Having a hobby tied to happiness and well-being - Harvard Health (2024)

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Having a hobby tied to happiness and well-being - Harvard Health? ›

But the researchers say hobbies — such as arts and crafts, games, gardening, volunteering, or participating in clubs — involve creativity, sensory engagement, self-expression, relaxation, and cognitive stimulation, which are linked to good mental health and well-being.

Contrary to what you might think, it's not career achievement, money, exercise, or a healthy diet. The most consistent finding we've learned through 85 years of study is: Positive relationships keep us happier, healthier, and help us live longer.

Improves Overall Well Being

The people who were involved in the study felt a sense of positivity and upliftment after a few days of creative activity. Studies have also shown that individuals that regularly take time off for their hobbies are less likely to feel low or depressed.

Happiness is associated with an array of physical health benefits, such as lower blood pressure, reduced risk of stroke, a stronger immune system, and even a longer life. Positive emotions are also linked to a reduced risk of injury in young adults and frailty in older adults.

When life gets busy, a hobby gives you a break from the stress. By engaging in a hobby, you can unwind from your day, doing something that helps you feel happy or more relaxed. By taking time for yourself to enjoy a hobby, you can recharge and feel better prepared to take on what life sends your way.

It's the longest in-depth longitudinal study on human life ever done, and it's brought us to a simple and profound conclusion: Good relationships lead to health and happiness. The trick is that those relationships must be nurtured.

The study's findings

The study found that people with strong, supportive relationships were happier, healthier, and lived longer than those with weak or troubled relationships.

Protecting your health: Happiness lowers your risk for cardiovascular disease, lowers your blood pressure, enables better sleep, improves your diet, allows you to maintain a normal body weight through regular exercise and reduces stress.

Compared with people who didn't have hobbies, those who did reported better health, more happiness, fewer symptoms of depression, and higher life satisfaction.

Better physical health generates a sense of well-being that motivates greater social involvement. All of these things work together to replace feelings of loneliness with those more aligned with happiness.

What is more important health or happiness? ›

Happiness is just as important to your overall health as what you eat and how active you are, meaning that improving your happiness levels could offer a number of benefits. Both happiness and health are tied together very closely, with each affecting the other.

Indeed, scientific studies have been finding that happiness can make our hearts healthier, our immune systems stronger, and our lives longer.

Having a hobby along these lines boosts our self-esteem, as we feel good at something, and give us the “success” hormones of dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins, which make us happier. They reduce our stress, give us a sense of purpose, and give us pride. Hobbies involve a commitment to a chosen activity.

Hobbies help reduce or eradicate boredom.

They give you something to do when you find your- self with nothing to fill your time. They also give you an activity that you can look forward to and get excited about.

Being active, eating well and participating in regular exercise is good for your physical and mental health. It improves your mood, boosts your energy and improves your sleep, which all help you feel happier.

Recent research indicates that psychological flexibility is the key to greater happiness and well-being. For example, being open to emotional experiences and the ability to tolerate periods of discomfort can allow us to move towards a richer, more meaningful existence.

A healthy psychological immune system strikes a balance that allows us to feel good enough to cope with our situation but bad enough to do something about it. Our psychological immune system lets us feel truly happy even when things don't go as planned.

Waldinger and his research team were amazed to discover that individuals who had the strongest bonds with others tended to lead happier, healthier, and longer lives as they aged. In turn, having good relationships was the most important factor in predicting who would enjoy a fulfilled and healthy life in old age.