Knit your way to 5 a day for Wellbeing
It’s important to look after ourselves, particularly in the dark winter months. Knitting is such a comforting pastime, but can really support your wellbeing. In this post I’m sharing my thoughts on how knitting can support self-care and help us thrive and achieve positive change in our lives.
Traditionally, at this time many of us will make bold resolutions for the year ahead to change our behaviours or achieve specific goals. These are often focussed on achieving healthier lifestyles and usually involve a tiresome list of ‘will nots’. Speaking for myself, such resolutions are sadly most often doomed to fail.
“Lack of will power is not the problem here - I have that in abundance - it’s the won’t power I lack!”
Maintaining good mental health and emotional wellness is an essential part of our overall wellbeing, which often gets much less of our attention than it deserves. Addressing this as a priority is key to achieving other positive changes we may want to make in other areas of life.
Being in a better place with our emotional and psychological wellbeing can bring about these changes to our lifestyle and behaviours subtly and over time, without it feeling like a slog. So with that in mind, this year I’m taking a different approach that I think will be more helpful - and even better it involves knitting!!
5 a day for mental health & wellbeing
Most of us are aware of the benefits of eating 5 a day fruit and vegetables for our physical health, but did you know there is another type of 5 a day for mental health and well being? Just as we strive to eat a balanced diet to keep our bodies healthy, there are steps we can take to support our mental wellbeing too (if you’re keen you can read more here about this). This approach sets out five essential daily practices you can weave into your daily routines to improve and maintain mental and emotional wellness. You may be aware of the five a day for mental health and well being that was started relatively recently - this recommends 5 types of activity in your day to improve and maintain your mental wellness.
I’d argue though that there is a 6th daily practice important for wellbeing and that is doing something creative - even if just for a few moments, on a daily basis, or at least once weekly as a minimum.
Knitting has long been recognised as having benefits for wellbeing, reducing anxiety and increasing mindfulness. Relating it to the 5 (or 6!) a day for wellbeing, you can see how a dose of knitting can contribute to all of those areas. I’m sure you’ll have your own thoughts on this, but here’s my take on it:
1. Connect - Having a shared interest can make connecting with people easier as we have something in common to talk about. Knit and Natter groups are often available locally in your communities and/or connected to your local yarn shops. These are usually warm and welcoming spaces for knitters to come together for mutual knowledge sharing and support. As well as scratching your knitting itch, lasting and meaningful connections are often formed in such groups. This can be particularly helpful if you are feeling isolated or lonely, such as when you have just moved into a new area. And there are also many opportunities to connect with other knitters online too.
2. Get active - I guess this one is a bit of a stretch, but the promise of yarn related purchases or activities may tempt us to get out the house! If you are in walking and cycling distance from a knitting group or wool shop then that is a definite incentive to get moving! A day roaming around yarn festivals such as Wonderwool Wales definitely boosts the daily step count too. I wonder too whether hefting of yarn stash count as gym work? ;-)
3. Notice - As an intrinsically slow, repetitive and tactile process, knitting lends itself exceptionally well to using our senses. The rhythmic movements of knitting can ease anxiety and induce a meditative state of mind, allowing us to let go of distractions as our mind is gently absorbed in the task task at hand. This can lead to a sense of calm and relaxation, making it a great way to de-stress after a long day. Designer/author Lynne Rowe is a great proponent of mindful knitting, and in her latest blog writes about applying a related approach, the Danish concept of Hygge, to knitting and crochet for improved wellbeing.
4. Learn new skills - the learning never ends with knitting and, after the numerous (ahem) decades i have been knitting, I can honestly say I learn something new with every project or design I tackle. The pursuit of developing these new skills may often lead us to joining groups or going to workshops, so this has the added benefit of facilitating and maintaining our connections with others, reinforcing point 1 above.
5. Give - Giving makes us feel good and Knitting offers many opportunities for this whether in form of giving advice and support to other knitters, sharing yarn stash or gifting our creations to loved ones to enjoy. Speaking of giving, please check out the free tutorials and other resources I have made available for all here.
6. Create - From choosing a pattern, visualising glorious colour choices, then to turning those ideas into knitted reality, the process of knitting allows for a daily creativity fix.
Regular contact with our knitting craft allows us to strengthen our creative ‘muscles’, and to take small consistent steps towards larger projects which might otherwise seem overwhelming.
The act of creating something with our own hands can provide a deep sense of accomplishment that can boost self-esteem. It also builds confidence for us in being able to tackle other seemingly daunting goals in other areas of our lives.
It’s amazing what a bit of string and a pair of sticks can do for us, isn’t it?!
I hope my post encourages you to take some essential ‘me-time’ for self care this year to enjoy your knitting to support your ‘5 a day for wellbeing’ and inspires you to explore other ways you can weave in these daily practices.
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