New Hobbies During Lockdown

Taking advantage of more time at home during lockdown

Due to government guidelines, a lot of us have been confined to our homes in recent times. Rather than focussing on what we can’t do or where we can’t go during this time, it is much more helpful to think of different ideas or ways we can use this extra time. Lockdown has really changed the pace of life that we had become used to in recent years. The majority of us are spending less time commuting and bringing kids to school or activities. Alot of us have struggled with the lack of routine in our days since going into lockdown so scheduling in an hour to try that new hobby that you’ve put on the long finger for the past 5 years is a great way of adding structure to your day. It helps to pull you away from the laptop or phone that you can get glued to when working from home all day

Benefits of trying something new

Trying to juggle homeschooling the kids and working from home can leave us quite stressed. The same can be said for hearing sad news on an hourly basis and generally trying to look after our mental health during these strange and scary times. Psychologists promote the benefits of starting new activities and how they energise us and get us engaged and focussing on the present. These new activities or skills can require concentration because we are new to them. These could be cooking, gardening, sewing, yoga or DIY. These activities bring about a feeling of being in the moment which can be absent in modern life as we work towards deadlines and think about what events we have coming up in the future. We all know that sense of accomplishment that we feel after ticking something off our to-do list or pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones, this is the feeling you’ll get after trying that new hobby that you’ve put on the back burner up until now.

Plus side of trying something new at home

Alot of the time we are scared to try something new for fear of looking bad or we put pressure on ourselves to be perfect straight away. Being at home removes this barrier because we are free to make mistakes without the fear of judgement from anybody but the dog sitting in the corner wondering what you’re up to. We can get the moves of a dance routine mixed up without bumping into someone or standing on their toes. We can fall over and have a good giggle at ourselves while trying to maneuver our arms and legs into a yoga pose.

Online classes as a social outlet

Many people are missing out on the social interactions that we’d usually have in our day to day such as chatting to people at work, meeting friends for a coffee or working out with the crew at the gym. Joining online classes as part of your new hobby will give you the chance to interact with more and more people, sometimes from the other side of the world.

Ideas for new hobbies

How Can Physiotherapy Help?

If you are finding it hard to complete regular exercises due to pain, fatigue or simply time schedules speak to us at Compass Physio.

Exercise is for everybody. At Compass physio we will complete a full physical assessment and will help identify any possible underlying causes that may limit your exercise regime.

Our chartered physiotherapists will help you to build strength and strategies which will help tackle any problem.

At Compass physio we will help you succeed and reach your goals.

To find out how Compass Physio can help, call 046 954 9456 (this number covers all clinics), click here to book online.

You can also email any questions to info@compassphysio.ie

Paddy Mulligan – MISCP Chartered Physiotherapist Compass Physio