start to recognise the same faces, and with the problem-solving nature of climbing, interaction will be natural.
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You'll have the chance to talk to people who share your interest, because when you get involved in popular hobbies like climbing, you'll find friends you talk about it with.
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Increase Strength and Balance
Indoor climbing uses most of your major muscle groups. You use your legs, arms, back and core, and it works as a low-impact workout which is better for your joints.
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You use your arms and legs to pull yourself up the wall and your core to maintain balance. The more you do it, the bigger difference in your flexibility and skill.
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Good health and strength directly impacts on your mental wellness, and there are even ways you can practice coordination at home.
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Boost Confidence
You need determination to do this activity. The drive to climb even when your legs are shaking, but with that determination, you'll have the sense of achievement when you succeed.
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Your confidence will increase as your skill-level does.
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Is This Your New Hobby?
You'll set yourself goals, you'll leave your comfort zone, and you will learn how to manage stress and fear, because when you start climbing, you challenge yourself.
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It's exciting and empowering, and more than that, it's fun!
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