Here are 16 reasons why sewing is good for you by Wunderlabel!
Your grandmother always knew it, but now it’s official: sewing is good for your health. Just like other activities that make us feel relaxed, calm, happier and less stressed, studies have shown that sewing, knitting, crafting and creating DIY projects is good for you. Here are 16 reasons why:
THE BRAIN BENEFITS OF SEWING
- It’s Exercise for Your Brain: Our brain needs regular exercise to stay sharp and to be in good working condition. Sewing helps keep our brain active and moving.
- It’s a Break from Routine Thoughts: On average people have around 60,000 thoughts in a day. Unfortunately, 80% of them are negative and 95% of them repeat day after day. Creating something distracts the brain from its usual thoughts and helps it focus on something positive.
- It Lowers the Risk of Dementia: Sewing improves your creativity and might even lower your risk of dementia.
- It Enhances Creative Thinking: Sewing also helps your brain exercise creative thinking, giving you the chance to come up easier with solutions in other areas of life.
- It Helps Your Brain Grow New Neurons: Mental deterioration is attributed to the lost connection between neurons. The creative thinking required by sewing actually improves your brain’s ability to grow new brain cells.
- It Improves Mind and Body Coordination: Sewing, knitting and other activities that require concentration improve motor skills like hand and eye coordination.
- It Aids Physical Ailments: Spending time on a hobby that you enjoy helps relieve multiple physical ailments, such as sleep trouble, back pain, fatigue and even indigestion.
- It’s Good for your Heart and Blood Pressure: A study showed that a drop in heart rate of 11 beats per minute after participants finised sewing.They also experienced lower blood pressure and perspiration.
THE EMOTIONAL BENEFITS OF SEWING
- It Makes You Feel Happy: Sewing, along with crafting and various tasks, promotes the increase of dopamine in the brain, which is responsible for making us feel happier.
- It’s a Great Therapeutic Activity: Sewing, like other therapeutic activities, relaxes and calms your mind. It can help with depression and substance withdrawal.
- It Reduces Anxiety: By decreasing negative emotions and thought and increasing positive ones, sewing can help with anxiety.
- It Gets You into “Flow”: Psychologists call it “flow” and some believe is the secret to happiness. When people get completely absorbed by an activity they lose track of time and their focus peaks.
- It Improves Your Patience: In this era of shorter attention spans, activities like sewing, which require a lot of patience and special attention to details, help us become more patient in our day to day lives.
THE SOCIAL BENEFITS OF SEWING
- You’ll Meet People with Similar Interests: When it comes to our happiness, connecting with others is a must. Sewing gives you the opportunity of people with the same interest.
- You’ll Share Something with the World: Creating something that reflects yourself and sharing it with the world is rewarding and benefits everyone!
- You’ll Contribute Rather than Consume: If you need a break from consumerism (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t?) sewing can provide that release.
Lose Weight while Crafting - a Positive Side-Effect
Crafters and artisans worry that a sedentary lifestyle and lack of exercise can lead to obesity. But we have good news for you! Research has found that crafting, sewing and hand work can contribute to a slim figure. The part of the brain which craves sweets is the same part which motivates you to be creative. That means when you’re crafting, sewing or creating, your cravings for sweets are suppressed. Lose weight while crafting made easy!
We all know too well that sometimes we eat even when we’re not hungry. Sometimes we eat according to certain emotions that we’re having. This is especially true when we feel stressed. If we miss a loved one or experience some other negative emotions, we turn to the refrigerator without even thinking about if we’re actually hungry or just eating because of our emotions. Why not try knitting or sewing instead of eating? Immersing yourself into a creative process is a way to satisfy those emotional cravings in another way. You can even do some light exercise to lose weight while you’re at it.
Don’t forget one simple fact: our bodies are not only burning energy when we ride our bikes or work in the garden, but also when we’re sitting quietly and working on crafts or sewing. Things like brain function, and vital body functions such as breathing and digestion account for the majority of the calories our body burns every day.
However, there are easy exercises you can implement to lose weight and increase your metabolism while crafting:
- Try replacing your comfy chair with an exercise ball. An exercise ball trains your core, back and legs and helps burn calories.
- Crafting, sewing or any kind of hand work doesn’t necessarily have to be done while sitting down. Try doing the work while standing, or even better, standing on one leg. This is a great way to improve your balance and burn calories while you’re at it.
- Deep breathing means your cells are receiving enough oxygen which also boosts your metabolism.
- Listening to music while you work will also help keep the weight off. Listening to music releases endorphins, also known as the feel-good hormone, which suppresses cravings and helps burn fat.
That’s how you can stay fit while crafting! Enjoy your creative process and remember to embellish your beautiful DIY projects with a personalized woven label.
Our Favorite Playlist for Handicrafts
Getting lost in a hobby that you are passionate about - whether it’s sewing, knitting, embroidery or crocheting - is a unique feeling. It transports us to a completely different world. And it is important to create the right atmosphere in order to relax and let your creativity unfold. How can this be achieved? Accompany the creative process with music! It is a well-known fact that music can have a positive effect on our thoughts and emotions. We have created a Spotify playlist for every taste, from the best classics to relaxing songs.
And here it is: Our favorite playlist for handicrafts!
Song ideas for your sewing playlist
Anyone can create their own Spotify playlist with music that makes them smile and gives them positive energy. Tip: Open Spotify → Click on "Create playlist" → Edit playlist details by favorite (playlist title, description, image) → Save.
