Hey everyone! It's your nerdy Canadian here, back with some more tips! Today I'll be helping you pick out a new hobby.

   What does having a hobby have to do with my mental health? You ask. Why! It only does the best thing ever!

    Having a hobby helps your overall mental state by giving you something to do, without having to stress over it. For example, knitting is.... well, I guess it's fun if you're into it. Helps calm people down. You an scarves for the homeless. Helping others by helping yourself.

Here's a list of hobbies and their benefits:

Reading: Readkng is a great hobby. While it helps calm people down and learn new words, it also exercises your creativity and helps give you ideas.

Writing: Writing is one of my favourite hobbies. It helps you be more creative, learn new words, and, according to a study by Princeton University, writing can help people cope with situations by giving them a new perspective. It also a good bonding activity to do with your friends.

Drawing: I love drawing! I suck terribly at it, but it is so fun! Much like writing, drawing helps you be more creative be learning how lines intersect to create view points. Drawing helps you be more logical and strategic as well by forcing you to plan ahead to see where certain thing will be in your art.

Cooking: My personal favourite, cooking. This helps you in many ways. First of all, being able to cook for yourself is very important because when you're living alone in an apartment, you don't wanna live off microwaved hotdogs forever. It also helps with stress relief and multitasking, as well as planning. It also helps you be more active by making you stand longer than you normally would. Standing helps circulate blood flow, which helps with cardiovascular problems, and certain joint problems.

Gaming: Gaming, though many don't know this, can help a lot when it comes to thought process. Gamers tend to be very quick thinkers, and are generally very good in social situations (despite certain rumours). They're also very good at looking at a problem from different perspectives.

Dance: Ah, yes. Dance, the bane of my existence. Don't get me wrong, I love dancing. But I can't flex anything. I am not flexible. I have to do dance for gym class, it's hard. However, there are many benefits to dancing. Rather it be freestyle, ballet, break, or bad trends, dancing helps circulate blood flow, gets you moving, increases flexibility, and helps you learn to keep the beat. Dancing is fun to do as a group too. The list goes on, but I'm gonna stop there. You can do some research if you're interested.

Sports: Sports are very good for your health, both mental and physical. Sports develop team building skills, leadership skills, can help your confidence, help you cope with failures, and can help take your mind off things. They also get you moving and active.

Taking care of animals: Taking care of pets is a great way to help your self esteem. Pets are great for when you feel alone, also they help you be more responsible and better at time management.

Drama: Acting is great for your mental health. Confidence is important, and public acting is one of the best ways to gain it. Being in a play is also great fun and helps your memory.

Singing/playing instruments: Playing instruments has been connected to having a higher IQ, and better memory. Singing and listening to music also helps to calm anxiety and can help people with making decisions.

   So, pick a hobby. All of them are great. This was a very short list of a few of my favourite things. Make sure to comment your favourite hobbies!

   That's all for this week! Have fun with your new hobby! ❤️❤️

~Gigi