Yoga could help stretch the mind and tackle depression

DIY proves just the job to lift our spirits when we’re stuck at home

THREE-quarters of us say doing DIY during the pandemic has improved our sense of wellbeing.

Painting has been the most popular task, with 31 per cent of homeowners sprucing up interior walls, 23 per cent painting fences and 17 per cent giving garden furniture a fresh coat.

One in six has filled wall cracks while one in 10 has given furniture a new look.

Rob Green, from Ronseal which quizzed 2,000 people, said: “When you are at home 24/7, it becomes much harder to turn a blind

Alice Hughes

eye to that bit of scuffed paintwork or the cracks in the walls you are now spending so much time looking at.”

The survey also found that the majority of people had completed four DIY jobs during lockdown, with a further four tasks left to do on average.

Respondents said they didn’t do the work before now due to lack of motivation (48 per cent), lack of time (43 per cent) and lack of confidence (27 per cent).

REGULAR yoga could help reduce depression in people with other mental health disorders, a study suggests.

Scientists said the effects were most noticeable for depression and schizophrenia but also worked for alcohol issues.

Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide with more than 264 million sufferers. Symptoms often appear alongside other mental health issues, such as generalised anxiety and psychotic disorders.

Jacinta Brinsley, from the University of South Australia, led an international team of

Nilima Marshall

researchers looking at the benefits of yoga. They analysed 13 studies and found the more weekly sessions of between 20 and 90 minutes completed, the greater the effect on depression.

The experts wrote: “Yoga may provide an additional or alternative strategy to engage people experiencing depression in meaningful physical activity.”

The discovery was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.