Winter Passion Projects
As we face into the long winter months, it’s important to stay occupied doing activities you enjoy or trying something new. Starting a new hobby or taking up something you used to do regularly can be a great way of practicing good Physical, Mental and Social Health. It can also be a great way of switching off and staying away from screens for a couple of hours and practicing mindfulness by doing something you enjoy.
You can do this solo or you can ask some of your friends or work colleagues to join you! So what are some things you could do?
Joining a Sports Team: If you’re in Toronto, JAM Sports and XTSC both offer a wide range of different sports you can play indoors during winter, such as dodgeball, basketball, indoor soccer, hockey and beach volleyball. If you have some friends interested, you can sign up as a team. If not, you can still sign up as a solo free agent and make some new friends!
Cooking & Baking: Again, this can be done solo or with a housemate/friend. You could try themed cooking nights (Indian, Chinese, Mexican, American etc!) and make a range of different dishes each week. If you are relatively new to cooking, using a recipe book or online recipes will help you stay on track. Some great recipe resources are the HelloFresh Recipes That Work, BBC Good Food and the Dumpling Sisters Cookbook (for Asian dishes).
Starting a Mini-Business: For those of us that love projects, selling stuff or services can be a fun way of staying occupied and making some extra cash. If you’re Artsy and have graphic design or web-design skills, you could sell your services on Fiverr. If you like taking old furniture or random housewares and making them beautiful again, you could have a side-career on Etsy. Colourful Saz is a great example of someone using their creative skills to make fun furniture and selling it online. If you’re very fashionable, you could find yourself a niche on Depop and sell some of your old stuff and find a new wardrobe without leaving your living room! Get your friends involved and build a mates wardrobe!
Music, Languages, Yoga… There’s a million other things you could also take up or spend your time on during the weekday evenings. You could check out ClassPass to try that Yoga or Boxing class you’ve always talked about. You could look up Eventbrite or Ticketmaster for music gigs, concerts, speed-dating or language swaps happening in your area.
The key is to bring an open mind to everything. If you like it, give it a go! If not, try something else. There’s something for everyone, you’ve just got to start!
If you work for a company looking to improve employees Physical, Mental and Social Health, check out www.foxfit.io and get in touch.
