Why “Grandma Hobbies” Are Making a Comeback – and What They Teach Us About Calm
I recently spoke to The Good Trade about the rise of so called “grandma hobbies” – slow, tactile pastimes like knitting, gardening, baking, and journalling that are quietly making a comeback among younger generations.
From my work as a therapist, I see exactly why these activities resonate right now. We’re craving grounding. So many of us live in our heads, on screens, constantly stimulated but rarely soothed. These hobbies invite the opposite. They let the body lead.
When you knit, garden, or stir a pot of soup, your breath slows. The repetitive movement signals safety to the nervous system. You start to feel calmer without forcing yourself to relax. It’s therapy in disguise – gentle, rhythmic, and free from performance.
I often encourage my clients to explore something with their hands. Not for productivity, but for presence. To remember what it feels like to create, to tend, to simply be. It doesn’t matter if you’re good at it. The process itself restores a sense of peace and connection that no app or quick fix can match.
Lockdown reminded us how much we’d lost touch with that slower way of living. The grandma hobbies trend isn’t nostalgia, it’s a nervous system reset disguised as a creative pastime.
If you’d like to read more, my full thoughts are featured in The Good Trade piece on why these old-fashioned hobbies might be exactly what modern life needs.
Shelly Dar, Therapist and Founder of Shelly Therapy (Leicester)
Specialist in anxiety, confidence, and relationship therapy
Featured in BBC Radio 5 Live, Glamour UK, Hello! Magazine and The Good Trade
